Shooting an Elephant
Robert Saob
Richard Dollieslager
College Composition 2
April 6, 2018
Shooting an Elephant: A Defining Moment in the Life of George Orwell
As we all know, life is what we make it and is often defined by the way we experience it. George Orwell’s life is no different and so does his writings. His writings defined him as a person criticizing the way things are. This is especially the case with imperialism, authoritative systems of rule and the idea of oppression is caused not only by the oppressor but also those oppressed.
Orwell was born to a middle-class family in India in 1903. His father served his government by being in the Opium Department, which monitored the opium that traveled in and out of India. In the end this influenced him to do the same. Serving the British empire and its cause. Yet this was not meant to be.
In his essay Shooting an Elephant. Orwell describes an event that changed his views of the world he lived in. In summary a village was threatened by a wild elephant. Orwell being a part of the police force in the province, was sent to eliminate it. In the course of the event, Orwell realized a platitude of things. Things that have been bothering him are finally uttered.
This event made him write about his role as an oppressor towards the Burmese people. He did not like this role as he resents the idea of taking another’s will. Yet he must do it for it is his duty. This made him question the nature of things., He is the oppressor in this scenario, and hate the idea of imperialism, yet he also shows despise towards the Burmese for they simply allow themselves to be ruled by white men who they outnumber greatly and can easily overpower. He despised their subservient nature even though they show resentment towards the British.
It was expected of him by his government and by the Burmese to shoot the elephant dead. As a member of the ruling power, he to expected himself to do it. To keep peace and stability in the region he had to do it. To keep the Burmese in bondage to Great Britain he had to do it. To keep his job and livelihood he had to do it. All these weighted in his mind as he delayed and eventually shot at the elephant. This event demoralized him in the end. Orwell finally concluded why he actually did it. In his own words “I solely did it to avoid looking like a fool”.
The story summarizes his views of imperialism in short. “The white man wears a mask, and his face grows to fit it”. The role he was given by his government, his race, and his heritage forced him to become something he is not. In the end he succumbed to it, doing it’s bidding and dirtying his hands for its sake and in the end becoming what it wants you to become.
George Orwell kept a similar theme towards his other writings. He wrote about his views on imperialism, authority, and oppression as the man lived in a time of turmoil. He lived in a time when the sun never sets on the British empire. He lived through a civil war and two world wars. Orwell’s life definitely did not lack any action as he was almost always in the thick of it.
In his Homage to Catalonia he wrote about his firsthand experience during the Spanish civil war. He fought for the POUM which was a leftist party that supported the workers rights and basically fought for the common man. This meant that they were allied to the communist party that also fought in the civil war and fought against the fascist party supported by the Italians and Germans. His bright-eyed enthusiasm for the cause was constant through 115 days of the war. This broke however when the they went under fire not by the enemy but their allies who betrayed them and seized control of the government.
This lead to his hatred towards Stalinism and the decay it brought upon a noble cause that is socialism.
In WWII Orwell served but this time it was his own government. He worked for BBC for a time. Countering German propaganda in British territory specifically India. This particular experience and his previous war brought up the idea of his novel Animal Farm. Which is an allegorical statement towards communism and its fruitless effort towards a noble goal that blinds those that seek it. This reflected his disenfranchisement towards socialism because of the corruption of Stalinism.
After a long life and dealing with deaths and illness both of body and political strife he was on his last legs. However, all these experiences, trials and tribulations led to his final novel 1984. Which is an acclaimed masterpiece. The book revolves around all three of his main themes. It revolves on how society is no longer about individuals but a collective, a society driven not by its people but those who rule it as the people are left with no power at all. Where the people who know nothing else and therefore subservient to the wills of those above. It is book about a dystopian society where bleakness is considered bliss and every word represents an opposite meaning.
George Orwell certainly lived and his life reflected those he wrote about. He spent his life criticizing the human condition as we try to fit society’s view of us. He experienced a long and tumultuous life fighting for something only to have it be corrupted by authority i.e Stalinism. Growing up in an empire that got him criticizing both the oppressor and those oppressed who too is at fault for their inaction in their plight. Lastly he spent his life trying to teach a culminating message “Don’t let it happen.” As a bleak future awaits us all if we only stood by and watch as the world crumbles into a dystopian hellscape.
Woodcock, George. George Orwell (Bio). Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/biography/George-Orwell
Accessed: May 1, 2018
Shooting an Elephant (summary). Litcharts. https://www.litcharts.com/lit/shooting-an-elephant/summary-and-analysis. Accessed: April 29 2018
Orwell, George, 1903-1950. Shooting An Elephant : and Other Essays. London :Penguin, 2003. Print.