Power and Oppression in “Shooting an Elephant” by George Orwell.
The essay of George Orwell describes an incident from the life of a police officer working in Burma. Being British, a representative of a ruling power, he finds himself in a situation where he realizes how oppressive the power is for both, the conqueror and the conquered.
While he works in Moulmein, he “fully enjoys” the feedback imperialism evokes. Local people literally hate all Europeans and him, as a police officer, in particular. Certainly, he can not stay indifferent to mockery and jeering directed at him. He suffers emotionally; nevertheless, he interprets this kind of hatred as a natural result of imperialistic actions in the country and does not blame the locals. Moreover, he even admits feeling “all for Burmese and all against the oppressors” (Orwell).
One small incident that the police officer turns out to be involved in makes the whole situation even more unbearable. It harshly reveals “the hollowness, the futility of the white man’s dominion in the East” (Orwell). The police officer is called upon to settle down the situation with an elephant that is in the state of must. By the time the officer arrives, the elephant manages to cause a lot of trouble, including killing a person. When the officer finds the animal, however, it seems to be calm, looking as if his dangerous condition is over. Naturally, the officer sees no need in killing the animal as it does not seem to constitute a menace anymore. At that moment, he realizes that he is being watched by more than two thousand of Burmese and he feels compelled to kill the elephant as that is what a real representative of force is supposed to do. He has no right to be sensitive or even sensible; he has just an obligation to act like a conqueror, resolutely and rigidly.
The incident with the elephant helps the police officer understand how helpless and dependent the power of imperialism really is. He makes a confession about felling not like “the leading actor of the piece”, but as “as absurd puppet pushed to and fro by the will of those yellow faces behind” (Orwell).
The utter horror and absurd of the imperialistic power is that it makes people feel compelled to kill just “to avoid looking a fool”.
Works Cited
Orwell, George. “Killing an Elephant”. Web. 28 September …