George Orwell, "Shooting an Elephant" - Critical Essay

Introduction

Persuasion is one of an inescapable fact when it comes to communication. Whether using it for a movie poster that has recently been completed or social pressures to conform, persuading is a key prevalence style especially in rhetorical dialogue. Persuasion is mainly attached to in-your-face advertisements and other political speeches, for a fact the rhetorical artifacts, associated with the novels and some essays, also have the same types of actuating elements. The piece of work shooting an Elephant by George Orwell well describes a persuasive rhetoric essay.

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Orwell wrote the 1936 publication of the shooting an Elephant as an autobiography event of his experiences when he was a British police officer in a place known as Burma in a time of the British imperialism. Orwell as an officer of Burma largely sympathizes with the Burmese, and in fact, he has personal sympathy for them, but they do not reciprocate the same for him. The Burmese do not respect Orwell and his position or think of legalizing his position legitimately. A division that exists between the Orwell's feelings regarding imperialism and his struggled relationship with the Burmese individuals tells the whole story and message contained in it. Imperialism is a state that largely affects both the oppressed and oppressor.

Orwell writes up at the time he did, did not come as a surprise to the politically manifested essay. Orwell, in his time, was an open critic for imperialism at the 20th century. He first encountered the full force of the evil of imperialism at a time when he was a police officer in a place recognized as Burma which then gave him more exposure to the sources of knowledge regarding the state and reality that exists in British oppression in the place known as Burma. A use of ethos through an initial establishment of authority in Orwell's experiences, that brings out a truly compelling argument in the whole essay.

Orwell works in a job that he does not feel is good for him, and even does not believe in it; since it results in disharmony to him and other police officers he serves within the country. The killing of the elephant is not worth it for the townspeople, and also not justifiable since the resultant is the making of rash decisions. The elephant meets its death in a painful manner which then results in an uncomfortable state for the oppressor and also not a good thing for the person who owns the elephant who is oppressed.

The elephant is shot; therefore the audience or the reader of the essay feels unsettled. Orwell purposely recounts events that were negative to him in Burma in a bid to reinforce a view of imperial, which he views as harmful in both occasions. A miserable attitude observed for the author, with a strained tension in-between the Burmese and the British, while those that are needless are subjected to suffer just like the elephant that is meant to serve while creating that impression that purports that imperialism indeed is a destructive institution. The message being passed on by Orwell it is obvious that it matches an effective method which Orwell argues, the purpose behind the writing of the Shooting an Elephant goes hand in hand with a message brought about to the audience. Shooting an Elephant is surely an effective well-written essay.

When Orwell lays his eyes on the elephant for the first time, he feels that it is not good to end its life. He does not feel inclined to destroy something that looks very beautiful and great. It would be going against his principles, something he observes to be murder. However, when he turns to the crowd, he realizes that at least two thousand people are watching him. He feels the weight of expectations and eyes on him waiting for his role to be executed. They are expecting to see him act. Even more compelling is that they are expecting to see the role or post to which he is entitled to be being executed. He realizes that not acting and executing his power will have let the British and guise of power down (Pordzik 460).

At the moment and time, he feels terrified by the prospect of being humiliated by the Burmese crowd. Therefore, he no longer feels trampled by an elephant and nothing scares him this time around since the elephant would be expecting death. A very worst situation that he did not want to happen is when the crowd would laugh at him. Therefore, there and then notices that the whole institution of the police officers is kept afloat by a simple float of personal humiliation.

Conclusion

Consequently, he gets down to the ground and quickly takes a position to aim powerfully at the elephant. When he finally shoots at the elephant the crowd is seen to have had the satisfaction and even roar, though the elephant does not die. Here the reader's views something new the elephant seems to age. When he takes some other shots towards the elephant, it is clear that it goes to its knees. Though does not die at the moment. The elephant has a fighting heart and does not die even after being fired at severally with Orwell, and he even leaves it alive when the crowd runs to take the meat. Later, the news finds him that the elephant took a whole hour for it to die completely (Pordzik 447).

It is clear that imperialism at the time was an inevitable aspect of the society then. Orwell faced challenges when he served as a police officer where he was representing the imperial power of the British. The people of Burma a place that he served also did not love the way the British were ruling and did not also love Orwell since he was representing them. Therefore they took pleasure when it came to harassing him, mocking him and when seeking opportunities just to laugh at him. However, he was too young to learn and analyze what was going around. He found himself at crossroads where he was also representing the Burmese people. The Burmese people never had any power over the British but replied on mocking the government as a way to get to them. Therefore, Orwell aimed more on making sure that he avoids being ridiculed by the Burmese people. The government does not, in the long run, recognize Orwell formally even after doing so much in his job as an officer. It proves that the government did not appreciate the oppressed at any given cost.

Works Cited

Pordzik, Ralph. "George Orwell's Imperial Bestiary: Totemism, Animal Agency and Cross-Species Interaction in "Shooting an Elephant", Burmese Days and "Marrakech"." Anglia 135.3 (2017): 440-466.