Ryan Lezcano

Prof. Mongar

Ingl-3104-113

7 May 2003

The Eradicated Moral and Ethical Values in “Shooting and Elephant”

In his essay “Shooting an Elephant”; George Orwell attempts to relay the atrocities of imperialism. Throughout the plot and a literary technique called imageryOrwell uses his personal experience with a moral dilemma to convey to the reader the evils which result from colonial politics. "The essence of being human is that one does not seek perfection, than one is sometimes willing to commit sins for the sake of loyalty, that one does not push asceticism to the point where it makes friendly intercourse impossible, and that one is prepared in the end to be defeated and broken up by life, which is the inevitable price of fastening one's love upon other human individuals." (From'Reflections on Gandhi', in Shooting an Elephant, 1949)

Throughout his essay Orwell illustrates how his moral and ethical values were obliterated or baffled by the atrocities of imperialisms. He was a sub-divisional police officer of the town, and in a way anti-European feeling was very bitter. George Orwell was hated by large numbers of people; he was an obvious target and was baited all the time. One day something happened that gave Orwell a better glimpse of the real nature of imperialism. In Moulmein, a small town in Burma, a tame elephant had broken his chain and escaped, the elephant was know in a rampage throughout the town, destroying many houses and crops. Orwell was sent to check the situation out, for precautionary reasons he took his rifle. Upon arriving, he stood before a crowd of cheering Burmans; the hated oppressor had at last found some favor among the native people. “They did not like me, but with the magical rifle in my hands I was momentarily worth watching,” clarifies Orwell in his essay. Initially his resolution was not to kill the elephant but instead to wait for the elephant’s mahout.

Despite his initial resolution that it would be morally wrong to kill the elephant, Orwell describes the dilemma he faced as he sought to win the approval of the people. He further exemplifies, “in reality I was only an absurd puppet pushed to and fro by the will of those yellow faces behind” (Orwell’s essay). So eager to please the applauding masses that had gathered, Orwell momentarily abandoned his morals in search of approval and later suffered from implacable guilt.(All of these according to George Orwell Forum Frigate)While it was clearly immoral to shoot the elephant, Orwell demonstrates in the essay that he felt tremendous guilt over the incident. Furthermore, he focuses on the morality of a much greater issue: that of imperialism. In exploring the evils of colonialism, Orwell expresses his realization that “when the white man turns tyrant it is his own freedom that he destroys” (Orwell’s essay). The University of Oklahoma advocates that essentially, he is suggesting that the transgression he committed was a natural outcome of an unjust political system. The institution of imperialism forced him to respond as an imperialist would respond. He says that in his position, one “becomes a sort of hollow, posing dummy, the conventionalized figure of a sahib. He wears a mask, and his face grows to fit it” (Orwell’s essay). Orwell was a well-intentioned officer who fell victim to the corruption of imperialism. Orwell’s general moral goodness is apparent in his writing. An anonymous author implies that in Orwell’s essay he demonstrates that he does not accept the statusquo; rather, he sees the true nature of despotism and is sickened. In describing the images that overwhelmed his conscience, Orwell says “the wretched prisoners huddling in stinking cages of the lock-ups, the grey, cowed faces of the long-term convicts, the scarred buttocks of the men who had been flogged with bamboos- all these oppressed me with an intolerable sense of guilt” (Orwell’ essay). Furthermore, his description of the encounter with the elephant reveals his general moral goodness. “I did not want to shoot the elephant,” writes Orwell as he pondered the value of life and the animal’s worth to its owner (Orwell’ essay).

When Orwell arrived at the scene of the crime many of the children were being pushed from behind a hut. When Orwell walked back there, he saw a dead coolie. The coolie was lying on his belly with arms crucified and head sharply twisted to one side. This was imagery. According to an anonymous authorthe coolie represented Jesus Christ. When he was crucified it was for our sins. The coolie's death gave Orwell a reason to shot the elephant. Later on when he was getting ready to shoot the elephant, he described the scene like a theater. He was the puppet of the play and the Burman people were the puppet masters. He would do what they wanted or the strings would be pulled harder.

The shame, for Orwell, did not lay solely in the murder of the elephant, but rather culminated in his comprehension of the tyranny of imperialism under which he served as an officer. Orwell describes the importance of the elephant as follows: “it gave me a better glimpse than I had had before of the real nature of imperialism- the real motives for which despotic governments act” (Orwell’s essay). Therefore, the central ethical issue of this essay is colonialism, and how it demolished and bewildered his moral values when confronted with a nerve-wracking situation.