George Orwell – “Shooting an Elephant”, “Politics and the English Language”, “Reflections on Gandhi”, “Marrakech”, “Looking Back on the Spanish War”, & “Why I Write”

“Shooting an Elephant“

Reflecting on an incident in which he was compelled to shoot an elephant out of embarrassment (or the evasion of such) while working as a police officer in Burma, George Orwell describes the ambivalence inherent in working for an evil empire against a population of unruly citizens.

I was stuck between my hatred of the empire I served and my rage against the evil-spirited little beasts who tried to make my job impossible.    (149)

Orwell describes the incident itself as “tiny” (149) and very simple: a rogue elephant had been delivered too early while its handler and master were diverted to a different town and it was ravaging the bazaar.  After being called, Orwell takes his rifle that he knows is too small to bring down the elephant purely with the intention of shooing it away with the noise if the occasion to do such presents itself.  But upon seeing the police officer with a gun following the elephant’s path of destruction, the citizens become excited at the possibility of violence.  “They had not shown much interest in the elephant when he was merely ravaging their homes, but it was different now that he was going to be shot,” (151).

Finding the elephant peacefully grazing in a field, the young Orwell considers his options and with a crowd of “two thousand at the least” (152) watching, Orwell finds he has no option.  “The people expected [the shooting] of me and I had got to do it; I could feel their two thousand wills pressing me forward, irresistibly,” (152).  Orwell feels like a puppet, the alleged “leader” white man armed in a sea of brown, unarmed faces, compelled to do the bidding of the empire’s tyranny.

Orwell shoots the elephant and it eventually dies, resulting in some controversy.  Orwell reflects that it is fortunate that the elephant had killed a man on its rampage, meaning he was in some way justified in ending the animal’s life.  Some police officers agree with Orwell’s decision, others do not, but none realize his true motives.  “I often wondered any of the others grasped that I had done it solely to avoid looking a fool,” (156).

Also of note:

• As to disrespect and abuse from natives towards police officers: “The young Buddhist priests were the worst of all.”  (148)
• Should he not have shot the elephant: “The crowd would laugh at me.  And my whole life, every white man’s life in the East, was one long struggle not to be laughed at.”  (153)
• “The older men said I was right, the younger men said it was a damn shame to shoot an elephant for killing a coolie, because an elephant was worth more than any damn Coringhee coolie.”  (156)