Shooting an Elephant

In the 1936 short story, Shooting an Elephant, written by Eric Blair under the pen name of George Orwell, he conveys to his readers not only an important political message concerning imperialism, but also a universal message that we all can relate to, and that is the influence that others have on us as an individual. With the use of a personal anecdote, he expresses his anger, shame and weakness in the tone of his writing regarding the treatment of the British Empire toward the Burmese and his own actions concerning these events. With his story, Orwell is trying to communicate, not only to the European nations, but a much larger audience, that imperialism does not only affect those who are oppressed in a negative way, but it is also harmful to the oppressor.

Writing from the first person point of view, Orwell tells of the time when he worked for the British Empire as a sub-divisional police officer in Burma and the hatred that the Burmese felt toward him. He begins the story by stating, "…I was hated by large numbers of people – the only time in my life that I have been important enough for this to happen to me". (Orwell 1936) With this assertion, he expresses his personal knowledge of the events that are about to unfold and immediately has the reader asking why the Burmese hated him.

　　　　Using analogies and direct quotes, Orwell tells us that imperialism is an "evil thing" and he conveys his dislike toward the Empire for its mistreatment of the Burmese. With detailed imagery, he gains the readers sympathy for the Burmese when he writes, "The wretched prisoners huddling in the stinking cages of lock-up, the grey, cowed faces of the long-term convicts, the scarred buttocks of the men who have been flogged with bamboos". (Orwell1936) At the same time however, he also voices his resentment toward the Burmese, "the evil-spirited little beast", (Orwell 1936) for their treatment of him simply because he is in a position of authority. Orwell is in a state of confusion due to his present circumstances, but soon comes to understand that he is just as much a victim of imperialism as the Burmese.

When Orwell is called upon to take care of an elephant that was rampaging through the town, he claims, "It was a tiny incident in itself, but it gave me a better glimpse than I had had before of the real nature of imperialism." (Orwell 1936) A simple definition of imperialism is the result of a ‘strong' country forcing its control upon a ‘weaker' country. In the incident with the elephant, he uses it as a metaphorical expression of the effects of imperialism. Orwell illustrates this with a detailed account of his experience.

　　　　In Orwell's narrative of the event, the rampaging elephant and its devastation of the town is an allegory for the destructive power of imperialism. The pain, the loss of control and the suffering that the British Empire