Shooting an elephant by i.s

Orwell's prose is really enchanting.

1. “Shooting An Elephant” George Orwell “In Moulmein, in lower Burma, I was hated by large numbers of people” (Orwell). Indranil Sarkar Sapatgram; Assam M::9859945270

2. “Shooting An Elephant” George Orwell Eric Arthur Blair known better to the world as ‘George Orwell’ was born at Midnapur (India) on 25 th June 1903. His father was a Colonel in British Indian Army. He got his education at Eton. After completion of his graduation he joined as a commissioned officer in Indian Imperial Police. He was posted in Burma(Myanmar) as an Assistant Superintendent of Police . He resigned in 1927 and decided to become a writer.

3. “Shooting An Elephant” George Orwell He resigned because he could not tolerate the imperial tendency of England. In 1928 he moved to Paris. Fortune eluded him initially and in order to survive he had to work as a ‘Dish-Washer’ in a hotel. His first book 'Down and Out in Paris and London’ was published in 1933. He published the book under the pen name ‘George Orwell’. Besides ‘George Orwell’ he had another lesser known pen-name. It was ‘John Freeman ’. Orwell died on 21 st January,1950 at the age of 46.

4. “Shooting An Elephant” George Orwell What is Imperialism? By Imperialism we mean a country colonizes a land that it does not own, and exercises political and financial dominance over that country. Orwell is acclaimed as a great novelist because of his two dystopian novels— ‘ 1984 ’ and ‘Animal Farm ’. The term Orwellian has been entered in the OED to mean ‘any oppressive or manipulative social phenomenon opposed to a free society’.

5. “Shooting An Elephant” George Orwell Orwell is one of the greatest English prose writers of the 20 th century. His work is marked by keen intelligence and wit, a profound awareness of social injustice, an intense opposition to totalitarianism, a passion for clarity in language, and a belief in democratic socialism.  

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7. “Shooting An Elephant” George Orwell -:Context of the Story ‘Shooting an elephant’ :- Burma was finally conquered by Britain in 1886 after three Anglo-Burmese wars beginning in 1823. It became a separate independent province of India in 1937. Burma got independence on January,1948. Orwell was posted at Moulmein as an Assistant Superintendent of Police in 1922. It was a period of intense anti-European sentiment in Burma. Although sympathetic towards the Burmese natives, he was held as a symbol of oppressive Imperial power. He was subjected to constant baiting and jeering by the natives. Being disgusted, he resigned in 1927.

8. “Shooting An Elephant” George Orwell Orwell

9. “Shooting An Elephant” George Orwell Context of the story:- (2) During his stay at Moulmein, he was once invited to kill an elephant reportedly gone mad. Orwell visited the place and found that the report was fabricated and false. He did not like to kill the elephant as it would be a destruction of a huge resource. But, the natives wanted him to be heroic. The first person narrator narrated the story how he was compelled to kill the elephant against his conscience just not to be leveled ’coward’. It was originally published as an addendum to his book ‘Burmese Days’[1936].

10. “Shooting An Elephant” George Orwell -:The story:- In an early morning of March, a group of Burmese natives along with a sub-Inspector of police came to Orwell’s official Residence at Moulmein and asked him to save them by killing a mad elephant that had rampaged the village areas and killed a cow and a coolie. Orwell did not like killing big animals as they were the resource of the nation.

11. “Shooting An Elephant” George Orwell People in lower Moulmein gathered to watch the shooting of the elephant.

12. “Shooting An Elephant” George Orwell But, by virtue of his office, he was supposed to oblige the request of the people and save them from such a danger. So, he started towards the place of occurrence along with the messengers. Reaching the spot, he saw a huge elephant grazing in the paddy field without having any concern for the people of the locality.

13. “Shooting An Elephant” George Orwell It appeared quite normal. Orwell felt that the elephant was probably under the spell of a ‘must’ that had made it mad temporarily. But, it recovered and did not deserve to be killed. It was not a wild elephant; it was a domesticated elephant of a local trader.

14. “Shooting An Elephant” George Orwell A crowd of nearly two thousand native Burmese people gathered there to watch the ‘fun’ killing and having a share of elephant’s flesh. They insisted Orwell to kill the elephant instantly. They had dual interests---to enjoy the fun of watching how an elephant is killed and to get the share of the remains of the dead elephant. In order to save his ‘heroic’ image Orwell had to commit the most cowardly act of his life.

15. “Shooting An Elephant” George Orwell He felt that a Sahib had got to act like a Sahib; he had got to appear resolute, to know his own mind and do definite things. So, he borrowed a ‘Rifle’ from one of his friends living nearby. He felt that his personal one, an old .44 Winchester would be quite small to kill an elephant. The elephant was spotted grazing peacefully in a muddy paddy field. He realized the danger of approaching the elephant. The soil was muddy and slippery.

16. “Shooting An Elephant” George Orwell He realized that in case he fails, he would be trampled and the natives would laugh in seeing his grinning corpse. He aimed straight at the elephant’s ear-hole as it was sideways on. He did not hear the bang of the rifle when he pulled the trigger but heard the devilish roar of glee that went up from the crowd.

17. “Shooting An Elephant” George Orwell Very soon an enormous senility seemed to have settled upon him. He sagged flabbily to his knees. Orwell shot again aiming at the same spot. The elephant did not collapse but climbed with desperate slowness to his feet and stood weakly upright, with legs sagging and head drooping.

18. “Shooting An Elephant” George Orwell Orwell fired a third shot. This was the shot that did for him. The elephant trumpeted for the first and the only time raising his trunk skywards like a tree. And then down he came, with a crash that had shaken the ground. Orwell became very sorry in seeing the large beast powerless to move and yet powerless to die. He fired his remaining two shots to hasten the end. But nothing happened. The thick blood welled out of him like red velvet and the entire muddy ground became red.

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20. “Shooting An Elephant” George Orwell Orwell could not see the horrible scene anymore. He took his own rifle and fired shot after shot at his heart and down his throat. At every shot, the body of the elephant shook but none of the shots could kill the elephant. Orwell found it unbearable to see the elephant in such a condition and left the place with a grievous soul. A sense of guilt and helplessness overpowered him.

21. “Shooting An Elephant” George Orwell There were endless discussions about Orwell’s action afterwards. The Indians thought it a sign of the oppression of the colonial rulers. The European opinion was divided. The older men said that Orwell was right. The younger men said it was a damn shame to shoot an elephant for killing a coolie. Orwell himself felt that he had done it solely to avoid looking a fool. He surrendered to the unholy desire of the mob just to keep the image of a ‘Demy-god’ un-maligned. The European colonizers were held as ‘Demy-god’ by the colonized natives.

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