Response essay #2 of Shooting an Elephant by George Orwell

(Orwell wrote this account of his early years as a British civil srervant in Burma. One of my very favorites!)

The thought laid out in this most intriguing narrative were masterfully related by the famous writer George Orwell. His narrative begins with telling of his time living in the town of Moulmein in Lower Burma. The political climate in the world at that time (late 1930’s) had Britain as the dominate world power. As it were, they had conquered and occupied Burma. Orwell despised the philosophy of the “white man’s burden” which many European nations had adopted. Yet he had a conflict. The Berman people hated him. Relating several incidents to support this, he mentioned how “the young Buddhist priests were the worst of all.” This conflict which he described, “All I knew was that I was stuck between my hatred of the empire I served and my rage against the evil-spirited little beast who tried to make my job impossible” were the two sides of the coin of the nature of imperialism. The crux of the story is revealed in the telling of his experience with shooting an elephant. On receiving a phone call about an elephant, who had been “musting” and ravaging a town he, being the local officer, went after it. The descriptions given of the damage caused by the tamed animal were excellent. He told of the gruesome murder of an Indian Coolie man, which plays an important role later in the story. As he hunted for the elephant, the town’s people were disinterested. However, once he sent for an elephant rifle, the people came out in droves. An internal conflict began to develop inside of Orwell. He had no intention to shoot the animal, but sent for the gun for his own protection. Upon finding the elephant peacefully eating in a paddy field, it became apparent that the two thousand followers were looking for sport and intended on the death of the animal. He spoke of the will of the crowd pressing down on him. In this he said, “. . . it was in this moment, as I stood there with the rifle in my hands, that I first grasped the hollowness, the futility of the white man’s dominion in the East.” He realized that he had to shoot the elephant. The reasoning to this end was so that he would not look foolish. He was loathed to shoot the beast. He even thought of a way to get around it. Yet in the end the mockery would be too severe. In comparison to the killing of the Indian man and the elephant, the man’s misery had ended quickly while the elephant’s death was torturous and laborious.


The purpose of the narrative lies in Orwell’s enlightenment. He said that the incident of shooting the elephant, gave him a better glimpse into “the real motives for which despotic governments act.” Therefore, I believe his design is to warn and dissuade people from the point of view of Imperialism. In his description, by no mistake, he chose to inform his readers that the Burman people were defenseless. They had no weapons, and despised the “white people” for occupying their country. The way that he spoke of the mask that he wore depicts the illusion created by the elaborate game of playing God called Imperialism. It is my opinion that if we do not consider what Orwell has written here and in other works, we will find ourselves marching into World Wars. Indeed, only a few years after he wrote this story that the Second World War took place. Even so now, our own dear country is plagued with this awful disease. Though we may not call it “Imperialism” or “the white man’s burden”, it has been called “Manifest Destiny.”