"Shooting an Elephant" by George Orwell

SOAPSTone

Subject

The subject of George Orwell’s “Shooting an Elephant” is that imperialism causes social pressure. Pressure to please people that are socially below you is illustrated with the story of Orwell shooting the elephant. Orwell shoots the animal because he feels socially pressured by the Burmese. He thought that he ha to please them and do as they wished because of the fact that he had a higher social class. He was British and Britain were imperialists to Burma, therefore he thought as the higher person he ha to do what was expected of him.

Occasion

“Shooting an Elephant” was written in 1936. The essay’s time of creation is displayed through the text when it is stated that Burma was a state that was under the British’s imperial rule. Britain was an imperialist of Burma during the late 1930’s. The probable place of the essay’s creation is in Moulmein, Burma. Orwell says in the beginning of the essay that, “In Moulmein, in Lower Burma..” stating that this is where the essay was probably created.

The time and place of the essay’s creation influence the essay in which the author is sure to make his point clear so that he can change others’ opinions on imperialism. The time period is when imperialism was happening in Burma he writes the article in this time period to try and change opinions about imperialism because he feels it is wrong. Because of his experience with shooting the elephant he realizes what morally wrong things imperialism caused him to do because of the pressure that he felt others putting on him.

Audience

George Orwell’s specific audience for “Shooting an Elephant” is British rulers. The author’s target audience is exhibited by Orwell’s strong views against imperialism. He focuses on British rulers who are the main controllers of the imperial rule on Burma.  Orwell is trying to change the rulers opinions on imperialism.

The author’s general audience for the essay is imperialists. The author’s general audience is shown by his emphasis on how imperialism is wrong. The author focuses throughout the article on how imperialism is evil and causes people to do things they regret. He is trying to target imperialists and change their views on imperialism.

Purpose

Orwell’s purpose in “Shooting an Elephant” is to persuade that imperialism is terrible because it puts people under pressure to do things that they will regret.  Pressure to do regretful things because of imperialism is illustrated by the author’s emphasis on the story about the elephant. The author ended up regretting killing an elephant because it was morally wrong. However in the moment he was pressured to it because of the imperial rule that Britain had on Burma. He says, “The people expected it of me and I had got to do it…” The author felt the pressure to kill the elephant because it is what the people expected of him because it was British. Without the imperial rule he would not have been expected to do such a thing and the pressure would not have been put on him.

Speaker

George Orwell, author of many classic novels, believes that imperialism is terrible. This value is illustrated by the quote in the article, “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 of it the better.” The author puts emphasis on the fact that he hates his job because of the imperialistic role he is under. As a police officer he expected to take care of the Burmese people and this is why he is put under so much social pressure by imperialism.

George Orwell’s, use of imagery is evident in when he explains the situation that he was ut under before he killed the elephant. He describes the people around him as “An immense crowd of…faces all happy and excited over this bit of fun, all certain that the elephant was gong to be shot.” These people put the pressure on him to kill the elephant because they thought it was his job as a British imperialist.

Tone

George Orwell exhibits a pleasant but firm attitude about imperialism in “Shooting an Elephant”. These attitudes are expressed with his pleasurable approach to the article. He wrote the article very pleasantly and was not stern when saying imperialism was wrong. He took a firm approach when saying that imperialism was wrong. He was not criticizing saying that people are stupid for being imperialistic, he was just firm in saying it needs to be changed. This tone showed that imperialism caused pressure on people to do things that they regret; because the tone was pleasant it made people believe it more but it was also firm saying that people needed to realize what was wrong.  He says that he thinks imperialism is evil because of the pressure he is under but also because he feels bad for the Burmans. Here he is pleasant saying he is sorry for them but also firm saying that imperialism is evil. His tone is very helpful in showing his purpose.