Orwell, an officer of the British Colonial government in Burma, finds himself faced with a moral dilemma when he is sent to kill a rogue elephant. (This can be the direction of the essay.)
As he tries to decide whether he should shoot the elephant or not, Orwell feels that he is confronted with the real motives which move despotic governments; namely, the retention of power by exercising power. [thesis statement] As he...
Orwell, an officer of the British Colonial government in Burma, finds himself faced with a moral dilemma when he is sent to kill a rogue elephant. (This can be the direction of the essay.)
As he tries to decide whether he should shoot the elephant or not, Orwell feels that he is confronted with the real motives which move despotic governments; namely, the retention of power by exercising power. [thesis statement] As he stands with his rifle in his hands, Orwell realizes that
...when the white man turns tyrant, it is his own freedom that he destroys.
The Englishman destroys his own freedom because he must adhere to certain behaviors in order to maintain power. Orwell really does not want to kill the elephant--"It seemed to me that it would be murder to shoot him." On the other hand, Orwell fears being laughed at by the Burmese who watch him. So, in order to maintain his sense of power, he must exercise power by shooting the creature. This action illustrates his moral cowardice because he kills the poor elephant, causing it to die a slow death for purely selfish reasons. This slow death, too, seems symbolic of empire that often crumbles in its own cupidity.
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