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What Is The Cause Of Destruction In George Orwell's Shooting An Elephant

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Why do you believe Orwell shot the elephant? Cite passages from the essay to support your belief?

In Shooting An Elephant, by George Orwell, the narrator talks about an event in his past in which he shoots an elephant. He was working as the sub-divisional police officer of Moulmein, but was not looked as much of an authority figure. Even though the elephant had stopped causing destruction by the end of the story I believe Orwell did have to shoot the elephant because the elephant had caused a lot of destruction in the village and would have been made fun of if he hadn’t. As I read Shooting An Elephant, I noticed the elephant was causing mass destruction because it was angry. If it were angry that means there was a cause to it becoming angry but it would have not been a good choice upon the actions of Orwell if he had gone to look for the source of the elephant’s anger. That would cause more destruction. “It had already destroyed somebody's bamboo hut, killed a cow and raided some fruit …show more content…

“As a police officer I was an obvious target and was baited whenever it seemed safe to do so” ( Orwell 86). Before the incident with the elephant occurred it was obvious Orwell had little to no respect from the people because he was a police officer. It is still somewhat like that now with cops but more hidden. A couple thousand of villagers walked with Orwell to the scene where the elephant would soon die. “The crowd grew very still, and a deep, low, happy sigh, as of people who see the theater curtain go up at last” (Orwell 91). The people of the village targeted Orwell because he was the police officer, but, once the elephant came into the village jeopardizing their safety they were all dependent on Orwell. If Orwell did not shoot the elephant he would have been seen as a

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