Shooting an Elephant

             This is a story of a man with a will to survive in a land where he is not liked. For the reason of looking different, he was not a native. Having a position of authority, being a police officer, he was not given any, He says, " When a nimble Burman tripped me up on the football field and the referee looked the other way, the crowd yelled with hideous laughter. He was in a land all different and new where many did not like him. Not until his services were needed, did he get some respect. That was all out of need for his assistance because that was his job. Then one day a stray elephant was spotted ravaging the other side of town. He was asked to go and do something about it. It was his duty. This was an elephant which was tame but his attack of "must" had been due. He brought a small riffle and headed on his pony to the other side of town.
             This was a small village in lower Burma. Where he was hated by many people, in an aimless, pretty kind of way all anti-European feelings was very bitter. He was a ill-educated young man, and was forced to deal with all of his problems in silence and alone. This was brought on any Englishman in the east. The yellow faces of young men hooted at him from safe distances, which got on his nerves. He lived his life as an outcast and without any knowledge of the culture. Except that it disgusted him how ruthless the Burmese were against their oppressors. This upset him very much because in sense he was the oppressor, and living with them was a crime. Theoretically, he was all for the Burmese and against their oppressors. But it was only because he took out all of his rage on little evil-spirited beasts (children) who tried to make his job impossible. He had
             day-dreams of driving a Bayonnet through the gut of a Buddhist Priest. These were all normal by products of loving in a imperialistic society. But this was where he was and that was the way of life.
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Shooting an Elephant. (1969, December 31). In MegaEssays.com. Retrieved 13:58, April 18, 2024, from https://www.megaessays.com/viewpaper/96551.html