Symbolism in "Shooting an Elephant"

Symbolism in "Shooting an Elephant" George Orwell's story, "Shooting an Elephant," tells a story about humanity through symbolism. The elephant is the most powerful symbol in the story in that it represents British imperialism. The elephant's death is even a symbol in the story. The narrator of the story becomes a symbol in more than one way. He symbolizes the British rule but he also symbolizes the Burmese people. The symbolism in "Shooting an Elephant" is powerful because it deals with real people and matters of life and death.

Through symbolism, Orwell demonstrates the danger that exists in one group of people attempting to rule over another with the intention that the rule will be better for those under rule. The narrator's conflicting emotions regarding shooting the elephant reflect his sentiments toward spreading imperialism. The symbolic death brings the Burmese a false sense of security. Symbolism operates in this story to inspire thought toward freedom, oppression, death, and honor. The elephant become the most powerful symbol in the story.

Our first impression of the elephant is that it represents the Burmese society crumbling under British imperialism. What the narrator sees when he looks upon the creature is not a creature for which he should be afraid. He knows that he should not kill the elephant. Kenneth Keskinen maintains, "Colonialism, like the great elephant with its royal blood, like velvet, is dying. Trusteeships are created. Individuals seize power. Political structures are made, altered, replaced" (Keskinen). He goes on to say, "However, it is not simply that the British.

should go home; but those who help and lead, those who are helped and led, must recognize the individual human being, with feelings and dignity, as well as the political being seeking civil rights" (Keskinen). The narrator begins to understand the importance of humanity through a sense of dignity. The elephant is also a symbol for humanity in general, emphasizing the notion that no one should suffer under the rule of anyone else.

Asker maintains that the elephant "comes to represent a complex symbol of the Burmese people and the tide of historical contradiction that threatens (literally and metaphorically) to overwhelm the colonial ruler" (Asker 154). The animal's death symbolizes the slow death of the Burmese. Before the British arrived, the Burmese were getting along fine; they experienced struggle after the British entered their land. Like the elephant, Burma is dying slowly and painfully as it surrenders its freedom.

The narrator's sentiments regarding the animal's death are a direct analogy to what is happening to the Burmese. He knows what the British are doing is wrong. The Burmese should be left alone like the elephant. The narrator is a symbol in more than one way. He symbolizes the Burmese in that he is a man in a situation where he has no real control. He literally hates where he is and is aware that those he feels pity for hate him.

He realizes that he is an "absurd puppet" (Orwell 338) wearing a "mask" (338). He writes, " I perceived in this moment that when the white man turns tyrant it is his own freedom that he destroys" (338). He hates what he has become and what he does. He confesses that he secretly roots for the Burmese and roots against "their oppressors (335). He admits 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" (335).

He is like those in oppression in that he is not free to do what he actually wants to do. His reputation is on the line and he acts to defend it. A man in his position "mustn't be frightened in front of 'natives'" (339), he writes even though he knows that in order to impress those natives, he must act of line with his conscious. He does the "right thing" (340) according to the law he did also killed the elephant "solely to avoid looking like a fool" (340).

Asker asserts that wrapped within the decision to kill or not kill the elephant is the idea that a "tyrannical ruling nation or class loses its freedom in proportion to the power it exercises" (155) and those "who are ruled determine and govern the acts of their oppressors" (155). The narrator realizes the "moral iniquity of British imperialism and sides with the Burmese" (155). In addition, Asker states, "The symbolism allows Orwell to "highlight the contradictions and duplicities imposed on a decent man by an indecent system" (Asker 155).

By making the narrator a symbol, Orwell is forcing us to look at not only the narrator's point-of-view but also the internal conflict he feels and the reasons behind why he acts the way he does. Things are rarely as simple as they seem and this situation demonstrates this point. The.