Shooting An Elephant

Shooting An Elephant by George Orwell

The Occupier & The Occupied

This is not a story simply about shooting an elephant but again it involves prejudice, neither against African nor black American, but the natives in Burma, the conflicts between the east and the west during the colonial ages.

The natives of Burma have no freedom and are in inferior status in their own country because of British colonization. They are humiliated for being occupied, humiliated by British immoral and unethical attitude. Therefore they resent the presence of British and there is a constant tension between the natives and the British.

So the main themes for the essay are like prejudice, resentment and freedom.

 I think the narrator faces an internal conflict. He could choose not to shoot the elephant and walked away. But he has no courage to go against the will of the crowd. Instead of choosing honour, he chose to go against his conscience. Too often the same kind of situation of choosing between right and wrong happens in our society.

Here is a link to the text of “Shooting An Elephant” of George Orwell with a very thorough analysis which can be used in the classroom. And check out this link which consists of worksheets of a graphic organizer and activities related to “Shooting An Elephant”.

I would like to share this "The Elephant Song" with you. It's by Kamahl. The lyric of the song is as below.

Tell me said the elephant
Tell me brothers if you can
Why all the world is full of creatures
Yet we grow in fear of man
Tell me said the elephant
tell me why this has to be
we have to run from man and hunter
never safe and never free

 people kill without regret
although they fly by jumbo-jet
let the word all may remember
let the children not forget.

Gentle is the elephant
Pulling loads and everything
we love to hear the children laughing
when we,re in the circus-ring
Happy was the elephant
Happy was his jungle life
and then they came, the cruel hunters
with their rifle and their knives

Listen, please listen, said the elephant
if we want the world we know, to stay alive
Then man and beast, we must work together
And together we will survive

Listen said the elephant
It is conservation time
So take the warning when we trumpet
For the future of mankind