Orwell and 1984
... Nepal. Orwell’s family was fairly privileged although his family was not very wealthy. The style of this poem is generally very simple, but it is strong enough to merit numerous interpretations. Orwell uses metaphors to do this: “They were watching me as they would watch a conjurer about to perform a trick”(Orwell, 3). Oppression is shown by Orwell through the burden of servitude placed upon him by England: “ All I knew was that I was struck between my hatred of the empire I served and my rage against the evil-spirited little beast who tried to make my job impossible”(Orwell, 1). Though Orwell’s handling of his subject is detailed, in the end, he subtly condemns imperialism. Orwell finds himself in a moral dilemma, no different than the ones in his story. Orwell justifies his actions, “Solely to avoid looking a fool”(Orwell, 14), driven by the instigation of the Burmese. “I perceived in this moment that when the white man turns tyrant it is his own freedom he destroys”. In Orwell’s case the coolie killed by the elephant represents the invasion of Burma by the British. Just as no one can predict the next victim of the elephant, also no one can predict the next victim of the British. Since the coolie is killed it gives Orwell a justifiable reason to kill the elephant. Orwell does not want to be thought of as British, but he does not want to be thought the fool either. George Orwell makes his decision to shoot the elephant appear to be reasonable. Underneath it all he questions his actions just as he questions those of the British. Orwell despised both the British Empire as well as the Burmese natives, making everything more complicated and complex. The elephant represents imp...