Shooting an Elephant by George

¶ … Shooting an Elephant by George Orwell Portraying Imperialism through the Imagery of George Orwell's "Shooting an Elephant" Imperialism proved to be one of the worst institutions since the end of slavery in the western civilization. In many cases, it resembled slavery in that the native people had no choice but to go along with their conquerors -- and neither did the soldiers on the front line. Thousands of British soldiers were forced into foreign lands for no reason other than to benefit the government at home.

What resulted was heavy resentment from both sides, as seen in George Orwell's short story "Shooting an Elephant." Orwell uses imagery to represent this idea, along with derogative slang compared with a western eloquence of speech in order to further represent the hopelessness of the situation of imperialism. The use of first person places a sense of individual responsibility in the larger context of imperialism. It gives authority to the actual feelings and sentiments of real soldiers in the field.

In many cases, the world did not conceive imperialism as a collaborated effort of many individuals, but rather that of a single nation. However, by placing the point-of-view as a personal first person, Orwell returns a sense of immediacy and power to those individuals involved in the happenings of imperialism, "I was hated by large numbers of people -- the only time in my life that I have been important enough for this to happen," (Orwell, 646).

For in fact, it was the individual Europeans in the region which many of the local colonized people did blame for the misery seen during the height of imperialism. And so, Orwell's use of first person also allows the reader to explore what it would have been like as a mere infantryman in a foreign nation, hated by the locals. This later comes out more when the narrator himself is allowed to show resentment towards imperialism.

This use of first person to explore the true sentiments of imperialism show that most of those involved in the front lines actually hated the institution. It was not only the locals who were resentful, but also the foreign soldiers for having to deal with living in a foreign nation for no reason which particularly benefited them, "All this was perplexing and upsetting.

For at that time I had already made up my mind that imperialism was an evil thing and the sooner I chucked u my job and got out of it the better," (Orwell, 647). The retrospect of the narrator on the failure of imperialism is also shown in his confessing that he did not even know that he was at the outpost of a dying empire -- his own country was lying to him. Naturally, this would then cause hostile feelings to the entire the world around him.

However, when his assistance is needed by the townspeople, the two very different populations show similar responses to the bloody scene of shooting an elephant, "It was a bit of fun to them, as it would be to an English crowd; besides they wanted the meat," (Orwell, 649). Orwell furthers this blend of modern and primitive as seen through the use of his language.

The narrator describes the scene of the village as using the native terms, yet juxtaposes this with eloquent English adjectives, "It was a very poor quarter, a labyrinth of squalid bamboo huts, thatched with palmleaf, winding all over a steep hillside," (Orwell, 650). It is the description of a scene as witness from an outsider, (Rodden, 390). The narrator's response to the eastern village is combined with his own distain based on being familiar with more "civilized" representations of society.

This is also apparent through the slurs in which he references the local people, "He was an Indian, a black Dravidian coolie, almost naked, and he could not have been dead many minutes," (Orwell, 650). This is the view of a man who views himself as superior to those his job posits he protect -- typical of many imperialist situations. Ultimately Orwell uses the imagery to show the nature of imperialism, along with the concept that it created puppets which were forced to commit crimes never originally intended.

However, it is an interesting twist that the narrator moves from one puppeteer to another, from the British crown to the Burmese people, "Here was I, the white man with his gun, standing.