Toward the end of the nineteenth century, Great Britain exercised a policy of imperialism, by which it established economic and political control over many nations, including great portions of India. Orwell was involved in this practice. Read the biography of George Orwell from Britannica Online Encyclopedia: http://0-search.eb.com.library.acaweb.org/eb/article-9057505.
Then answer the following: how does reading Orwell's biography help you understand some portion of the autobiographical essay "Shooting an Elephant"? Due Wednesday, 8 October.
NOTE: If you cannot access the article off campus via the link, go to the library home page at http://www.lrc.edu/library/. Click on the link that says "Off-campus access to resources" and follow the instructions.
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After reading the biography of George Orwell, I understood more of "Shooting and Elephant". Knowing that Orwell grew up in the lower-middle-class of British Society and in a country where being white was hated. Even though Orwell felt pity for the Burmese he also thought that they do deserve what they did. May be if the Burmese followed the rules than they wouldn't be punished harshly in prison. May be if the British officers could be nicer and show more respect there would not so many problems. Since he was the great white man, he felt the need to act greatly in the essay "Shooting an Elephant". Orwell didn't want to kill the elephant but he really didn't have a chance to back out from it. Orwell says that he is dislike by the natives but with the magical rifle he is worth watching. Orwell feels like a puppet as he stated, "I percieved in this moment that when the white man turns tyrant it is his own freedom that he destroys. He becomes a sort of hollow, posing dummy, the conventionalized figure of sahib." I understood that Orwell if being alone could reject to kill the elephant but with a huge crowd watching you are force to do the unbelievable.
From reading Orwell’s biography, it helped me understand why he shot the elephant from his autobiographical essay “Shooting an Elephant”. He shot the elephant because he wanted to protect himself and was unsure of what to do in that situation because he had never shot an animal such as an elephant. After all he knew he did the right thing. Older men said that he made the right decision and younger men said it was a shame of what he did. He didn’t want to kill the elephant but he did it for the best of it.
Orwell's dislike for imperialism is not well shown in "Shooting an Elephant." Although he does mention it, it seems to be an underlining idea even though many people who read "Shooting and Elephant" find this piece of literary works pure evidence of George Orwell’s feelings. However, once I read the biography and understood what exactly Orwell had experienced before he became a part of the imperial police service in Burma, India, I had a better understanding of why he would write a piece that not only demonstrates his dislike of imperialism but also the white man’s view on how they were expected to act in front of those that the British deemed inferior. In “Shooting an Elephant,” Orwell discussed how the Burmese truly disliked the British, going as far as jeering at them in situations that could cause them not to get in trouble. On example Orwell gave in “Shooting and Elephant” is that “if a European women went through the bazaars alone somebody would probably spit betel juice over her dress.” While that is embarrassing and extremely rude and disgusting, it does not cause enough damage to take to the police. However, in “Shooting an Elephant” Orwell does not fully explain why the Burmese had grown to have such a hatred for Europeans. While the very nature of imperialism would cause any ‘inferior’ race to rapidly grow a hatred of their oppressors, there was no evidence presented on how the whites treated the Burmese. However in the biography Orwell’s childhood was briefly explained, talking about how his family acted as if they were gentry. His past life, which was only demonstrated in the biography, helped lead insight as to what Orwell experienced growing up before he was able to fully experience the problems that were caused because of imperialism. Without reading the biography I might have looked at the essay differently as I evaluated it, because the biography really helped demonstrate the background information that the reader almost needs to know before reading “Shooting an Elephant” so that way the true meaning of the essay is better portrayed to the reader.
Let me see... shooting elephant or refusing and facing two thousand people who waited for me to shoot it down or get in trouble? Uh-oh, I would have rough time to decide which one for moment. Now I can understand how Orwell's feeling if you are alone to decide by yourself to defend yourself even if you don't want to do anything that you don't like. Even for me. I can see Orwell lived in different locations since he was born, and when he was a police man, he was alone and scared. At the end of "Shooting Elephant" did say that he did the right thing to shot an "mad" elephant but shamefully that owner lost his "pet" or "used".
When I read Orwell had shot an elephant several times to kill him, but it was in pain for long time than Orwell was expecting it to be, it made me feel so bad for it. Yes, I understand his reason however it gave me heartbreaking that he had to do it to make people happy even if he didn't want to shoot it. It's truly sad that sometimes people have to do something that they do not like it but make the other people happy. In the truth, I think there is some people who want to see you to do anything for them no matter what or if you dislike it. As they say, it's part of life, ha!
Even though I have heard of George Orwell before I read “Shooting An Elephant” or the biography about him I was only familiar with only a couple of things. I knew about his association with communism and his various run in with the British government; however when I read “Shooting An Elephant” I became quite confused. I did not understand his reason for being in India and why he had the job he did. Also, he discussed imperialism and his distaste for the government which made me even more confused because I had only known about the communism.
After reading the biography, the autobiographical account with “Shooting An Elephant” made a lot more sense. First off him being born in India helped me realize why he was there. It was just his home and it was something he just wasn’t thrown into. Then reading that he only followed family tradition and became an officer made sense. Only knowing Orwell as a writer really confused me when his own autobiographical account talked about him being an officer of some sort in India.
What the biography cleared up was the political system he had dealt with his whole life. Ever since Orwell was little politics played an important role in his life. Being born into “lower-middle class” and his father being an officer probably influenced Orwell in some ways. However, what I really got was the reason why he hated imperiliasm so much. Well for one he was controlled by the system and he really understood what imperialism was after the incident with the elephant. That he was being controlled by the people watching as he was being controlled by the watching government. This allowed him to lose self control or free will and do what he had not intended to do. That shooting of the elephant thus allowed him to realize the wrongs of such government and began his path down to the writer I had known about before I read any of this. Overall, after reading the biography, it really just helped me understand the overall reason of why he was there and his association with imperialism.
After reading George Orwell's biography I understood the essay "Shooting an Elephnat" a little bit more. In the essay he spoke of his regret for being there and how much he hated his job as an officer. The biography went into a little more detail of how he was reluctant to go there in the first place and how he was so eager to leave because on one of his leaves to England he didn't return. The biography also went into more detail of his hate for the governing status as it said he called himself an anarchist for a while. By showing his extreme disliking for his job it showed how he honestly didn't want to shoot the elephant, it was something he was pressurd into doing because of the nature of his job, which he was ashamed of, as the biography put it, and hated.
Reading Orwells biography helps a small bit in understanding "Shooting an Elephant". THe way Orwell was raised he say many things from his time as a police officer to his father being government officials. So it gave him a wider prospective of being a bermease police officer and when it came time to make a decision he knew he had to do the right thing. He states early in the passage that no one was willing to cause a riot and that upset him. So when he had to do something right to stop something dangerous he felt he should do the right thing because if he didnt stand up no one would.
After reading George Orwell’s essay, “Shooting an Elephant”, I was completely confused. Nothing seemed to tie together for me and I didn’t quite understand the point that Orwell was trying to prove. Reading George Orwell’s biography helped to tie together some of loose ends which I had questions about. After learning about Orwell’s background and family history the essay made much more sense. I learned that in attempt to follow family tradition Orwell proceeded to join the Indian Imperial Police as assistant district superintendent, although this was not his dream. Orwell dreamed of becoming a writer and was substantially unhappy as a member of the Indian Imperial Police Force. In Orwell’s essay he says “For at that time I had already made up my mind that imperialism was an evil thing and the sooner I chucked up my job and got out the better. Theoretically- and secretly, of course- I was all for the Burmese and all against their oppressors the British.” This quote from the essay was one I found particularly confusing since Orwell later said “For it is the condition of his rule that he shall spend his life trying to impress the ‘natives,’ so in every crisis he has got to do what the ‘natives’ expect of him.” This quote led me to be under the impression that Orwell enjoyed his job and liked getting a sense of “glory” from pleasing the “natives.” Although I had many misconceptions about the essay at first, reading Orwell’s biography made everything much clearer and led me to realize that although he tried desperately to please the natives he still did not agree with the idea of “imperialism” but was simply carrying out his role as a member of the Indian Imperial Police Force. This biography also made it remarkably clear to me why Orwell felt remorse after he shot the elephant, he was doing something he didn’t believe in.
After reading Orwell's biography it was said he lived through these times of imperialism, he was also apart of a lower middle class family. I got a better understanding of the essay "Shooting an Elephant." It told of his past, such as when he was in college and got a scholarship to an amazing school but refused so he could continue with family tradition. The British ruled over the Burmese and Orwell felt ashamed. So he made the decison of leaving his job as police. There is some similarity between Orwell and the police portrayed in the essay. Both were doing things that they weren't proud of, and done under pressure. Orwell I believe left the force because he didn't want the Burmese hating him, and the police officer in the essay shot the elephant so the Burmese wouldn't hate him as much.
This whole assignment and the essay was a little confusing to me but I tried my best to understand it all. After reading the essay, I was surprised at the reactions that Orwell had to shooting the elephant and did not fully understand why he did besides the fact that he did not want the Burmese people to hate him. After I read the biography, I had a little bit better understand of the essay "Shooting an Elephant." In the biography of George Orwell, it states, "Having felt guilty that the barriers of race and caste had prevented his mingling with the Burmese..." it made me realize the importance of Orwell shooting the elephant. The elephant was causing great distruction in the Burmese villages and it even killed a man by stepping on it. Orwell knew that the Burman people already did not like him because he was from a different place and he was a colonial police officer. He had to shoot the animal even though he did not agree with it because then maybe he would be seen as a hero and not hated by the Burmese. Orwell came from a "lower-middle class" (Orwell Bio) so being viewed as a hero was a big deal to him.
When first seeing George Orwell’s autobiographical essay, “Shooting an Elephant” I was intrigued to read on to unravel the significance of shooting an elephant. As I read the essay, I became confused as to George’s role in his story. I understand that he was a hated, white police officer in a foreign country with yellow-faced ‘natives’, but I was still slightly unclear of Orwell’s full background. In my opinion, I felt that shooting the elephant was a poor choice. I understood that he was fighting for acceptance in Burma, but I didn’t feel that shooting the elephant was necessary. Possibly wounding, or tranquilizing the animal would have been a better choice. It was a selfish decision on Orwell’s part.
After reading the biography of George Orwell, I came to realize that he was an incredibly talented man. His experiences in his youth and his position with Imperialism somewhat justifies the killing of the elephant, but still I disagree. You should not have to kill ANYTHING to gain respect nor a liking from anyone. Granted, he had undergone some hardship when growing up in ‘snobbery’, and I feel that his rebellion against that through his writings and lifestyle boded well for him. Still, I remain uncertain with his decision.
All in all, the essay was difficult to understand without knowing George’s background. It was well written and informative, but was confusing at the beginning. I would still enjoy learning more about Orwell, to further my knowledge and understanding of him and his writings.
Orwell led a very interesting life. He wrote many books about different issues. The article, "Shooting an Elephant," shows the poverty and harsh actions that people from India experience. By living in many different places and experiencing life in different cultures, Orwell is able to share many accounts he experienced while in these different countries. This article also shows how racism can be reversed. While Orwell was in India he was treated differently, not only because of his job as a police officer but also because he was white. This is another thing Orwell experienced while traveling. He didn't come from a rich family but at least he wasn't a product of racism at his home. He also experienced the pressure of other people "forcing" you to do something you don't necessarily want to do. by reading more about his life in the autobiography, I learned that not only did he experience many of life's normal lessons but he also overcame many other problems that most people don't have to deal with.
The article “Shooting an Elephant” want not confusing to me. I understood where it took place and the dilemmas that were going on at that time and place. The native American disposed the white men (esp. officers). They would never riot but would play jokes on the cops and hated them. The only reason two thousand plus people came followed the officer was because he had a gun and they wanted to watch him kill the elephant. Towards the end some people thought killing the elephant because the animal killed a “coolie” was unnecessary. They felt this way because that group of people did not like the coolies. The officer was happy that one of the reasons for killing the animal was because it killed this human being because it was a strong political statement. Meaning, no matter your race or color, the law is going to protect you. Orwell was born in India and was around this life style so that gives him great credibility. The tradition of him becoming a police officer was in the family, and his father was on as well. That’s why I think the story revolves around the policeman. I gathered he did not like imperialism and didn’t support the overall authority of the government. It was like this officer was ashamed to work for the government, but it was tradition. “Shooting an Elephant” was a good story, and the biography just helps you understand the political background and life style during that time period.
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