Shooting an Elephant - George Orwell
Read the following article: http://bcs.bedfordstmartins.com/everythingsanargument4e/content/cat_020/Orwell_Shooting.pdf
Answer the following issues in your blog response:
1- Why do you think he shot the elephant?
2- What do you find ironic in this essay?
3- How does Orwell use adjectives in this essay? Are they effective?
4- What point was Orwell trying to make with this essay, and was he successful? **Remember Orwell is a very anti-governmental writer. His most famous novels depict corrupt governments and oppressed peoples.
This blog should be 225-275 words; include a word count at the conclusion of your response.
Due TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 25th
I think he shot the elephant just so he wouldn’t have to face the disappointed crowd behind him. They were all expecting the elephant to be shot, and who knows what would have happened if he wasn’t. The people would have been really upset. I can understand why it was so hard for him to do it though. The elephant wasn’t causing any harm, and it was most likely the native’s fault he did earlier. I thought it was ironic that everybody in that little town disliked this guy, but they all looked to him for guidance on what to do with the elephant. Everybody tormented him and treated him awfully, but after committing that act of “murder,” he was the most famous in town. I really didn’t notice anything out of the ordinary for his use of adjectives. It seemed fine to me. I feel like he was trying to get across that the things people want you to do may not always be the right things. I think he is telling us to think for ourselves in these situations and do what you feel is the right thing to do. He didn’t want to shoot the elephant, but he felt like he had to just cause everybody else wanted him too. I can see why he shot it, I just don’t think it is right and he should have gone with his gut, not everybody else’s.
ReplyDeleteWord Count: 238
I think that he shot the elephant all for his own well-being. He did not care for the animal or the people that were around him but for his own self-image. He would have looked like a fool had he not pulled the trigger so he says. He was tired of being made fun of and this was his one opportunity to shine. I find it ironic that even after shooting the elephant people still question his decision and it doesn’t necessarily change much for him. The people are split on whether or not shooting the animal was the right decision. Even fellow Anglo-Indians challenges him for his decision-making. He feels better however in the end for he feels it was within the law that he had to shoot the elephant. Orwell uses adjectives in this essay to give a better description of the time or the scenery. His use of adjectives leaves a more lasting impression on the mind. For example in his essay he uses adjectives to describe the people and how they make fun of him with “hideous laughter” and the “sneering yellow faces.” Also when he gives detail about the elephants “long rattling gasps” it leaves a lasting image. I think that Orwell was trying to show that no matter the situation the natives are not going to easily accept an outsider who is from the country that rules over them and has held them in poverty.
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My opinion on why he shot the elephant is because he basically had to. He had to shot the elephant because first off he asked for the elephant gun. Also everybody was watching and he could tell that everyone was getting excited for him to kill the animal. He also had to impress the crowd that he could shot it and not look like a fool. What I found ironic is that he knew he didn’t need to shot the elephant but the main reason he did was to look good in front of the crowd. When you know what is right don’t do the wrong thing to look good. Another ironic thing is that it took a lot of gunshots to finally bring the big beast. He use adjectives in the easy to give a better understanding at what the police officer is looking at all the time. For intense when he said all the “yellow faces are watching him” meaning that the village was all waiting for him to shot the elephant. I think the point he was trying to make was don’t let people run your lives. Don’t let people choose what your going to you have to the right to choose what you want to do. I feel that he was not successful in doing this because he knew he didn’t have to shot the elephant, but the people were watching he didn’t want to be made fun of. In the end he should of not shot the elephant and just got it tied up and been safe and not try to impress the village. Word count 269
ReplyDeleteI think that this man shot the elephant because his pride told him that he had too. I don’t think that he would have shot had all of those people not been there. He didn't want to be made into a mockery so he shot the elephant in cold blood. I find the fact that the elephant took so long to die ironic. This is because earlier in the essay the author said that he had never seen a peaceful corps, they all looked evil. Even though the elephant took a long time to die he did not even flinch as the gunshots were pumped into him. He lay there motionless. His only movement was that of his steady pained breathing. The man had not seen a peaceful corps until he had killed an elephant. He doesn't use very many adjectives, but the ones he does use are effective. I noticed that he used quite a few to talk about the elephant and how defenseless he was in the meadow eating grass. I think this was to show how sad this occurrence really was. I think that the author was trying to prove two things. The first was that your pride can make you do many things that you do not exactly want to do. The second one is that just because the law dubs something as being okay doesn't mean it is okay. Just because you an elephant has killed a man and the law says it is okay to kill it doesn't mean that you should kill him while he is minding his own business. Word Count: 267
ReplyDeleteI think he shot the elephant for the sole purpose to impress the others and not make himself look like he was a coward and wouldn’t shoot something. I find it ironic that nobody knew where the elephant had gone. This thing is huge but nobody can keep track of it? This is a really funny thing. Do you ever loose your car? This is about the same thing because an elephant is about the same size as your car. I think that he uses adjectives well in this article. It kept me interested in the article the whole time and didn’t loose me at anytime when I read this paper. He tries to make a point with this essay of that we as people try to do things to impress people and make them think you are the perfect person for the job. This is how our government works. They don’t care if they vote for the right issue. All they car about is if they make the people like him so that in 4 more years he can be sitting in the same spot he is now. This is what I hate about our government. I believe that they should vote for the right issue over the one that people are pushing them to vote for. They also shouldn’t try to take all of our rights away that were given to us back in 1791.
ReplyDeleteWC 237
I think he shot the elephant for his own pleasure because he wanted the approval of the people he was an officer over. He did not want to get disapproval from them once again. He was tired of them not trusting him that he was doing the right thing as an officer. So he had to shoot the elephant or he would never be looked up at, he would just be known as the white officer who knows nothing. Even though he knew it was wrong to shoot the elephant, he did not want to get judged again by the people. I think it is ironic that he said he always does what he thinks is right and that he does not care that the people don’t respect him, but by the end of the story he ended up killing the elephant to make the people happy. He knew that it was not right to kill the elephant but he did it anyways to please the people. He described everything the elephant did in very depth detail and made you picture what he was seeing. He also used adjectives to describe the scenery of where he was at, so you as a reader had the understanding of the environment. The way he used adjectives put you as a reader in his footsteps and you could see what he was seeing in the story. He wanted to show that sometimes you have to do something wrong, to make people in your life happy. Sometimes you can’t always do what is right. (WC-260)
ReplyDeleteI think he shot the elephant because of peer pressure. He didn’t want to look like a fool and a coward in front of the natives who had laughed and made fun of him for so long. I think it is ironic that nobody knew where the elephant went and no one could find it. It is ironic because the elephant was so big and you would think it would be hard to lose it. He used adjectives in this story to better describe the scene. They were effective because, it really made me interested the entire time and feel like I was there with them. I think he was trying to make the point that people should not do what others persuade them to do and should make decisions on their own. He explains how he had a debate in his head but ended up doing what would make the people happy just like our governments’ officials do. They usually do whatever it takes to get the majority of the population to vote for them whether it is right or not. This is exactly what he did. He shot the elephant so he wouldn’t look like a fool in front of all the people of that town. I think he regrets doing it for the reason he did. This explains how anyone involved in government can be easily influenced just to make themselves look better. (WC: 236)
ReplyDeleteI think that he shot the elephant just make himself look better to the people, even thought they don't like him. He repeatedly thinks to himself that he will look like a fool if he doesn't shoot the elephant in front of the crowd. I guess he was hoping that by doing something that is popular among the people, they would approve of him more than they did before. I find it ironic how someone who doesn't care about what the people think about him, is pressured to satisfy them. He knew that everyone didn't like him, but his purpose for shooting the elephant was to not look like a fool to those who view him as a fool already. Orwell uses adjectives to really show how much he really didn't want to shoot the elephant and how he regretted it. Orwell goes on for a solid paragraph about how the elephant was suffering and how he just wanted for it to die and not suffer. Since Orwell is anti-government, I think that the point he is trying to make is that politicians will do anything to make themselves more popular. Even if they don't support the decision they may agree just to get themselves re-elected. While the police officer wasn't doing it for a re-election, he did it to benefit himself without thinking about the owner, the elephant, or anyone else outside of the crowd.
ReplyDeleteWC: 236
I believe that this man shot and killed this "beast" purely to prove that he was not to be thought a coward or the villages laughing stock. This man shot this elephant not to protect the village like he is expected to do, but purely for the gratification of being important to the village in a way that was not defining to his ego. What I find as ironic, in the entirety of this essay, is that the so called "wild beast" had a stronger will to live and not give into death, than the man had to stick to his morals and not give into the "natives" desires over then logical corse of action. The author uses adjectives very sparingly in he his essay, but the ones he does use portray a picture of bitter, vial, and grotesque behavior applied to all parties of the village inhabitants, human or animal. I feel like he was trying to show how not only can a government be corrupt and wrong in ones own mind, but also that the same person who is so steadfast in their beliefs of wrong doing of other they have no concept of the repercussions that corruption has on oneself. Even the people with the best intentions can turn vicious or go through episodes of "must" that change them into something they are not, like the elephant and it's metamorphosis from a gentle giant to a raging beast and back again. (Word Count: 248)
ReplyDeleteWhat? All I absorbed from the first two paragraphs was that the narrator is a European, who is a weak police officer, and wants to stab a Buddhist priest. I am going to refer to the narrator as sally because of his feminine acts. Sally later gets a phone call and is ask to take care of a raged elephant. Sally, with his gun, hops on his pony and is excited but nervous. It was Sally’s time to shine. The elephant was terrorizing a helpless town. Once Sally arrived to town, he searched for the elephant, unable to find it. Sally ended up finding a dead man who had been squished by the elephant. Sally grew scared, his little gun wouldn’t hold up to an elephant, so he retrieved an elephant gun to protect himself as needed. The people of the town saw Sally had a gun powerful enough to kill the elephant making everyone excited. Basically all the people of the town followed Sally in search of the elephant, hoping Sally was going to kill the elephant. Sally was under pressure. Sally found the elephant and he watched it for a little while because he knew he should not shoot it. The elephant was just peacefully eating and seemed to be calmed down. The crowd of 2,000 people watched Sally with excitement, ready for him to shoot the elephant. To impress and please the people, Sally marched toward the elephant alone to test and see if it would be enraged or not. To not make himself look like a sally in front of 2,000 people, Sally shot. Three shots it took for the elephant to crumble. Still not dead, Sally shot his last two shots. The elephant was very slowly dieing in great pain. Sally unloaded his small rifle into the elephant finally and it took half an hour to finally die. Sally obviously killed the elephant because of his insecurity. It is ironic because of the shame Sally felt after the long painful death of the elephant. The author made the story very visual with his adjectives. Even though, legally, Sally did the right thing, he doesn’t agree with his actions. (363)
ReplyDeleteI think that he shot the elephant for the same reason that he said he did, so he didn’t look like a fool. As he had said the Burmans detested him, all Europeans, and he was one who hated his job and his country for what they had done. It the simplest of terms he wanted to be accepted by them and shooting the elephant allowed him to be accepted no matter his feelings on the matter. I found the fact that the people looked to him for guidance even though they made fun of him. It was ironic because they had ridiculed him for the whole time he has been there but now, in this one instance, they look to him for the decision that only he can make. Orwell uses simple adjectives to provide a picture. He tries to make the reader see what the policeman sees in a simple way. He is very effective in this use of his adjectives. Orwell, being the anti-government writer he is, wanted to compare this single story to the acts of the government. He was forced to do something that wasn’t necessarily right so that he could please the people. He didn’t like what he did but it was what the people wanted. WC - 212
ReplyDeleteI believe that he shot the elephant to prove to himself and to the natives that he could be a good police officer even though he was European. He needed to show that he was not weak, and that he could make the "right" decision. I found it very ironic that, after saying in the first few paragraphs that he should quit and tried not to care what the natives though, he still went through the trouble of dealing with the elephant in favor of the natives. He let the feelings and actions of the natives deal in his decision so that he could earn their praise. The author uses adjectives sparingly, but when they are used, they are very effective in portraying a specific action or description. I believe that Orwell is trying to portray congressmen and politicians as the police officer in the story. They will do anything they can to earn the favor of common people and other politicians. Like the officer, they do not make actions based on their own thoughts and beliefs, but based on the popular thought that will bring money and fame to them. Orwell is taking a stab at politicians with his anti-governmental views, and I believe that he does this very well and is fully entitled to his opinion. I agree with him in this view, and respect his anti-government writings.(230)
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