Essay #1: “Shooting an Elephant”

Question Three

The elephant in Orwell’s essay represents Burmese people. The elephant also may double up as representing the Burmese economy. Here are a number of reasons as to why the elephant represents the Burmese people as well as the economy, which the essay outlines.

In the first instance, the elephant is described as tame and not wild. However, at some point the author points out that the while most elephants are chained up during ‘must’ this particular elephant had escaped. He emphasizes on the fact that the elephant was tame and therefore was less likely to be harmful. This state symbolizes the way the Burmese people have been oppressed that they cannot even openly speak out against the imperialist. The degree of their domestication is also seen in the way the officer was the only one in a crowd of close to two thousand and none with a gun to defend themselves from the elephant. Finally, the reaction of the elephant, that it only attacked when it felt cornered and was harmless when left alone, could be likened to the reactive dislike of the imperialists by the Burmese who openly showed their dislike reacting like they were on the offensive against the imperialists.

The elephant is also a symbolism of the strength and determination of the Burmese people. When the elephant is shot, the elephant stands its ground and refuses to fall. The fact that ‘At the second shot he did not collapse but climbed with desperate slowness to his feet and stood weakly upright, with legs sagging and head drooping’ shows the resilience of the people. This symbolism showcases that despite the fact that the imperialists had imprisoned, flogged and even killed the Burmese, their spirit was still strong. This is also seen when Orwell writes that ‘The thick blood welled out of him like red velvet, but still he did not die.’ The pride as well as stubborn nature of the people is further seen in the way the elephant ‘But in falling he seemed for a moment to rise, for as his hind legs collapsed beneath him he seemed to tower upward like a huge rock toppling, his trunk reaching skyward like a tree. He trumpeted, for the first and only time’

The second thing that the elephant symbolizes is the Burmese Economy. In more that one part the importance of the elephant is highlighted in the essay. In the first instance, the inspector is reluctant to shoot the elephant because of its value when alive. Orwell points out the fact that ‘Alive, the elephant was worth at least a hundred pounds; dead, he would only be worth the value of his tusks, five pounds, possibly.’ This meant that the economy of Burma was thriving only when it was alive and only then would the imperialists gain anything from that particular economy. This meant that if that economy suffered any set-backs, it would be in effect of little, if no value to the imperialist. Furthermore, symbolism of the elephant as the Burma economy shows how the imperialists had tamed the economy and how it had been thriving. The fact that the Burmese people were interested in the elephant’s meat and that it was over by the afternoon symbolizes the yearning that the Burmese people. These people were interested in having their share of the fruits of their economy.

 

 

 

 

References

http://orwell.ru/library/articles/elephant/english/e_eleph