The subject of George Orwell’s “Shooting an Elephant” is the influence that social pressure and conformity on people. This is illustrated by Orwell’s description of the crowd of Burmans pressuring a police officer into killing an elephant simply to uphold his societital role, Throughough the situation the officer tried to withold on shooting the elephant due to the innocence of the animal at the time and its cost. However, the crowd of some two thousand people was too much for this English police officer to handle, causing him to give into the societal pressures and kill the creature.
Occasion
“Shooting an Elephant” was written during 1963 and it told Orwell’s encounters during his visit in Burma. The essays time of creation is conveyed by Orwell's hatred of Britain and moreover Imperialism, but with good reason considering that during the 1930's Britain controlled many countries and shortly after the Labour Party, a socialist party, gained control in Britain furthering the Imperialist movement. The place of George Orwell’s “Shooting an Elephant” is most likely India, being the central place of ruling by the British during that time and through the use of the term "Coolie". Burma is assumed to be the birthplace of the essay because it is illustrated very vividly in the essay. Orwell uses precise detail such as "Squalid bamboo huts, thatched with palm leaf, winding all over a steep hillside.” This suggests that he had a vivid memory of the location of the story and quite possibly wrote it at the time of his inhabitance of the place.
Audience- George Orwell's specific audience for this piece was the British Empire. George Orwell was trying to illustrate the dangers of conformity through the mind of a British officer. George Orwell's choice of a British Officer validates that his audience is the British Empire, as they were also the ones with the best connection with the Burmans at the time.
Purpose
The purpose of this story is to alert people of the dangers of social pressure and conformity. Orwell explains throughout the piece that he killed the elephant because "The people expected it of [him]." Through understanding the article one may rule out that the Officer may have killed the elephant out of fear of its potential danger is saying that it was "peacefully eating, [and that] the elephant looked no more dangerous than a cow." It was not a question of the danger of the elephant at all but rather the danger of the social conformity that the police officer underwent. The officer states that he did not want to do it, but he "Could feel [the natives] two thousand wills pressing [him] forward, irresistibly" He finishes off the piece by making sure that the reader understands that he did not want to do it, he even goes so far as to say that " [He]often wondered whether any of the others grasped that [He] had done it solely to avoid looking a fool"
Speaker
George Orwell, an English author, was abhorrent towards imperialism. Not only did he literally state in the piece that 'Imperialism was an evil thing,' but also he made several specific statements of his hatred for the British Empire. He used his writing skills with his story telling expertise to exhibit the evils of Imperialism and Conformity as he did in this piece. George Orwell’s use of imagery is evident as he illustrates why he shot the evident as he "Could feel [the natives] two thousand wills pressing [him] forward, irresistibly". This imagery helps to influence the audience’s perception of the crowd, and it promotes the idea that these natives were strongly pressuring him to shoot.
Tone - The tone of this article is admonitory, This is exemplified at the very end of the piece after the speaker identifies that he did not want to kill the elephant and that he simply did it to conform to the expectations of the society. The author describes the horrific situation he was in, killing such a noble beast who was seemingly harmless at the time "Solely to avoid looking a fool." Through his use of tone, the speaker admonishes the reader on the dangers of social conformity.
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