Shooting an Elephant
Shoong an elephant: master or slave?In the story "Shooting an Elephant," by George Orwell, the character finds himself at the mercy of a hooting crowd of Burmese villagers eager to see him shoot an elephant gone "must." The character is confronted with a moral dilemma and abandons his morals to escape the mockery of the native Burmans. He feels compelled to shoot the animal because the Burmans "did not like me, but with the magical rifle in my hands I was momentarily worth watching" (289). Therefore, in the story the character is both a master of his dominion and a slave to the population because he was pressured to shoot the elephant. The narrator is a superior in the story because of his job. He is a British police officer that was transferred to Burma. He is an authority figure with power of the people of the land. That makes his a master of land. Even though he is a police officer, he still do
The natives are willing to kill the elephant themselves, but they somehow know they can encourage the character to do so, and for that instant making the natives the master and the narrator the slave. The narrator thinks he has to maintain the Imperial image by killing the elephant, but it is the natives that pressure him to do so. "No one had the guts to raise a riot," but the natives were quick to insult and hoot after him when he was at a safe distance. The crowd pressures him into doing what they want him to do, and that is to kill the elephant. He was force to kill the elephant from outside sources. However, a large group of Burmans had formed behind him, and they were now expecting him to kill the elephant. The narrator describes the crowd vultures, not wanting to kill the elephant themselves, but waiting for him to kill it so they could swoop in and take the meat. He rationalized killing the animal by saying he had to or he would look like a fool in front of the crowd. He knows that if he does not kill the elephant he will be laughed at and the people might disobey him. The pressure the character receives from the natives was enough for him to cave in and do something he did not want to do and was made a slave of society. Therefore making him a slave in his own dominion. Not only will it be entertaining to them but it will also provide them with meat. The narrator knew that is was wrong to kill the elephant. When he finally came upon the elephant, peacefully eating outside of town, it no longer posed a threat.
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Acceptance Essays
