Themes InShooting An Elephant, By George Orwell - 840 Words

The Elephant has been Shot Recently I have read the essay â€Å"Shooting an Elephant† by George Orwell. The essay consists of Orwell reliving his younger years, when he was a Colonial police officer in Burma for the British Empire. He further describes the local’s disdain for European presence, him included. A constant theme that appears in the essay is roundabouts or contradictions; an example being Orwell claiming he hates imperialism, yet ironically works as an imperialist cop rather than quit the job. As the essay progresses, Orwell recalls when a tame elephant breaks loose and he had been tasked with responding to the rampaging beast. Once he had located the elephant, Orwell pursues the Beast with a newly obtained elephant gun while†¦show more content†¦Finally, Orwell makes the final and most fatal of all his contradictions: Betrayal. The first time Orwell talks about the elephant in the essay, he talks about a firearm of some sort while always mentionin g somewhere how he doesn’t want to shoot the elephant. He even says later in the essay: â€Å"As soon as I saw the elephant I knew with perfect certainty that I ought not to shoot him† (2). Orwell claimed he knew in his heart and mind that morally, he should not end the elephant. However, Orwell does in fact end the elephant. While Orwell describes the animal’s reaction, he adds: â€Å"An enormous senility seemed to have settled upon him. One could have imagined him thousands of years old† (3). Orwell had betrayed his morality to impress the crowd, which he summarized as â€Å"...Any of the others grasped that I had done it solely to avoid looking a fool† (4). Not only did Orwell shoot the elephant, he betrayed his moral code; that he â€Å"ought not to shoot him (the Elephant)†. He had sinned. In Inferno, The deepest level of hell, the 9th circle, has been reserved for people who commit treason. This further connects â€Å"Shooting an Elep hant† to the idea of Orwell’s personal hell. Orwell was in his own personal hell when he shot the elephant, and landed himself in the deepest pit of it. His agony shows when he describes the wounded elephant and says: â€Å"...The tortured breathing continued without a pause†¦ I felt that I had got to put an