Essay on Imperialism Shooting an Elephant - 635 Words

In George Orwells â€Å"Shooting an Elephant,† deals with the evil side of imperialism. The shooting of the elephant in Orwells story is the central focus from which Orwell builds his argument through the two dominant characters, the elephant and the British officer. The British officer, acts as a symbol of the imperial country and the elephant is the victim of imperialism. Together, the solider and the elephant turns this into an attack on the evils of imperialism. The shooting of the elephant shows the different aspects of imperialism. The elephant and the British officer help to show the real nature of imperialism. The shooting of the elephant is the incident that reveals that imperialism inflicts damage on both parties in a†¦show more content†¦As stated before the Burmese people hated the British officer, but now they go to him to get rid of the elephant. They even help him to find the elephant. Imperialism also creates reliance on foreign country. The Burme se did not have any weapons so they relied upon the British for their things, â€Å"The Burmese population had no weapons and were quite helpless against it† (2). The killing of Dravidian coolie and the reaction of the public is also a side effect of Imperialism. It creates a class of people where one race is higher and better than the other race, â€Å"...an elephant was worth more than any damn Coringhee coolie† (6) When the officer went to kill the elephant, the entire population was following him. They did not care about the elephant, but with the officers help they will get the meat. The Burmese people expects the British officer to do what they want but not what he wanted to do, â€Å"I had no intention of shooting the elephant-I had merely sent for the rifle to defend myself if necessary...† (3). Now the British Officer is being controlled by the Burmese people, â€Å"He becomes a sort of hollow, posing dummy, the conventionalized figure of a sahibà ¢â‚¬  (4). Imperialism hurts both the parent country and the country that is being controlled. The dying of the elephant shows, even if a foreign country tries to do whatever it can to change a country, the country will do whatever to resist the change. If it does change it will beShow MoreRelatedThe Elephant as a Symbol for Imperialism in Shooting an Elephant†1188 Words   |  5 PagesIn â€Å"Shooting an Elephant,† Orwell retold an occasion where he was struggling to come to a final decision of whether to shoot the elephant or not. With his final decision, the elephant finally lay dying in front of thousands of people. He said that he was forced to shoot it because the Burmese people were expecting him to do that. In addition, he also explained that he had to do it â€Å"to avoid looking like a fool† in front of the crowd (14). At first glance, one would think that it makes sense for himRead MoreImperialism - an Irony - Shooting an Elephant1255 Words   |à ‚  6 PagesImperialism  Ã‚ ­Ã‚  an  irony. 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