George Orwell Paints The Elephant Language Analysis

Although pre-established traditions may have installed norms and standards of imperialism, George Orwell effectively employs a variety of rhetorical strategies including figurative language, and Aristotelian appeals to highlight that colonial law is detrimental to both the persecutor and the persecuted. To begin, in order to justify his argument and allow readers to closely analyze his averse towards imperialism and its degradation individuality, George Orwell utilizes figurative language. Over the course of his essay, Orwell paints the elephant as metaphor for the oppression of a sense of his own individuality and free thought, as he battles to reconcile his own conscience and the pressure of the common Burmese citizens. From the British …show more content…
In addition, because the elephant can be representative of the native population, this delineates his ultimate discontent and hesitancy towards colonialism altogether. After all, “ the elephant looked no more dangerous than a cow” (6). Alas, however, the narrator shoots, and kill the helpless beast. In doing so, he sets aside his own conscience and ironically, becomes an outcome of British colonialism, helpless against the citizens that watched his every action leading up to the elephant’s inevitable demise. The British solider “could feel their two thousand wills pressing [him] forward, irresistibly” and hear “the devilish roar of glee that went up from the crowd” when he pulled the trigger, as if they were watching the death of the elephant as a means of entertainment (7-8). This is notable because it illustrates the ways in which imperialism, over time, had transformed into a casualty that many found amusement in. In straying away from his beliefs that it would be unjust and inhumane to shoot the elephant, and in conforming with public opinion and norms, the narrator is stripped of individuality, and becomes tyrannized by the people around

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George Orwell Paints The Elephant Language Analysis

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