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Post by Aubrianna Caldwell on Aug 13, 2023 11:41:24 GMT -5
I believe if i was in Orwell’s place i would not have shot the elephant, however I understand that he was peer pressured and was nervous about making the crowd upset or the crowd hating him even more. I still believe that it takes a stronger person to ignore the peer pressure and hate from others rather than give in and make yourself feel worse to make others feel better even if it's harder to ignore the peer pressure. If he had not shot the elephant the crowd would have laughed at him but eventually they would have forgotten or moved on because the elephant no longer served as a threat after he left the city. And after he killed the elephant he felt intensely guilty knowing that he could have spared the animal's life and let it live peacefully for the rest of its life. So I would not shoot the elephant.
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sofia
New Member
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Post by sofia on Aug 13, 2023 13:47:53 GMT -5
If I had been in Orwell’s place, I believe I most likely would have shot the elephant. I know I wouldn’t have wanted to, just like Orwell, but I also know that peer pressure is very strong and I don’t think I would be able to fight it off. It is very easy to judge him for shooting the elephant when you aren’t the one being pressured, but standing in front of the elephant with thousands of people wanting you to take its life makes it extremely difficult to go against them. Even when I’m in situations that are less important than this scenario, I usually tend to try to make the outcome the best for most people, even if it isn’t necessarily what I wanted to do. Knowing that thousands of villagers would be happy and no human or piece of property would be hurt again, I would most likely pull the trigger and just deal with the consequences of how I would feel.
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brynn
New Member
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Post by brynn on Aug 14, 2023 12:28:23 GMT -5
A lot of people are saying that when Orwell was faced with peer pressure he shot an elephant. Were the people around him his peers, though? A peer is someone who is equal to you which is why other students in school are our peers and the teachers are not. Orwell talks about "when the white man turns tyrant...he becomes a sort of hollow, posing dummy" and how he himself felt like "an absurd puppet". The pressure he's talking about sounds more like trying not to lose the respect of the people around him so he could do what the British Empire wanted him to do. Thinking like that I might have shot the elephant because if you don't want to lose face with the people around you, especially if you're trying to not be under more scrutiny or be the butt of the joke, you do whatever you're expected to do.
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Post by elizabethb on Aug 16, 2023 12:10:50 GMT -5
I feel as though every action one takes or doesn't take, they'll receive some form of judgment or "punishment" from the people surrounding them. Whether it's being laughed at or life and death, one decision impacts an entire life. If I was in Orwell's position I would not have shot the elephant, because like it said in the text, there ended up being lots of controversy over if it was the right thing to do or not. I can sympathize with why he did shoot the elephant, but considering his initial thought was not to, I would've stuck with it. Like Eloise said, he had a big decision within a short period of time, and his actions were under the influence of a lot of pressure; he just wanted to fit in. Orwell was tired of being laughed at, and he wanted to control the story for once, so he took the shot. I wouldn’t have taken the shot not just because of the guilt I would carry for a beautiful animal, but the other ways I could have dealt with the judgment, like just ignoring it. I agree with you, I think either way Orwell's decision would have faced controversy, and every decision that someone takes people will agree and others will disagree. Although if I was in Orwells position I think I would have shot the elephant. Deep down I don't think any animal should go through that kind of suffering, and I wish that I could be able to make a different decision. But, I think if I felt the way Orwell felt with all the pressure on him. I would have to shoot the elephant to be able to fit in and not get laughed at. Especially with all the people I would have to disappoint by not shooting it, like the 2,000 people that were watching and then the other white men from the east. I wouldn't be able to ignore their opinion and shame. But I think it is good that you (Morgan) would be able to handle the judgment and just ignore it, but I just don't think I could. Although I would have to live with the guilt for the rest of my life, which would be extremely hard for me. So I guess for me it is just a decision if I rather have judgment and be a disappointment for the rest of my life or feel guilty about killing a animal, which is a very hard decision.
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Post by Anna Miedema on Aug 17, 2023 9:50:43 GMT -5
If I were in Orwell's place, I would not have chosen to shoot the elephant. I would understand that the elephants behavior and aggression is only because of the actions of humans, i would understand the time sensitivity as i could wait until the elephant calmed down to take action. I feel as though i could fight the social encouragement to shoot the elephant and instead i would do what i think is best. My goal would be to de-escalate the situation and change the minds of the crowd by showing them what is right and being confident about my decision. I understand why Orwell reacted so quickly to scoot because he was so scared. i believe that situations of stress i am able to maintain calm. Although i understand Orwell, I would have felt more guilty of killing a poor and confused animal than i would not listen to the crowd.
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Post by Ellie Reeves on Aug 17, 2023 21:00:35 GMT -5
Had I been in Orwell’s position, I would have shot the elephant. I would like to believe that I can resist the crowd of people behind me but I think that the peer pressure in an already stressful situation would lead me to kill it. I wouldn’t like having to do it, however, the elephant had already caused a lot of harm before Orwell got there. While the elephant had calmed down by then, the damage was already done and it even killed a man. I believe that if there wasn’t a crowd that demanded the death of the elephant, I would have let it live. That would not be the case though. I would probably live to regret this decision of killing the animal but in the moment with the sheer amount of people watching and the knowledge of what it did, I would kill it. I think that no matter what someone decides, they will think back and wonder what a different decision would have led to. Whether it be regretting killing an animal or regretting giving people more reason to taunt you, there was no right decision.
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Post by Hailey Lowry on Aug 18, 2023 9:50:25 GMT -5
If I was in Orwell's place, I wouldn't have shot and killed the elephant. I don't think I would be able to bring myself to shoot the elephant because I would feel bad and it would most likely bother me for the rest of my life. I understand how much pressure he might have been under, especially if there were 2000 people telling you to do it, but I still wouldn't do it. Also, Orwell shot it when it stopped its rampage through town when it was at peace. He could have tried to control it while waiting for the owner to come and get it instead of killing it when it was done. The elephant obviously didn't mean to hurt people but in the situation it was in, that just happened. Either choice would have gotten backlash from the public, but at the end of the day, you have to make the choice that you believe and agree with and not give in to peer pressure.
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Post by Ava Ritenour on Aug 19, 2023 12:34:27 GMT -5
If I were in Orwells place, I would not have shot the elephant. Orwell felt the pressure to shoot the elephant from the "natives", but where he actually felt the pressure was from himself. He had this ego to him that caused him to make a choice he knew was wrong, out of fear of looking bad. He, as a white man, didn't want to appear 'weak' to the "natives", and the white masculine fragility mindset was the true pressure and downfall of him making the decision to shoot the elephant. I wouldn't shoot the elephant because even out of pressure and influence, if I know a decision I'm making is wrong, or doesn't align with myself, I couldn't bring myself to make that choice to kill the elephant. I think pressure is a hard thing to deal with or go against for anyone, but it is not impossible to resist that pressure.
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Post by meadowmeskil on Aug 19, 2023 15:11:52 GMT -5
If I were in Orwell's place during this story, I would not have shot the elephant or have harmed it in any way. Even with the pressure coming from the crowd I wouldn't have been able to do it because I would feel guilty, I'm not a very violent person, and it goes against my morals and I would find it hard to kill anything. I think that animals naturally have aggression due to wanting to protect themselves and living in the wild and their instincts. I think that all the elephant was doing throughout the story was acting naturally, and we can see that again as it wasn't doing anything to bother anyone right before Orwell shot it. I think it would be best to just leave the elephant alone and stay away from it, since it is a wild animal and all it is doing is trying to survive.
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Post by odessapersephone on Aug 20, 2023 14:18:11 GMT -5
If I was in Orwells place I wouldn't have shot the elephant. I have a pretty strong sense of what I think is wrong and right and very few people or situations have been able to sway me from what I think is ethical. In this situation, I would have waited for the elephant's owner to come and calm the elephant down and tried to get the crowd to disperse. I think a more interesting question would be if you were in the crowd, would you try and stop someone from hurting the elephant? A lot of the time it's harder to stop someone else from doing something terrible than it is from stopping yourself. Another thing that branches off from that is if it's right to interfere with someone else's decision. In this case, I would have tried to stop Orwell because his choice was harming the elephant, and he made the choice to kill it for purely selfish reasons (mixed with stress and the misconception that a decision must be made instantly).
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Post by eidenjonaitis on Aug 21, 2023 8:35:36 GMT -5
If I was placed in George Orwell's position, I would not have shot the elephant before checking to see if it was still in a crazed state. I would not have been that good of a shot, of course, so I'd be risking my life by getting close to this elephant to see if it would charge me. It is also quite easy to say that I would do one thing in a hypothetical situation since I do not have the adrenaline or the thousands of people at my back encouraging me to shoot this beast. I do firmly believe that I would be able to keep my wits about me and not kill a seemingly peaceful elephant without checking for certain if it was going to kill me if it spotted me. I am not super prone to peer pressure because I simply do not care what people think of me and my adversity towards killing anything bigger than a housefly would let me leave the elephant to graze.
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Post by leahsparks on Aug 21, 2023 21:29:38 GMT -5
If I had been in George Orwell's place in "Shooting An Elephant," I would not have shot the elephant. I understand Orwell's decision to shoot the elephant, however, had I been in that place, I wouldn't have done it. To start off, I have a lot of compassion and empathy for animals. I wouldn't have had the guts or courage to shoot it. I would have felt so guilty for murdering an animal, and I would have felt unbearable guilt in my conscience for the rest of my life. Secondly, I don't do well with blood, so the sight of the blood from the elephant would have probably made me vomit or pass out. Third, I would have been so pressured to kill the animal, that I wouldn't have been able to do it. If I feel too much pressure, I will simply not do whatever it is. I probably would have ended up waiting for someone else to collect the elephant and make sure it got home safe and just hoped that the crowd would leave eventually. Orwell made a snap decision to kill the elephant, and I respect him for it because he had solid reasoning to back up why he did it.
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Post by Maya Alvarez on Aug 22, 2023 10:19:10 GMT -5
If somehow I were to be in Orwell's shoes, I think I would not have shot the elephant. The elephant was shot because Orwell felt he needed to shoot it. But in reality, that is not true. The elephant in Orwell's eyes was an opportunity. Either for him to shoot it, and have the eager locals be happy with him. Or to not shoot it but leave the yearning Burmese angry, and to go back to receiving hate from his job. There was pressure on him as soon as he called for the Elephant rifle. He was now acknowledged by the locals because for once they have an interest in what he is doing. He did not want to be mistreated any longer so the pressure got to him, and he shot the elephant, even though he did not want to. I feel that I would not succumb to the pressure because in my mind, I don't act to please others. Orwell knew he did not want to kill it but he wanted something more; to be accepted.
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Post by Isabella Johnson on Aug 22, 2023 12:36:32 GMT -5
If I were in Orwall's place I probably would have done the same as him. As bad as it sounds and as much as I wish it wasn't true I am very easily swayed by pier pressure and if there was a whole village of people expecting me to do something I would most likely do it. Although killing an elephant is pretty extreme for me as a 16 year old if I was a grown adult living in a new place without any family or friends as supporters it would probably even easier to be convinced into doing something to earn the respect of these people who already don't know me and already see me as lower than them. What Orwall did was completely horrible and selfish but I think most people if it came down to it would do the exact same thing he did. In our culture today people strive to make others happy and if you aren't like that people normally won't respect you. Constantly people make bad choices and do bad things because others expect it from them or that what everyone else is doing. So although I could probably never kill an elephant but the concept of being pressured bu other people would make me do things that I might not always be happy with or comfortable with which is very sad but also very true for many people not just kids but adults as well just trying to impresses others in our society.
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Post by Zoe Reeves on Aug 24, 2023 14:46:41 GMT -5
If I were in Orwell’s position, I would hope that I would have enough courage to not succumb to the peer pressure and shoot the elephant, but it is also hard to predict what I would do under the duress he was facing because I don’t always handle high pressure situations well. I wouldn’t want to shoot the elephant not only to avoid having a guilty conscience for killing a beautiful animal, but also because their was no proof that the elephant was a threat to anyone, other than the dead man who was probably agitating the elephant and who the elephant most likely killed out of fear rather than aggression. I can sympathize with Orwell feeling pressured by the large group of people who were encouraging him, but if I were in his place I would have tried to prevent such a large group of people from following me in the first place and not let them believe I was going to kill the elephant. Also, if I had the same beliefs about imperialism that Orwell had I wouldn’t have shot the elephant to demonstrate power over the natives, because that would be supporting the exact thing I oppose. Either choice would result in negative consequences, but for me living with the regret of having killed something would be worse than being outcast by society, so I would not shoot it. I agree completely with this statement, because I hope that when placed in the same situation as Orwell, I would not give in to the crowd’s wishes and stick to my gut feeling to not kill the elephant. However, I also don’t make great decisions when held under stress, even without a large crowd encouraging the decision making. I don’t think there is a right or wrong decision to make since the elephant did kill a person- whether provoked or not. Since the elephant was probably spooked, causing the incident, it may be stressed around humans now and another incident could occur. However, we share the planet with the animals, and it sounds like the town was built around the elephants and wildlife- not the other way around. Everyday, elephants are poached and killed just for their ivory, causing many species to become endangered- so my gut instinct would definitely be to not shoot it. I also think that I wouldn’t want to get myself in that situation in the first place, so I would either explain to the crowd that I wasn’t going to shoot it or I wouldn’t hold the gun as if I would shoot it, which is when the crowd got riled up. The situation seemed very overwhelming for Orwell, but it would have sent a more positive and powerful message to the crowd to not kill the elephant.
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