In life, everyone has their own choices to make. Most of the time, the side that one has to choose is not what they want but what they need. Just one wrong decision can even cost a life. Hence many choices are immensely difficult. A significant one could be choosing to follow one own heart or to surrender under the pressure of the society they live in. This is the one that occur in Orwell situation. In his essay, Orwell writes about the one who has the responsibility of managing, regarding their morals and self-worth, are higher than those are being oppressed, and he reveals these costs by examining the outer forces that shape his behavior, the inner forces that lead him to shoot the elephant, and what he and England end up losing when they do not live up to their own principles. While being a police officer in Moulmein, in Lower Burma, Orwell shows the readers the outer forces that shape his behavior. Orwell, is a subordinate of the British government, is under a great pressure.
He has the responsibility of controlling the people according to their command. To him, the Europeans like dictator abuse the innocent people. And later, while chasing the elephant, this concept does not change much, only that now, in a closer aspect, the dictator who pressure him turn out to the people he has sided with against the innocent – the escaped elephant – outer. In addition to the external forces that Orwell has to endure, he also faces internal pressures that also influence his behavior. Even though Orwell is “for the Burmese and all against their oppressors, the British,” he still shoots the elephant, revealing the internal forces that contribute to his behavior.
The Essay on Elephant Behaviors Elephants Group Family
When you think of an elephant, you probably think of its trunk, big ears, tusks or huge size. You might even think of famous elephants such as Babar or Dumbo. Those elephants may seem fascinating, but the elephants in the wild are even more intriguing. Besides its long trunk or sharp tusks, its behavior are peculiar also. The elephant's behavior are very interesting. One of the many unique ...
On the surface, Orwell appears to follow the demand of the British. He does as they ask and try to please them, so he can be at peace. However, he is also well aware of the justice for the Burmese that burning inside him. This actually contribute to build up his hate frees for the British. After seeing how the external and internal forces affect Orwell’s behavior, he reveals what he has lost as a person and what the English people have lost to gain their material prosperity. At the conclusion of Orwell’s essay, he demonstrates what he and the English have losing when they give into peer pressure, and they fail to live up to their own principles. In the end, Orwell did as he is pressured.
In his essay, there is a quote which is “And afterwards I was very glad that the coolie had been killed; it put me legally in the right and it gave me sufficient pretext for shooting the elephant. I often wondered whether any of the others grasped that I had done it solely to avoid looking a fool.” He shoots the elephant and feels happy that this case is over. Shooting the elephant is not what he wants but after all it helps him release a lot of stress. Orwell shows the enormous cost the colonial powers and their citizens have to pay in order to maintain their empires. There is many different decision that everyone need to make. Not every of them are the easy ones. Either follow their heart or capitulate the pressure society puts on them. Orwell needs to face to the external, internal forces to end up shooting the elephant. Plus he points out how he and the England get to lose without not following their own fundamental.
