In Shooting an Elephant, in the second paragraph, what is suggested by the qualifiers “and secretly, of course” and “if you can catch him...

A qualifier is a word or phrase the puts limitations on a statement. Instead of saying something is absolutely true or not true, a qualifier will indicate a possible exception or a specification. The first qualifier, “and secretly, of course” comes in the middle of a sentence where Orwell admits that he is on the side of the Burmese and against the oppressors, even though the oppressors are the ones he is working for. He qualifies by saying “and secretly, of course,” to indicate that at the time, he does not let it be known- to either those he works for or those he aids in oppressing- where his true sympathies lie. To do so probably would have been dangerous for him or, at the very least, would have made it more difficult to do his job. The qualifier lets readers in on his secret and shows that, at the time, he was hiding his true feelings because he really didn’t have much of a choice.

Later, in the same paragraph, Orwell discusses his conflicting feelings about his job as an officer in Burma. He claims that

feelings like these are normal by-products of imperialism; ask any Anglo-Indian official, if you can catch him off duty.

This last phrase, “if you can catch him off duty,” is kind of a tongue-in-cheek way of saying that most people working for an imperialist empire feel similar to the way Orwell feels but, like him, they keep their feelings to themselves. The qualifier “if you can catch him off duty” suggests, literally, that those in Orwell’s situation will be honest only when they are off the job, but probably he is being sarcastic in this remark. He knows that they feel the same conflicted feelings but would not likely admit to it aloud.

Both of these qualifiers show the hypocrisy of imperialism and the difficult situation in which those working for an imperialist government find themselves. Though they know the system for which they are working is wrong, they do not feel they are in a position to speak out against it. Instead, they have to keep their objections quietly to themselves until, like Orwell, they are able to “get out of the job.”