“Shooting An Elephant” p. 1016

George Orwell

“In Moulmein, in lower Burma, I was hated by large numbers of people” (Orwell).

George Orwell

(1903 - 1950) British journalist and

author Wrote two of the most

famous novels of the 20th century, Animal Farm and 1984.

George Orwell

Orwell was born Eric Arthur Blair on June 25, 1903 in eastern India, the son of a British colonial civil servant.

He was educated in England and, after he left Eton, joined the Indian Imperial Police in Burma, then a British colony.

He resigned in 1927, and decided to become a writer.

George Orwell

In 1928, he moved to Paris where lack of success as a writer forced him into a series of menial jobs.

He described his experiences in his first book, Down and Out in Paris and London, published in 1933.

He took the name George Orwell, shortly before its publication.

Vocabulary

1. Prostrate: defenseless/in a prone or lying position2. Imperialism: policy and practice of forming and

maintaining an empire in order to control raw materials and world markets by the conquests of other countries and the establishment of colonies

3. Despotic: tyrannical4. Squalid: miserably poor; wretched5. Dominion: rule or power to rule; a governed territory6. Senility: mental or physical decay due to old age

Literary Device/Irony

Irony: literary device that brings out surprising or amusing contradictions.

In verbal irony, the intended meaning of words clashes with their usual meaning, as when Orwell describes the dangerous elephant as “grandmotherly.”

In irony of situation, events contradict what you expect to happen, as when the young Buddhist priests are revealed to be the most insulting toward the British.

Personal Narrative

Personal narratives usually focus on one key event.

Though true, they are told like fictional stories: They have a setting a main character among a group of characters a series of events that lead to a climax, a resolution,

or ending.

About the Selection

Orwell’s essay reveals the ambivalence (uncertainty) a person may feel in a position of power.

On one hand, young Orwell sympathizes with the Burmese people.

On the other hand, Orwell, the police officer, is committed to continuing and even defending that oppression.

Orwell’s Conflicting Attitudes

Orwell’s sympathy for the Burmese His dislike of imperialism His desire to leave his job

**These attitudes conflict with his role as police officer and his bad treatment by the Burmese.

State of “MUST”

When an elephant goes wild in a Burmese marketplace, Orwell must act, making decisions more from his confused feelings than from COMMON SENSE.

In the process, he demonstrates the intense human desire to avoid embarrassment.

Summary The narrator, an officer of the

British imperial police in Burma, considers himself an enemy of imperialism.

His role as a representative of the British crown invites the hatred of the Burmese.

One day an elephant ravages a bazaar and kills a laborer (coolie).

The narrator, who must track down the elephant, has no intention of shooting it, especially when he finds it grazing peacefully in a paddy.

Summary - continued

Yet, Orwell feels he must maintain “face” in front of the crowd of Burmese who have followed him.

Inexperienced, he repeatedly wounds the elephant, leaving the scene before the animal dies.

The villagers cut up the elephant’s body for food.