What does the elephant symbolize in shooting an elephant?
The unjust shooting of an elephant in Orwell’s story is the central focus from which Orwell builds his argument through the two dominant characters, the elephant and its executioner. The British officer, the executioner, acts as a symbol of the imperial country, while the elephant symbolizes the victim of imperialism.
What is the lesson in shooting an elephant?
The main point, the theme, of “Shooting an Elephant” is to expose the conflict between the law and one’s moral conscience as this pertains to British imperialism specifically, but by extension any imperialism. Orwell makes his point in two major ways.
What does the main character realize in shooting an elephant?
Download Shooting an Elephant Study Guide He is already disillusioned with the Empire at the time this event takes place and has decided he wants out of the Burmese police force. It isn’t worth the ridicule, he realizes, and he is morally opposed to all of the oppression he witnesses.
What is the main conflict in shooting an elephant?
The most obvious conflict in “Shooting an Elephant” is the narrator’s unwillingness to shoot the elephant that went on a rampage. This conflicts with the perceived need for him to do so as a display of colonial strength and resolution.
What is the tone in shooting an elephant?
The tone of “Shooting an Elephant” is conflicted, irritated, and resigned.
Why did the narrator shoot the elephant?
He must kill the elephant because the crowd will otherwise laugh at him and the laughter of the “natives” is intolerable to the notion of empire. “There was only one alternative,” the narrator says. He loads the cartridges into the gun (“a beautiful German thing with cross-hair sights”) and pulls the trigger.
Why did Orwell shoot the elephant?
Because the locals expect him to do the job, he does so against his better judgment, his anguish increased by the elephant’s slow and painful death. The story is regarded as a metaphor for British imperialism, and for Orwell’s view that “when the white man turns tyrant it is his own freedom that he destroys.”
How many shots does it take to kill the elephant?
Because they did not kill large animals very easily (some writers said that it could take up to 35 shots to kill one elephant), elephant guns were soon made into larger caliber black powder smoothbores.
What is the value of the elephant?
Photo courtesy of The David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust. In their report, iworry estimated the raw-ivory value of a poached elephant to be $21,000. In contrast, a living elephant is worth more than $1.6 million over its lifetime, largely because of its eco-tourism draw.
Why does the narrator not want to shoot the elephant 3 reasons?
But beyond both practical reasons—to shoot the elephant is to destroy a valuable piece of property—and humane reasons (the thick-hided elephant would die slowly and painfully) the narrator doesn’t want to shoot the elephant because in doing so he is acknowledging his powerlessness.
What is the theme in Orwell’s narrative that is what idea does he develop in regard to white colonialism?
Whar is the theme in Orwell’s narrative? That is, what ideas does he develop in regard ti white colonialism? The theme is conscience and most people want to feel superior and equal and focus on becomung equal and superior when they’re not.
What is Orwell’s spine?
Orwell’s spine was his ability to stay calm among those two thousand people who were all waiting for him to shoot the elephant that had gone mad.