Question

One of Orwell’s purposes in telling his story is to show how it gave him a glimpse of “the real nature of imperialism” (3). What does he mean? How does his essay illustrate this purpose. Shooting an Elephant.

Answer 1

George Orwell in “Shooting an Elephant” describes what he considers “the real nature of imperialism”. In other words, imperialism is meant to control not only the overseas countries, but their own country as well.

Orwell has always express his views about imperialism, describing it as a way of demonstrating economic power over other countries. Besides, he criticizes how this power is obtained through the exploitation of underdeveloped nations. However, in “Shooting an Elephant” he reveals that Imperialism not only affects its victims but it also affects the imperialistic country. He illustrates this statement by the unjust shooting of the innocent Elephant by the British Officer who is pressured to show the Burmese people that he is superior to them in some way.

Answer 2

In "Shooting an Elephant" by George Orwell, "the real nature of imperialism" is shown when Orwell says that as a British officer in Burma, he himself is against colonialism because in a job like that you see the dirty work of the British Empire. And when he faces the elephant he sees clearly that even though he doesn't want to kill the elephant, he has to because the Burmese expect him to, so he is not free. By limiting the power of the others the British Empire has limited its own freedom making a place of hollow power.