Shooting an Elephant

Subject:
The subject of George Orwell’s “Shooting an Elephant” is the effects that the pressure of society has on an individual when faced with a decision. This is illustrated when the police officer is sent to control the elephant, but when the croud of Burmans pressured him to kill the animal after seeing the gun in his hands he felt compelled to do so to avoived looking like a fool. The officer did not want to kill the animal, however, the pressure to do so from the crowd overwhelmd him, forcing him to go agaisnt what he felt was right and conform to what society wanted.

Occasion:
“Shooting an Elephant” was written in the 1920’s. The essay’s time of creation is exhibited when the author refers to the dying of the British empire that ruled over India until the mid 1900's by saying, “I did not even know that the British Empire is dying.” The place of the essay's creation is most likely Burma, India. The time and place of the essay's creation influenced how the author felt about the Burman's that were pressuring him to kill the elephant as well as the British Empire at the time.

Audience:
The specific audience that Orwell is targeting in his essay, “Shooting an Elephant” is people that understand what it is like to be pressured into doing something you would have otherwise not done. He makes this clear by emphasizing the fact that if not for the large crowd pressuring him to do so, he would have not killed the elephant. In his essay Orwell talks about how the people of Burma hated him, and how that added to the negative pressure working against him. Through his writing he conveys how impossible it felt to stand up for what he believed was right to the people that hated him. This is a very wide audience because, although not everyone has experienced something exactly to what Orwell had, everyone has been pressured into doing something that was against their better judgment.

Purpose:
George Orwell’s purpose in “Shooting an Elephant” was to portray that it is difficult to stay true to your morals when being pressured by a large group of people. When someone is faced with a decision where the line between right and wrong is being distorted by the pressure to do what society wants the will often conform to society because of the overwhelming fear of being judged and made fun of because of your decision. Even though Orwell did not want to shoot the elephant the pressure from the crowd of Burmans belittled him into doing so. After the fact, he felt as though he had gone agaisnt his own will and felt horrible for his actions.

Speaker:
George Orwell, an author of the 20th century, believes that it is wrong to make decisions based on the expectations of society and going against your own judgment. He believes that everyone should think for themselves and do what they think is right in every situation. After killing the elephant because the pressure of the crowd and the overwhelming fear of what everyone else would think he said, “I often wondered whether any of the others grasped that I had done it solely to avoid looking a fool.” Although most people would blame the crowd of Burmans for pressuring him to do the wrong thing, Orwell takes full responsibility to not staying true to what he thought was right under the circumstances.

Tone:
George Orwell has a negative and angry attitude about his conscious decision to conform to what society wanted him to do in his essay “Shooting an Elephant”. After he shot the elephant Orwell had feelings of regret and was discontented with himself. Taking this overall negative tone to his essay shows that one should always do what they think is right when faced with a decision no matter how over powering society might be. In the end, you will always be content knowing that you did what you felt was right.