SHOOTING AN ELEPHANT - GEORGE ORWELL

       Back in older societies Imperialism was a major factor for any growing empire.Imperialism is the act if extending the rule of one country over other countries and colonies. In "Shooting an elephant" by George Orwell we learn about the British imperialistic government in Moulmein(lower Burma)through Orwell's descriptive narration. Orwell used dialogues and chronological order to effectively write his narrative. Orwell describes the hatred felt by the "sneering yellow faces of young men everywhere." The Burman citizens hated how the English government was taking over their country and in result they hated everyone working for them including Orwell. 

       Orwell used clear and direct diction that effectively showed his views. He even stated that "imperialism was an evil thing and the sooner i chucked up my job and got out of it the better." Orwell seemed to be trapped working as a policeman of this government even though he didn't agree with their choices. One day he was called to deal with the chaos of a elephant roaming wild in the market place. This elephant killed a civilian in town. Orwell got an elephant gun so he would be able to stop it, if it was necessary. He did not want to hurt the elephant unless it was the only possible way of stopping it. But sadly Orwell was forced to kill the elephant because of the crowds of people behind him waiting for him to do it, there seemed no other way get out of the situation. In the narrative it becomes evident Orwell regretted this decision but he tries to rationalize his actions by stated how the older Europeans believed he made the right decision and because the man died he was "legally in the right" for killing the elephant. I can  feel the oppression of the imperialism because Orwell clearly didn't want to shoot that elephant but with all the pressure from his superiors and the people around him, made him commit this act. Yes that might of been the "right" thing to do but was it the just thing to do? 

       I felt a sense of grief when the elephant died it was obvious it just wanted to be free able to roam around. When no one bothered it stayed to himself. As Orwell stated his anecdote about killing the elephant, I felt remorse for the narrator he was unhappy with his life and the government he was apart of but still he wasn't able to leave. Its like he was trapped in this society where most people hated him and for good reason too, even he hated himself for being apart of imperialistic England. I also felt hopelessness and grief for the Burman people. These Europeans were coming into their country and trying and change and control how they have been living for years and that's just not fair to them. 

I really did enjoy Orwell's narrative it was very descriptive and entertaining. It showed the many different aspects of this one situation and showed the different views of the sides of all the people involved.