Customer's Document to Make it

¶ … CUSTOMER'S DOCUMENT to MAKE it WORSE George Orwells essay, "Shooting an Elephant," showa alot of things about human nature. Like for one thing orwell wrote about the inner struggle as far as doing the right things and not just doing things that looks real good. He uses the example of how it is not always so easy to the right thing if your working as a police officer in the british empire. He struggles so much to look good cause he wants to empress the Burmese and his own peers.

Symbolism is something that Orwell uses alot too because the narrator and the elephantboth become real powerful symbols that make us think about stuff. The essay is also very ironical because the narrator experiences so much struggle inside himself but is still like a puppet of the Burmese and his own peers, He acts totally different from how he would without so much social pressures. Orwell shows that life is never as easy as it looks like because of so much inner struggle shown in all the symbolism and irony.

The inner struggle of man is also a huge part of the stories themes cause the narrator has to deal with all his dutys and his moral code. In Burma he is a hated man "by large numbers of people" (694). He explains that this hatred is only because of his chosen job choice. He is a sub-divisional police officer in a foreign land and his job makes it really important for him to keep up alot of respectability from the natives.

To make it even worse for him, he is an "obvious target" (694) for sneers and gestures because he is part of a strong european influence that is not liked at all. These things really upset the narrator and make him decide that "imperialism was an evil thing and the sooner I chucked up my job and got out of it the better" (694). He admits that he was really more for the Burmese and "all against their oppressors (694).

He also confesses that he is "stuck between my hatred of the empire I served and my rage against the evil-spirited little beasts who tried to make my job impossible" (694). Also, his reputation is at risk by the Burmese and this also hurts his decision making. This is showed by the elephant because the narrator knows that he should not kill the elephant.

But because the gathering crowd watches and waits for him to do something back, the guy realizes that he has to kill the elephant if he doesn't want to get laughed at, and he really has to kill the elephant. A white man "mustn't be frightened in front of 'natives'" (697), he says. The narrator knows that he did the "right thing" (699) as far as legally but he knows that he really only did it "solely to avoid looking like a fool" (699).

These things both show how the narrator is always really struggling with himself. His moral code says that the European influence in Burma is harming the community but his job keeps him from saying or doing anything or expressing his true feelings. This struggle with his self is showed with the shooting of the elephant for all the wrong reasons. More symbolisms come out of the essay too.

Like the narrator himself becomes a symbol of the Burmese people because he is placed in a situation that he really hate alot. The Burmese hate him the exact same way that he hates the ones that have control over him. He also symbols the British rule itself and he represents the exact same thing that is oppressing the people and they resent him for it. The Burmese sneer and hoot at him and even the Buddhist priests jeer at the Europeans.

The narrator sees "dirty work of the empire at close quarters" (694) and he really hates it all but at the same time, he also is that empire on the streets of Burma. The elephant is a symbol too because he is like the Burmese society that is crumbling under the British rule. It also symbolizes humanity and that no one should suffer under the oppression of others and a long and painful death is the result of such oppression.

The elephant's death is also a symbol for the slow death of Burma. Before the arrival of the empire, Burma was free but now it struggles for its last dying breaths under British rule. The meaning of this is clear because the narrator doesn't even try to hide his feelings about the monarchy at all. The British crown is abusing and killing everyone it oppresses and it wounds their officers by making them take part in activities that make all of them go totally against their inner will.

The elephant is the most powerful symbol of all and he finally dies but with alot of agony nor is it guilty of anything but being what it is. Those under British rule are also behaving like they really are and being what they were born to be but the power of the empire is forcing them to bend and behave in ways that are totally unnatural. Orwell also uses alot of irony in the essay to prove important points.

Like fFor example, his inner struggle comes out because of how he is perceived by the Burmese. So the narrator acts and behaves certain ways to avoid their sneers and jeers. In this way, the white man has actually become a puppet of the natives because he is afraid to appear like a certain way before them. They expect him to kill the elephant so he does it.

He says that the Burmese are evil-spirited beasts, but deep down inside he still cares alot about what they think so much that he went totally against his own moral judgment. He knows that legal wise, he was right but he knew with the crowd of Burmese was "growing every minute' (697), so he knew he had no choice in the matter even if the elephant had returned to being totally calm again. It is so ironic that the right thing to do becomes the impossible thing to do.

The narrator is fully aware of how he is behaving and even admits that he is an "absurd puppet" (697) and that he "wears a mask" (697). In a moment of realization, he states, "I perceived in this moment that when the white man turns tyrant it is his own freedom that he destroys" (697). He also knows that his friends will have something to say about his behavior. At the end of the essay, the narrator states that his older friends agreed with his decision to shoot.