Shooting an Elephant Essay Questions

In "Shooting an Elephant" Orwell describes the resent and ridicule that he feels the Burmese people direct at him. Discuss the nature of this resent and ridicule. Where might it come from and why is it directed at Orwell?

"Shooting an Elephant" illustrates the power dynamics in colonial Burma. While the British Imperial military and police uphold the force of law in the country, the Burmese people wield a specific power over their colonizers; they have the power to see through the act, or performance of power, that the individual soldiers or police officers put on.

Orwell states that he doesn't want to shoot the elephant and that to do so would be like murder. Why then does he go against his this inclination?Analyze the scene in which he shoots the elephant.

A close examination of the scene in which Orwell shoots the elephant reveals that he is under the control of the crowd of bystanders. Every thought he has relates to how he would be seen and judged, and most importantly, ridiculed by the crowd. Nothing, he explains, would be worse than ridicule. He is willing to go against all of his better instincts so as not to be laughed at by the Burmese crowd.

In the opening of his essay, Orwell states that he is opposed to the British empire and on the side of the Burman. If this is the case, why does he seem to try so hard to save the face of the British empire? Why doesn't he let on that he's on the Burman's side?

Early in the essay, Orwell claims that at the time of the events of the story, he was too young to know how to confront his own dilemma. Over the course of the story, as his dilemma becomes dramatized by the killing of the elephant, we learn about his fear of humiliation and how that motivates him to perform as though he is thoroughly confident and decisive. We further learn that this fear of humiliation is what Orwell feels is the driving force behind the entire British Empire.

Discuss the nature of British imperial violence in Orwell's essay, "Shooting an Elephant." How is the empire's violence portrayed and what significance does it have?

Early in the essay we glimpse a scene of tortured, imprisoned bodies, as Orwell explains that as a police officer he gets to see "the dirty work of the Empire at close quarters" (31). This image of the scarred buttocks and broken bodies of the prisoners is the first image of violence in the essay. In a piece that is largely analytical, the concrete image stands out. While it might be the day-to-day work of imperialism, the violence of colonial policing causes Orwell's inner conflict and the complex guilt that is the essence of the essay's critical force.

Discuss the role of nature in "Shooting an Elephant." How is nature portrayed and what significance does it have?

The elephant is the essential manifestation of nature in the essay; the descriptive language used to portray both its existence and its actions reflects a sense of greatness, even divinity, though there's no apparent religious aspect to any of Orwell's terms. What is important is that in contrast to the elephant's sublime beauty, its killing comes off as the worst act of vandalism, indeed, as Orwell says, "like murder" (34). Alongside the elephant are the primitive Burmese people whom we see living in thatch huts; we see children naked; they are represented in a way that connects them to nature. As the killing of the elephant is shown to be wrong, so too the subduing of the Burmese people.