Read “Shooting and Elephant” by George Orwell (pgs 80-90) and respond to this post by answering these questions before class on Monday:
What do you think the elephant and the shooting of the elephant represent in Orwell’s story? He says, “I perceived in this moment that when the white man turns tyrant it is his own freedom that he destroys.” How does this relate to the main character and his action of killing the elephant (symbolically and actually)?
1) I feel the elephant represents the working man since in India and Burma the elephant is a work animal. I think the death of the elephant symbolizes a rebellion against the rule of the British. The Burmese people want to see the end of British rule in their country.
2) Symbolically- Orwell symbolically tells us how he used his gun to kill the elephant to show his superiority over the people.
Actually-He kills an innocent animal in order to avoid looking incompetant in front of everybody.
1. I think that the elephant and the shooting of the elephant represented in Orwell’s story is that the elephant was innocent Indian that just wanted to be free and the shooting of the elephant showed that innocent that died for no reason.
2. This relates to the main character and his action of killing the elephant symbolically the main character knows that holding the gun meant that he had the power to kill. And he actually just killed a elephant that he did not really want to kill but did anyways.
1) I feel that the elephant could represent both the British Empire and the natives. It is easy to see that the elephant representing the natives, as they are a rampaging beast which needs to be put down immediately for its own good, as well as for the peace of the region.
However, it could also represent the British Empire in that the elephant is an animal capable of a lot of damage, much like how the British Empire was the largest empire in the world, invading many different nations for little to no reason outside of seeking power. Furthermore, page 86 describes the elephant’s worth; alive the British Empire brought in limitless wealth and prestige, whereas after its empire crumbled away, its worth was reduced drastically. Finally, page 88 describes its death, where it died slowly, and quite painfully, much like how the British Empire endured numerous conflicts and rebellions before finally crumbling away into history.
2) When Orwell writes on page 85, “I perceived in this moment that when the white man turns tyrant it is his own freedom that he destroys,” it means that he cannot escape from his actions. A just ruler is free to cross over to commit atrocities, but once they do so, they cannot escape the notoriety that accompanies it. This applies similarly to empires; the natives expect a certain level of cruelty and inhumanity from the British officials, as was described when Orwell narrates about the natives jeering at authority figures.
Furthermore, once he set out to shoot the elephant, the entire crowd followed him, watching him, binding him to peer pressure the same way that chains would shackle a prisoner.
1) i feel like the elephant and the man who shot him represent the British empire and imperialism. Shooting the elephant makes the man think its his job to protect the natives from the rampaging elephant that was doing a lot of harm to the land. There is always an end to certain things, just like the British empire that rules other nations but in the end, there is always someone there to stop the growth of it.
2) in Orwell story the line”I perceived in this moment that when the white man turns tyrant it is his own freedom that he destroys” it represent the man has no escape from his job that the native ask him to do. the gun symbolize the power of the British empire and the elephant symbolize the natives that the British empire has power over the natives
1. I think the elephant is a metaphor of British imperialism in Burma. Just like the elephant, Burma struggles to stay alive. After many shots this animal still lives, just like the people are still there, but weak and without hope. They independence is dying.
2. When Orwell writes “I perceived in this moment that when the white man turns tyrant it is his own freedom that he destroys” he means that imperialism hurts both sides, not only the occupied people. Everybody expected from him to do certain things and to “avoid looking a fool” he has to shoot an innocent animal. He knows that he is wrong but he is trapped, just like Burmese people.
1) I believe that the elephant represents the “freedom” that the “white man” destroys. Just like in Orwell quote. The elephant shows the freedom that was killed or taken away from the people of great Britain. So the “murder” or the British empire can indulge in their own selfish prosperity.
2) This story relates to the main character because even though he may of killed the elephant to get popularity. In his mind and spirit he has destroyed the only bit of pride, and dignity to himself. This contrast to the British empire because by the British empire killing their peoples freedom, in all honesty they are only hurting themselves.
1)The elephant is symbolic for the narrators shame, the idea of the shooting taunts the narrator and puts him in the position where he is hesitant to kill this beast , but is forced and pressured by the crowd behind him. Shooting the elephant puts an end to his conscience.
2) ” I perceived in this moment that when the white man turns tyrant it is his own freedom that he destroys” This relates to the main character and his own action of killing the elephant because the locals expect him to do this job which is shooting the elephant, not because he wanted to but because he proceeded based on the condtions of his rules he states, he shall spend his life in trying to impress the ”natives” so in every crisis he has to do what the natives expect so that he wont get looked as a fool.
1.) I believe the elephant and the shooting of the elephant represented a internal conflict this man had been having with himself. Shooting the elephant was a result of this conflict.
2.) “I perceived in this moment that when the white man turns tyrant it is his own freedom that he destroys.” This relates to the man and his action of killing the elephant. Symbolically they relate because the man represents the tyrant and the elephant represents the mans free will or freedom to do as he desires. As a tyrant the man has to execute his power by killing the beast or risk looking like a fool infront of the natives. When he kills the beast he is taking away his own freedom because of what he fears the natives might think of him. He never truly wanted to kill the elephant. Which leads to the actuality of it all. This quote actually relates to the man and his drastic decision because he wanted to “avoid looking like a fool.”
I believe that the elephant and the shooting of the elephant represents that the white man feels bad for animals.That is because he kept on having second thoughts on shooting the elephant.When he said that he perceived in that moment that when a white man turns tryant it is his freedom that he destroys it relates to the main character and his action of killing the elephant because he thought that if he did not kill the elephant he would be laughed at by everyone. He thought that he would have no freedom
1. The elephant represents the narrators mind or conscience, the real beauty behind it is that no one can ignore a real elephant int the room.
2.Symbolically- Orwell symbolically tells us about the gun to show the power that he holds over people with it. When in all actuality , he kills the elephant to make his self look good in front of everyone.
1) After reading orwell’s story i think the writer tried to represent the elephant as a burmees pepole & indian people and the shooting elephant as a british people cause we know that british ruled in burma & india & didn’t give their freedom .They tortured them , killed them but all british people didn’t want to do this but they became an absurd puppet as like as the white man think himself. Because the white man don’t want to kill the elephant .
2)I think this line symbolizes how a tyrant ruler becomes ! Symbolically the shooting man relates to a tyrant as killing an innocent elephant which look like the activities of british ruler .
And actually the white man didn’t want to kill the elephant .He just took the rifle for his own protection but carrying rifle the people think that he would kill the beast & that’s why more than two thousand pepole who didn’t like him started to follow him . Then the white man thought that he had to shoot the elehant after all
1) In my opinion, I think that the elephant and the shooting of the elephant represents freedom, and the british empire in some way. I think that the elephant represents the british empire and then when the elephant dies it represents freendom.
2) [Symbolically] The main character has a gun in possession proving that he has the powers to do kill and do whatever he wants
[Actually] He doesn’t notice he killed an innocent animal just to show his superiority over everyone and what he can do
1. I believe that the elephant is a symbolic metaphor for the division between the Burmese people and the British people. By killing the elephant this represents the collapse of the division between Burmese people and British people. Metaphorically the elephants prolonged death basically represented how long the division between the Burmese people and the British people would end.
2.Symbolically the main character knows that the gun is what will stop the division between Burmese and British people. He knows that symbolically killing the elephant there will be years of disagreements between the 2 sides until they can eventually become united as one.
Actually this means that the reality is that the gun is the oppressor and by killing the elephant that shows the British will always have control until Burmese people revolt against the British.
I think the elephant is a metaphor of British imperialism in Burma. Just like the elephant, Burma struggles to stay alive. They want their own freedom but still they failed to get it. After many shots this animal still lives, just like the people are still there, but weak and without hope. They independence is dying.
I think the story symbolized that the main character knows that holding the gun meant that he had the power to kill. And he actually just killed a elephant that he did not really want to kill but did anyways.
1) To me the elephant seemed to represent many things. For one the elephant seemed to represent how he felt being a part of the police in India. He didn’t do anything wrong that wasn’t in the right sense of the British empire, he was just a police officer. However he was hated by the people who wanted nothing more but to see him miserable. On the other hand the elephant could represent the British empire, much like the animal, the empire is strong and in essence took over the trading that India had done during the time. The elephant likewise strolled into town and took over the lives of the people in the village. Shooting the elephant could represent the British Empires inevitable fall. Through oppression it people would rise and take down the beast.
2) The quote relates to the character in that, as the British empire ruled in tyranny over India and were eventually kicked out, the man character has the power to eradicate something that is oppressing the people that he has to keep in line.
1)I think the shooting of the elephant represents the the officer trying to fit into his role. He has a large crowd of people surrounding him which brought more pressure to him which lead to him shooting the elephant. I think the elephant represents the natives and how they were treated buy the British
2)Symbolically- the shooting of the elephant shows the main character becoming a tryrant by having the crowd think for him and ends up destroying his freedom.
Actually- the main character shoots an innocent animal and feels the pain but doesn’t want to show any weakness in front of the crowd
1) I think the elephant represents imperialism. The people did not want imperialism so they wanted the elephant killed to stop imperialism. I think the shooting of the elephant represents the people being free and no longer having to live this life anymore.
2)This relates to the main character by him not only killing the elephant but also killing himself inside. He did not want to kill the elephant but felt pressured by the people. His action of killing the elephant was for him not to look like a fool, but he didn’t want to kill the elephant. He did what the people wanted and they were happy the elephant was killed.