AP Literature p4

March 3, 2010

Shooting an Elephant Literary Analysis Essay

The following autobiographical passage from George Orwell Shooting an Elephant deals with conflict between individuals and society. Read the passage and write an essay in which you analyze how the author uses literary devices to relay the struggle between outward expectation and internal values.

With power comes expectation. One cannot presume a position of authority without assuming certain roles and responsibilities. As displayed in the autobiographical piece, Shooting an Elephant, Orwell proves that power comes at a heavy cost- often at the loss of the rulers own freedom. BY switching narrative perspectives and drawing parallel to his own dilemma to that of the British Empire and their role in the colonial Burma, Orwell proves that a leader rules to the murder of his internal values as he often becomes enslaved to his own people’s expectations, blurring the lines between the ‘ruler’ and the ‘ruled’.

Orwell presents a predicament of killing an elephant or to incur the disappointment of the Natives. It is at this climatic moment of personal choice that he realizes that a position of authority is not all gold and glitter. He utilizes an analogy by comparing himself to a perform who the natives “watch as they would watch a conjurer”. When he has the “magical” gun, he ceases to be a target of their scorn, but rather becomes a momentary interest. It is this recognition of power that he is enthralled by which clouds his own judgment into believing that power is far superior than personal morals. By recognizing this power, Orwell feels the increasing pressure to need to impress the natives and follow through on their expectations. It is at this moment that he has lost his freedom. He now “wears a mask and must grow to fit it”. Orwell knows that a failure to meet the audience’s expectations will lead to utter humiliation, as would any performer know.

Expanding on this analogy of performer and audience- Orwell oscillates between narrative perspectives of 1st person “I” to 3rd person “a white man” in order to draw parallels to his position as a “performer”and the confining aspects of being a British “tyrant”. Just as Orwell must play the role of the brave, ruthless white officer, the British tyrants must maintain their “masks” as resolute, definite, and unafraid actors- often at the cost of personal values. As displayed in Shooting an Elephant, Orwell had to actively go against his personal intuitions and kill the elephant in order to fulfill the villager’s expectations.

However throughout the piece, one cannot help but feel a certain empathy towards Orwell as he is placed in a moral dilemma that we oftentimes find ourselves in- whether to follow society’s norms or to stand up for our personal values. Present throughout the piece, Orwell’s use of imagery is especially poignant in his description of the elephant’s slow death. Orwell does not brusquely state the elephant dies, but rather goes into detail to explain step by step the exact metamorphosis of the grand powerful elephant to a “senile”, “slobbering” creature. Reflective in his description is a ringing voice of sorrow that the reader cannot help but comprehend as he must shoot this elegant creature merely to ease his self-esteem. A decision that we often choose to make, perhaps not to the extreme of murder, but peer pressure and society’s angry glare is a hard hand to push away.

Power is not all that it seems. Underneath the glitter and finery lies a complicated tie between the wielder of power the ones who he draws it from. As emphasized in Shooting an Elephant, what may seem to be a personal decision may often have underlying influences of those around you especially that of society. Like how the British empire decided to colonize Burma for its lucrative trade, it seems it has become locked in a dance between the ruling and the need to impress the natives