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Post by emmagray on Aug 21, 2023 20:32:40 GMT -5
Orwell explains in the essay "Shooting an Elephant" that he was frequently despised because he represented the empire, which people hated. "They harass him and mock him and seek opportunities to laugh at him. He explains that at the time of the events, he is too young to grasp the dilemma of his situation, or to know how to deal with it." As killing the elephant would be considered murder in his eyes, he promised himself that all he wanted to do was defend himself. However, there was an impressive number of people waiting for him to shoot the elephant when they saw him. He actually shot the elephant because he wanted to perform properly and stop being teased. However, if you truly think about it, he was pushed into shooting the elephant.
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Post by Leah Sparks on Aug 21, 2023 21:20:46 GMT -5
In "Shooting An Elephant," George Orwell shoots the elephant out of the force of peer pressure. Orwell says that he felt the pressure of two thousand wills to shoot the elephant. At one point in the text, Orwell describes himself as "...an absurd puppet pushed to and fro by the will of those yellow faces behind." This demonstrated how Orwell was basically being controlled by the crowd behind him, like a puppet, through their reactions. At that point, Orwell decided to shoot the elephant to change the crowd's view of him. Orwell must spend his life trying to change the 'natives' view and do what the 'natives' expect. The last sentence of Orwell's piece explains how he "...often wondered whether any of the others grasped that [he] had done it...to avoid looking a fool." He used the shooting of the elephant to redeem himself in the eyes of the townsfolk.
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Post by Isabella Johnson on Aug 22, 2023 12:23:44 GMT -5
In Orwell's essay "Shooting an Elephant" he chose to shoot the elephant because everyone was expecting him to. Orwell was faced with this complicated situation while he was a police officer in Burma. This elephant had trampled someone to death and the people of Burma were expecting him to kill the elephant because of what it had done but Orwall knew that it wasn't morally right to kill this animal. He wasn't originally going to shoot the elephant but as a whole crowd of people followed him to where the animal was he had had a choice either to kill the animal and gain respect from the natives but feel the guilt of killing such a beautiful creature or not kill the elephant and let it live but face the humility of being weak and losing respect of the native people. A strong character might have chosen to let the animal live and not worry about how others felt but unfortunately Orwall was not confident enough in himself to do that. He shot the elephant simply because of the pier pressure surrounding him. He lets other people and their ideas infiltrate his mind and he has to live with the consequences. Orwall is very clearly unhappy with his decisions in the story and he had to leave once he shot the elephant because he could even look and the magnificent creature as it died a painful and slow death. He might have the respect of the native people of Burma but he lost a lot of respect for himself after he shot the elephant.
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Post by Talahn Sandifer on Aug 22, 2023 13:36:19 GMT -5
One of the main reasons Orwell decided to shoot the elephant was the pressure felt as a representative of the British imperialism. He writes that "when the white man turns tyrant it is his own freedom that he destroys," suggesting that imperialism corrupts both the oppressor and the oppressed. Orwell's position as a colonial policeman meant that he was expected to maintain control over the local population, even if that meant resorting to violence. Another factor that influenced Orwell's decision was the power of conformity. He writes that "I was stuck in between my hatred of the empire I served and my rage against the evil-spirited little bastards who tried to make my job impossible." Orwell was torn between his personal beliefs and his duty to the British Empire. He knew that shooting the elephant was wrong, but he also knew that refusing to do so would make him look weak in front of the Burmese crowd. The pressure to conform to the expectations of his role ultimately led to the tragic outcome of the story. In conclusion, Orwell's decision to shoot the elephant was a complicated one that was influenced by a plethora of factors. Such as pressure of imperialism, the power of conformity, and Orwell's own personal beliefs all played a role in his decision. However, the story is a look on destructive effects on imperialism. Orwell writes that " I often wondered whether any of the others grasped that i had done it solely to avoid looking fool." In other words, the act of shooting the elephant was not about maintaining control or asserting power, but about avoiding humiliation or appearing weak. This, in turn, highlights the inherent absurdity and cruelty of imperialism, which forces individuals to act against their own moral compass in order to maintain the status quo.
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Post by Zoe Reeves on Aug 23, 2023 21:36:42 GMT -5
In the story, Orwell was faced with the decision of either succumbing to peer pressure of what his town wanted, or choosing what he thought was morally right and letting the crowd down- to let the elephant live. The elephant in the town went “must”, breaking out of chains and escaping, and killed a black Dravidian coolie. Immediately, chaos erupted in the town, and the Englishmen began looking for the elephant. When the English crowd saw he had a rifle, they were excited that he was going to shoot the elephant for entertainment and meat. A crowd started to form when the elephant was found eating grass, and Orwell knew in that instant that he didn’t want to shoot it. He wrote how it was as harmful as a cow in that moment, however, a huge army of Englishmen were behind him cheering him on to shoot it. Not wanting to look foolish in front of the crowd, he shot the elephant five times to please them- regretting it immediately. It's also important to note that he started his story out by writing that “he was hated by large numbers of people” so he wanted to feel accomplished and liked- even if that meant doing what he thought was morally wrong. I think this shows a great example of how in life we are often forced to choose whether to cave in to peer pressure or do what our gut instinct tells us and what is morally right.
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Post by rubydrzick on Aug 24, 2023 23:28:43 GMT -5
In the story “shooting an elephant” by George Orwell, Orwell decides to shoot the elephant not because he wants to or because he thinks it is the right thing to do instead orwell feels that everyone around him is expecting him to do it therefore he feels pressure to do so. There was large group of people watching orwell who felt the elephant needed to be killed due to recent events that has occurred. Although he doesn’t want to and knows that it is wrong Orwell decided to kill the elephant, he later feels a lot of regret and guilt when he finds out how long it took for the elephant to officially pass. Orwell knows what he did was wrong but the fear of looking like a coward or weak made him do so.
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Post by tatummielke on Aug 26, 2023 21:44:35 GMT -5
In "Shooting an Elephant" Orwell chooses to shoot the elephant to not look foolish in front of the crowd. Orwell had stated he had no intentions of killing the elephant but he decided to so he could avoid the humiliation of not doing so because it was what the crowd had wanted. After killing the elephant, Orwell had tried to find reason behind why it was okay that he killed it. Orwell was looking for respect he never got from the people around him, Orwell became selfish and was only thinking about how killing the elephant could help him. Feeling the pressure to please the people around him, shooting the elephant seemed to be the only solution in the situation for Orwell. Orwell wanted to feel accepted by society, after the killing there was still talk about it from Orwell, it could be coming from guilt because killing the elephant isn't what Orwell wanted to do.
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Post by Lily Longtin on Aug 27, 2023 12:56:57 GMT -5
In the essay "Shooting an Elephant" George Orwell shoots an elephant in front of a large crowd. Orwell explains that he had no intentions of shooting the elephant but didn't want to look foolish in front of a crowd who was expecting him too. He wanted to avoid looking weak and show his power and authority in front of the people gathered around him. He describes his whole life of being picked on and laughed at and wanted to overcome that and so he shot the elephant who was eating grass ahead. He believed he shouldn't hurt the innocent elephant but wanting to fit in overcame his beliefs and morals. He ended up shooting the elephant five times, but the elephant still endured a long and painful death in which Orwell could not watch and had to leave.
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Post by sayani on Aug 27, 2023 14:02:21 GMT -5
In the essay “Shooting an Elephant”, George Orwell explains his fear and hatred for being laughed at throughout his whole life. He gets the opportunity to change his circumstances by shooting a wild elephant going on a rampage in the village. At first, Orwell doesn’t think to shoot the elephant, but to only scare it away. While he is on his journey to find the elephant and prevent it from further torturing the village, a crowd of thousands of people follow him expecting him to shoot the elephant. Knowing this, Orwell figures out that this is his opportunity to not look like a fool in front of the villagers and be laughed at even more. Deep down Orwell doesn’t want to shoot the elephant because he finds it sitting peacefully and thinks that the elephant is done with its rampage. But because of the crowd behind him, Orwell is pressured into shooting the elephant because he wanted to fit in and for the people to like him.
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Post by sayanij on Aug 27, 2023 20:53:09 GMT -5
In the essay “Shooting an Elephant”, George Orwell explains his fear and hatred for being laughed at throughout his whole life. He gets the opportunity to change his circumstances by shooting a wild elephant going on a rampage in the village. At first, Orwell doesn’t think to shoot the elephant, but to only scare it away. While he is on his journey to find the elephant and prevent it from further torturing the village, a crowd of thousands of people follow him expecting him to shoot the elephant. Knowing this, Orwell figures out that this is his opportunity to not look like a fool in front of the villagers and be laughed at even more. Deep down Orwell doesn’t want to shoot the elephant because he finds it sitting peacefully and thinks that the elephant is done with its rampage. But because of the crowd behind him, Orwell is pressured into shooting the elephant because he wanted to fit in and for the people to like him.
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Post by edmundocg on Aug 27, 2023 21:53:01 GMT -5
In "Shooting an Elephant" by George Orwell, the narrator shoots the elephant due to a tangled web of societal pressure, personal conflict, and a quest for validation. As a colonial police officer in Burma, the narrator finds himself trapped in a dilemma. A massive elephant, in the grip of "must," goes on a destructive rampage, and a crowd of locals expect the officer to deal with it. The burden of his role as an authority figure weighs heavily on him, while the jeering crowd goads him, making him feel powerless and humiliated. Despite not wanting to shoot the elephant initially, the narrator succumbs to the perceived expectations of the crowd and his role. He takes the rifle and fires at the elephant as a display of control over the situation. This moment is a snapshot of the larger theme of imperialism, where the colonizers often find themselves trapped in their roles, forced to perform acts they may not personally agree with. The shooting of the elephant becomes a metaphor for the destructive power dynamics of colonialism and the dehumanizing effects it has on both the colonizers and the colonized.
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Jisela Albaran-Trujillo
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Post by Jisela Albaran-Trujillo on Aug 29, 2023 18:20:39 GMT -5
In ¨Shooting an Elephant¨ by George Orwell, Orwell shoots the elephant because he felt peer pressured and didn't want to look foolish. The elephant had attacked and killed a black Dravidian coolie. It had also done damage to the country like destroying someones bamboo hut, killed a cow, devoured stocks, etc. The crowd wanted Orwell to kill the elephant as it has done a lot of damage. Orwell did not want to kill the elephant but he also didn't want to look a fool in front of everyone. When he found the elephant, Orwell said that the elephant looked no more dangerous than a cow. He was going to watch the elephant and make sure he didn't go savage then later go home, untill he realized that the crowd had followed him. The crowds faces where all happy and excited that the elephant was going to get shot. In the essay Orwell says ¨They did not like me, but with the magical rifle in my hands I was momentarily worth watching. And suddenly I realized that I should have to shoot the elephant after all ¨. He then shot the elephant three times and when he heard it took him half an hour to die, he wondered if others thought that he had done it ¨solely to avoid looking a fool¨
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Post by Sasha Kays on Aug 29, 2023 18:44:12 GMT -5
Orwell shoots the elephant as a way to avoid looking weak in front of the crowd around him. He had felt the pressure from the people around him and the need to feel accepted by them. He has always wanted to feel like he blended in with crowds due to already feeling like he was not liked by his peers.
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Post by Kelly Garcia on Aug 30, 2023 19:28:57 GMT -5
1:Orwell shoots the elephant in what I believe is a personal choice not in an imperialistic view because of the choices he makes. In the text it says “ He wears a mask, and his face grows to fit it.” People have these expectations for him to step up, as well as choosing to do so to step up in line. The locals flooded with him not physically but conflicting with him emotionally which triggers him to shoot the elephant because they expect him to follow through and show the locals he's not a fool as they say and also of all the pressure of the locals wanting to eat the meat of the elephant. Then at the end of the story trying to justify his decision of killing the elephant because the elephant already killed a local but knowing throughout the whole story he wouldn't but of the locals seeing it as an entertainment for them.
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Post by JaNyiah Lawler on Sept 1, 2023 11:42:48 GMT -5
In short, Orwell killed the elephant because he didn’t want to look foolish. He reflects to himself on the effects of imperialism on the white man, and how it has affected him in this moment specifically. The imperialist is cursed to be seen and treated as “sahib”, a word that means “owner”, or “master”, one that in an ironic way is meant to be used out of respect. Orwell is a white man, and supposed to hold an authority position over the Burman natives. He knew that the natives didn’t respect him, let alone like him, and his only real job was to display his power as their superior. To not shoot the elephant would have been in his mind a show of weakness, and he could not afford to do that in front of the crowd.
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