The Negative Effects of Imperialism in George Orwell's 'Shooting an Elephant'

Kruse 1
Prof.beck
ENC-1101-244077
September 24, 2018
Critical Response Chapter 1
What does Orwell’s experience teach him about the nature of imperialism?
Answer 1:
‘Shooting an Elephant’ by George Orwell portrays the negative effects of imperialism. In
the essay, the British officer is a symbol of imperialism, while the elephant represents Burmese
society and the people of Burma who needs to be ‘tamed’ by the British and who unfortunately
have to withstand the worst of imperialism. George Orwell’s job as a police officer for the
British enables him to see the atrocities committed by the British officers on the Burmese people
wherein they are subjected to immense torture in prisons. George Orwell describes the whipped
bodies of the Burmese people in dirty, stinking cells and describes how the British rule is
oppressive and tyrannical. George Orwell states how he sides with the Burmese people and how
he is against the British rule in Burma.
The essay entitled, ‘Shooting an Elephant’ is a metaphor for British imperialism and is a
critique on British imperialism (Doyle 2015). George Orwell’s experience in shooting an
elephant reflects an understanding of colonial power. When George Orwell realizes that he has to
shoot the elephant in order to prevent being belittled, jeered and mocked at by the Burmese
people, he realizes the underlying principle of performance in the relationship between the
British people and the oppressed people of Burma, between the colonizer and the colonized. The