Tuesday, August 27, 2013
Orwell the Hypocrite?
Orwell states that he was against the British in their oppression of the Burmese. However, Orwell himself was British, and in his role as a police officer he was part of the oppression he is speaking against. How can he be against the British and their empire when he is a British officer of the empire? Please make sure you cite at least two sentences or passages and that you write AT LEAST TEN thoughtful sentences of reflection and analysis.
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I think that there is a little hypocrisy behind Orwell's dislike of the British Empire, but not much. Orwell was born a Brit in the east. All of his family was most likely some kind of British official in the east, and the honorable thing for him to do was probably to become an Official like his family. Actually, if he hadn't become an official and had denounced the british empire, he most likely would have been viewed as a traitor and shamed. It is clear that Orwell cared more about him self than any group of people and as he said "I was stuck in between my hatred of the empire that I served and my rage against the evil-spirited little beasts who tried to make my job impossible." He would't risk being shamed by his people and society to try and help others. Orwell did say that "the sooner I chucked up my job and got out of it the better." In this he implies that he is planning to "chuck up his job" and leave, not so much stopping the British Empire, but no longer being directly part of it. All in all, Orwell is a man that think's about himself first. He doesn't like the British Empire and will try to be as small a part of it as possible without sacrificing his personal well being. So there is a little hypocrisy in that he won't do everything in his power to stop the Empire, but not much.
ReplyDeleteI believe that if given the chance to leave his position Orwell would have taken it. Yes he show dislike and maybe even disgust when talking about the Burmese however he still feels bad for them and recognizes them as human. I know many of you will counter with, ‘then why does he recognize them as beasts?’ as you said in class but after reading and re-reading this story 2 lines stuck out to me in particular. ‘As for the job I was doing, I hated it more bitterly than I can perhaps make clear. In a job like that you see the dirty work of Empire at close quarters. The wretched prisoners huddling in the stinking cages of the lock-ups, the grey, cowed faces of the long-term convicts, the scarred buttocks of the men who had been Bogged with bamboos – all these oppressed me with an intolerable sense of guilt.’ and ‘the sooner I chucked up my job and got out of it the better.’ He just comes right out and says I hate my job. He doesn’t want to partake in the oppression but he first needs to finish his duties as a policeman and finish his time assigned in the service (I’m guessing he is posted there for a certain amount of time then he can come home from Burma). However, with all of that, he still does speak out against the Burmese. “I served and my rage against the evil-spirited little beasts who tried to make my job impossible.” With that I think that he doesn’t as much hate the people because they are not English but more because they won’t give him a chance as a Englishman. He said that they would spit of a European woman if she walked down the street unguarded, meaning that they probably see all white people the same by default. All things considered, I believe that Orwell would be impartial or maybe even sympathetic to the Burmese if it weren’t for them disliking him first.
ReplyDeleteOrwell did hate the British Empire and all the things they do, but he holds the job of a police officer because he didn’t hate them as much until he got the job and really saw what the British were doing to the Burmese. In the line “As for the job I was doing, I hated it more bitterly than I can perhaps make clear. In a job like that you see the dirty work of Empire at close quarters,” Orwell expresses his distaste for the job he is doing. I believe that statement proves the British Empire probably withheld or softened the atrocities they committed. I could very much see Orwell (young at the time he accepted his job) going to Burma because the pay was decent and he wanted to see the world. He may not have been fond of the Empire at that moment, but his hatred grew much worse as he saw what the empire was really doing. You may then ask “Why doesn’t he just leave his job?” The reason he can’t leave his job is imbedded in this quote, “For at that time I had already made up my mind that imperialism was an evil thing and the sooner I chucked up my job and got out of it the better.” This quote explains that there was most likely a contract or authority keeping him in Burma, but it expresses his want for to get out of his job. Also he may not have escaped the job because he was still young and couldn’t talk about his guilt and troubles about the situation in Burma because it is imposed upon him by the Government. The fact that he stayed as an officer (even though he wanted to leave, but didn’t know how) made the Burmese hate him, so another reason he may have stayed in Burma is to just do his job. He implies that that he is with Burmese, but that they frustrate him so another possible reason for him to stay in Burma is to his job and keep the Burmese in line. There are three big reasons why Orwell might have stayed in Burma, because he wanted to do his job, he may have been bound by contract, and he didn’t know how to get out and mull over the things he had seen, all of these reasons are valid and show why he could be part of the empire while hating it.
ReplyDelete"For at the time I had already made up my mind that imperialism was an evil thing and the sooner I chucked up my job and got out of it the better."George Orwell was against the British empire, yet he he was a British police officer. He implies that he is above the Burmese, but also that he is morally above the British. The way he sees it, the British are oppressive but the Burmese do nothing but insult him and make his job more difficult. Even though he does not respect the Burmese, he still wants them to respect him. If the crowd was not there expecting him to kill the elephant he may have waited for the owner instead of shooting it. "When I pulled the trigger I did not hear the band or feel the kick-one never does when a shot goes home- but I heard the devilish roar of glee that went up from the crowd." He felt that killing the elephant was wrong, but he did it anyway because he felt obligated by the crowd. He is somewhat hypocritical in the way that he does what is most convenient at the time as opposed to what he thinks is right. If he respects neither, then my question is where is his loyalty?
ReplyDeleteI think that working in a particular job and believing in its cause are two very different things. Orwell very well hates his job and even empathizes with the Burmese as proven in the lines "In a job like that you see the dirty work of Empire at close quarters. The wretched prisoners huddling in the stinking cages of the lock-ups, the grey, cowed faces of the long-term convicts, the scarred buttocks of the men who had been Bogged with bamboos – all these oppressed me with an intolerable sense of guilt." He may not seem like it in the line "All I knew was that I was stuck between my hatred of the empire I served and my rage against the evil-spirited little beasts who tried to make my job impossible," but that is to be expected. He is not, in my opinion, expressing a powerful hateful message to the Burmese, but is expressing his annoyance toward them. Annoyance is only natural when they treat anyone so poorly, and he has been at the short end of the stick for longer than many doing his job as an officer. Back to the point, he can not just quit his job as an officer and join the Burmese. That would be shameful and like Lucas said, he would now be a traitor to the British. The Burmese wouldn't welcome him with open arms either. They would treat him just as poorly as before. He is obviously looking out for himself and is waiting to get fired. At the end though, fired or not, his sense of self preservation would be too strong for him to act. So, in some senses, Orwell is very much a hypocrite.
ReplyDeleteI do not think that George Orwell was a hypocrite. He was raised and educated in England and went to Burma after joining the Indian Imperial Police. It was only after he started to carry out the orders of imperialism as a police officer that he began to see what was really happening under British rule. “In a job like that you see the dirty work of Empire at close quarters. The wretched prisoners huddling in the stinking cages of the lockups, the grey, cowed faces of the long-term convicts, the scarred buttocks of the men who had been flogged with bamboos—all of these impressed me with an intolerable sense of guilt.” Although he at times does sound racist, Orwell writes that he despises imperialism and does not intend to stay in his job much longer. “For at the time I had already made up my mind that imperialism was an evil thing and the sooner I chucked up my job and got out of it the better.” With such thoughts it makes the story of the elephant even more sad. After being shot many times, the elephant refused to die. I believe that the elephant not dying as fast as Orwell wished, could represent imperialism not fading easily.
ReplyDeleteHe understands that he dose not agree with what he is doing but he says that he feels almost helpless compared to the British Empire. He talks about him knowing he is only an "absurd puppet". I think he knows he is not his own person he is only a worker who dose not agree with what he dose he is only doing his job. I think we should all just think of it as his job and there he began to understand the British, he learned what things were like. After realizing the reality he started to hate what he was doing he would say things like "In a job like that you see the dirty work of Empire at close quarters" this is him seeing it from a different perspective. He probably would have traded jobs as soon as he got the chance but if that wasn't an option I understand why he would stay with his job even if he was so against it. So although he was working for the British he clearly says he is " only an absurd puppet pushed to and fro by the will of those yellow faces behind." he is not a part of them. He is staying their against his will and I can understand him trying to leave but not being able to. He is in a situation where he sides with the Burmese but is legally bound to the British. Gorge Orwell is not being a hypocrite at all.
ReplyDeleteI think Orwell was being hypocritical in some situations. Orwell says "I was all for the Burmese and all against the their oppressors, the British." He was in Burma, and he was living with all the people who were making comments about him. He wasn't reading about this or watching on TV he was actually living in it, so I think that he was being hypocritical because he didn't want other peoples opinions getting thrown at him, so maybe thats why he was being hypocritical. Orwell also said that "With another part I thought that the greatest joy in the world would be to drive a bayonet into a Buddhist priests guts." I think that deep inside he didn't really like what other people were saying, but he went along with it to not start a conflict. In the story it said that there were 2,000 people, so to have that many people against you it would be hard to say your opinion because its 2,000 against one. It reminds me of the elephant situation, and when he decided that he had to shoot the elephant because there was so much pressure, so in the end he changed because of the people. Definitely now in life that occurs a lot because people are always trying to get other peoples approval. I think thats always going to happen because people are always going to care about what other people think of you. In the end I think Orwell wasn't being a hypocrite he was just trying to please others.
ReplyDeleteI don’t believe George Orwell is a hypocrite. He simply has conflicting emotions. “All I knew was that I was stuck between my hatred of the empire I served and my rage against the evil-spirited little beasts who tried to make my job impossible.” To a lot of people this quote doesn’t make sense because most people see the world as black and white. They think that George should either love the British and hate the Burmese or love the Burmese and hate the british. I don’t believe that’s necessarily true. What’s to say that he can’t hate both? Orwell seems to be a very narcissistic person so it would make quite a bit of sense that he would only appreciate himself. As for him shooting the elephant, I believe it was because he had become captive of his own self importance. “I perceived in this moment that when the white man turns tyrant it is his own freedom that he destroys.” In his mind, Orwell is superior to everyone, therefore, when the opportunity arises he feels it necessary to assert his position as the boss.
ReplyDeleteOrwell was born in Britain. As he stated: "I was young and ill-educated and i had to think out my problems in the utter silence that is imposed on every Englishmen in the East." He sort of had no choice but to have a job as a police officer for the British Empire. I feel like even though he works for them...doesn't mean he likes doing it. He actually said, "As for the job I was doing, I hated it more bitterly than I can perhaps make clear. In a job like that you see the dirty work of Empire at close quarters. The wretched prisoners huddling in the stinking cages of the lockups, the grey, cowed faces of the long-term convicts, the scarred buttocks of the men who had been flogged with bamboos – all these oppressed me with an intolerable sense of guilt." Even though he IS British... I don't completely think Orwell is a hypocrite. He obviously hates his job, and would take any chance he had to quit it. I still don't think he had much of a choice though, because, again, he was born into Britain. Looking back at that quote, he mentioned how he would see how the prisoners suffered, and all the bad things they had to go through...and he felt guilty for that. Because he is British, because he didn't really have a choice but to work with the British Empire...is why he was feeling so guilty. He doesn't believe in imperialism—but yet, he has had no choice but to work for them.
ReplyDeleteOrwell is not that much of a hypocrite. "With one part of my mind I thought of the British Raj as an unbreakable tyranny, as something clamped down, in saecula saeculorum, upon the will of prostrate peoples; with another part I thought that the greatest joy in the world would be to drive a bayonet into a Buddhist priest's guts. Feelings like these are the normal by-products of imperialism; ask any Anglo-Indian official, if you can catch him off duty." Orwell evidently has two parts to his mind, one that hates the British and one that hates the colonial subjects. But I think his true hate is for imperialism because of his other hates are caused by imperialism. This would mean that he would hate himself because he is part of imperialism. But he doesn't, which makes him a little hypocritical. "For at that time I had already made up my mind that imperialism was an evil thing and the sooner I chucked up my job and got out of it the better." So going into this job he hadn't yet made up his mind that imperialism was evil. He's not that hypocritical because he didn't know he was signing up to be an oppressor. Being in Burma and working as an official made him realize that imperialism is evil. He cares about himself to much to openly fight for the freedom of the Burmese and he hates it that the Burmese hate him. That's why the only good option for him is to chuck up his job and go back to England.
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ReplyDeleteI think that Orwell is absolutely a hypocrite. But to some extent, aren't we all?? I believe that the hypocrisy that he was showing was simply a self-defense mechanism. Maybe the reason he was a police officer for the British was because he needed the money or wasn't good at anything else. Maybe he felt as though, even if he didn't completely agree with the views of the British, he owed it to his country. In regards to the elephant, I think that Orwell is human. Yes, I hated him when he killed the elephant. But I believe that he was doing the natural thing, which was to conform to the pressure of all of the people who wanted the elephant dead. For this I feel disappointed in him, but I certainly do not blame him. I think that overall, this story was an entertaining one, but the end kind of let me down. Not everything has a fairytale ending.
ReplyDeleteI think that George Orwell isn't being hypocritical. In the story, it says, "In a job like that you see the dirty work of the Empire at close quarters." Based on that statement, he didn't know the wrong doings of the Empire before he became an officer. Even though he is against the things that the British are having done to the Burmese, it's not his fault that he has to directly be a part of that. After all, he didn't know about it when he signed up for the job. Also, now that he is an officer and knows everything horrible that the British do to the Burmese, he can't very easily go back to the UK because of the huge distance between the two places and the amount of money it would cost to travel that far. In addition, it seems to me that it is the fault of the British that the Burmese are acting like, as Orwell put it, "evil spirited little beasts who tried to make my job impossible." If the British officials weren't ordering that the Burmese were oppressed, they wouldn't have any reason to try and make Orwell's job impossible because they would like the British, not hate them. Also, the British have to know that their oppressiveness is causing the Burmese to be resentful toward the officers, so they don't really have an excuse for why Orwell is hated. So, really, it is the fault of the British that Orwell hates the British. It isn't hypocrisy.
ReplyDeleteOrwell was born a Brit and raised a Brit. Most likely his parents were British and were accomplished people. If Orwell was to say that he didn't like the British Empire, his family wouldn't be happy and probably be called a traitor and shame his family. He says "I was stuck in between my hatred of the empire that I served and my rage against the evil-spirited little beasts who tried to make my job impossible." He obviously doesn't like the Burmese either, but he recognizes them as human and feels bad for them. Orwell also says "the sooner I chucked up my job and got out of it the better" implying that the faster he got out of his job the better, because he respects the Burmese but they don't welcome him because he is apart of the British Empire, which he hates too. Given the chance Orwell would of left his job. Orwell seemed like he cared more about himself rather than trying to step up for the Burmese and try and help them. He wanted his view on people to be good, and he wasn't going to risk that by trying to help other people. Orwell is in a difficult position because he shows dislike to both sides, but sympathizes a little with the Burmese, but it overall stuck and not sure what to do.
ReplyDeleteI don't believe Orwell is a hypocrite. I don't think he's bad, just maybe a little conflicted. Or maybe he is just seeing both sides of the British colonizing Burma. In the quote, "All I knew was that I was stuck between my hatred of the empire I served and my rage against the evil-spirited little beasts who tried to make my job impossible." I think this shows that he does hate his job of working with the British Empire. You could argue that he also says he hates the Burmese people. He never actually says that, he says he feels rage towards them, like you would towards a sibling, a friend or just some kid who is being mean to you for something you didn't do. He is angry at the the Burmese people who make his job impossible(a job he doesn't even want) but it is the British he actually HATES. You could also argue that he calls them little beats, dehumanizing them, and being extremely racist. Well one, this was the early twentieth century and lots of things that are considered racist now, probably nobody took any notice then. I don't think he realized what he was saying. He does feel empathy for them, as is proven in his quote, "In a job like that you see the dirty work of Empire at close quarters. The wretched prisoners huddling in the stinking cages of the lock-ups, the grey, cowed faces of the long-term convicts, the scarred buttocks of the men who had been Bogged with bamboos – all these oppressed me with an intolerable sense of guilt." When he called them "little beasts" that could be something you call a sibling that you are extremely angry at, which he is very angry at the Burmese people. While I think Orwell could be a bit choosier when searching for words to describe the Burmese, I don't think he is being hypocritical. I think a lot is the time period and as British officer in Burma he gets to see two sides.
ReplyDeleteI believe that Orwell did not dispise the Brittish rule in Burma until he started working as a police man there. The reason I believe this to be true is because no rational person would choose a job the knew they would hate. It is clear that Orwell despised the Brittish rule because he states it, "I was all for the Burmease and all against their oppressors, the Brittish." I have reason to believe that Orwell was not hipocritacle with his actions because he seems so discussed with the acts of other officers, "all these things oppressed me with an intolerable sence of guilt." By not taking in part of the evilness of the Brittish tyranny Orwell was not directly being hipocritacle. Besides Orwell was a neutral party, for he didn't like either side . He clearly states contempt for the Burmese and for the Brittish. Even if I were to say that he was a hipocritacle, his hypo racy would not be intentional, for he had no idea (presumably) that the Brittish were ruling in such a way that he deemed unfit. Orwell is not a hypocrite nor a martyr.
ReplyDelete(Sorry, this is a long one) Wether he liked the job or did not does still not effect the fact that he was still serving the British empire. Making him, if you take what he says literally, a hypocrite by definition, no questions asked, but should you take it literally? However the real question here is if he really did like the Empire. That may seem like a yes or no question but really it's not because asking that question is like asking wether you like animals. You simply cannot answer yes or no because there are a lot of animals and some of them you like, some you don't, some you like to eat or look at or have as pets or where as clothing. The list goes on. In the same way the British Empire has lots of separate pieces which some he might like. For example, The Empire, although cruel to the natives which is one of the things Orwell does not like, does provide distinct benefits to the Brits, which, lucky for Orwell, he happens to be one. One of the benefits being the ability to look down upon a group of people an consider yourself more respectable. This one he liked. Although he never told us directly, by some of the lines he said ("There were several thousands of them in the town and none of them seemed to have anything to do except stand on street corners and jeer at Europeans") we can assume he considers himself better. But many of the other questions like: "if he really hated enforcing the laws set by the British because he pitied the natives" remains a mystery because even a very specific question like that relies on the question: "does he pity the Natives." Which is nearly impossible to decide because every statement he writes saying how he feels bad for the natives is contradicted by another line that he wrote saying the opposite thing. But one thing I can safely assume is that the guilt he had for supporting such a cause was not as important to him as his income and social status. It is here where I get to the crux of this story which is the fact that money and being in high level society trump guilt every single time. The reason why this is the theme is because this piece is mainly about the colonization of Burma, not pure pressure or shooting an elephant, though there is quite a bit of that. I think this because he makes so many metaphors and references to the empire throughout the story("They did not like me, but with the magical rifle in my hands I was momentarily worth watching"). So back to the point which is the reason why the British colonized Burma is for money and higher level social status. I am sure many of them felt guilty, such as Orwell, but it did not compare to the wealth and respectability they would gain from colonizing Burma. Which takes me back to the original question which is he a hypocrite or not? Well, which do you want him to be?
ReplyDeleteI think that Orwell was being a little bit of a hypocrite when he talked about how much he hated the British Empire. He explains how he was secretly on the side with the Burmese, but then he goes on to call the Burmese “evil spirited little beasts.” I think while Orwell knew what he was doing was wrong and oppressive he figured there was nothing about it he could change without being punished. In my opinion you can tell yourself “this is bad, and if I could I wouldn’t do it,” all day long. But that doesn’t change the fact that you are doing wrong. And if Orwell really is on the Burmese’s side then why does he act as if he is above them? “ I thought of the British Raj as an unbreakable tyranny, as something clamped down, in saecula saeculorun, upon the will of the prostate people; with another part I thought that the greatest joy in the world would be to drive a bayonet into a Buddhist priest’s gut.” What this line says to me is that Orwell thinks he would help the Burmese, but deep down he knows that he looks down on them just like the rest of the British Empire. I understand Orwell’s reasoning for not changing his actions, because he is human, and all humans make these types of mistakes. But I still think that he is being hypocrite.
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ReplyDeleteI think there is an element of hypocrisy in Orwell's position, but his job seems insignificant. Besides, he states from the beginning that he takes no pride in his job: "As for the job I was doing, I hated it more bitterly than I can perhaps make clear." Perhaps it was the only job he could get easily at taht time? I think that he is more of local bureaucratic sub-officer who does little imperial oppressing of people. The story itself is not really about his job and tells few details about it. However he does go one to acknowledge his internal conflict, which could be considered hypocritical, "With one part of my mind I thought of the British Raj as an unbreakable tyranny, … ; with another part I thought that the greatest joy in the world would be to drive a bayonet into a Buddhist priest's guts." This is an extreme example of a common conflict in our world. We work for or buy from large corporations which (or who!) we disagree with morally. We may disagree with our countries actions in the Middle East or Guantanamo bay, but we do nothing about it. We pay taxes. We may still believe in our military. All conflicts between peoples – Islamic extremists and the US; Egypt's government and its military and two large groups of its people; Israel and Palestine – are not black and white, to individuals within the conflict or to those watching from afar. We can't agree entirely with one nation and hate everything about the other. Life is more than that and all decisions are complicated. But is this hypocrisy? …
ReplyDeleteOrwell was born and raised in Britain. I think he was raised to be part of the British Empire, but later found out that he didn't want to. You usually think about what you want to be when you get older and I think George was looking at what his peers did and wanted to be like them. Until he knew all the information about the British government and soon realized that he didn't agree and he didn't like it. One passage that stuck out for me that showed George's hatred is, "For at that time I had already made up my mind that imperialism was an evil thing and the sooner I chucked up my job and got out of it the better. Theoretically – and secretly, of course – I was all for the Burmese and all against their oppressors, the British. " So the actions that he commutes he had to keep a secret because his actions might've been considered taboo in Britain. He had to keep his hatred of the British empire a secret because he would be hated. This passage shows a little bit of why he hates the British Gov. This passage, "All I knew was that I was stuck between my hatred of the empire I served and my rage against the evil-spirited little beasts who tried to make my job impossible." So he had to chose but he hated Both aspects, he was also hated by the people of Burma so he had to make a choice.
ReplyDeleteGeorge Orwell is absolutely a hypocrite. To think one thing and do another, is, by definition, hypocrisy. He even says "Theoretically-and secretly, of course- I was all for the Burmese and all against their oppressors, the British." He is coming out as a hypocrite by showing that he secretly supports the people he is forced to victimize. However, his hypocrisy, while an extreme example, is the same that we face everyday. When peer pressure kicks in, we do one thing and, in our hearts, know it is morally wrong. "I often wondered whether any of the others grasped that I had done it solely to avoid looking a fool." He knows what he did was wrong, and, shown by the in-depth description of the elephant's death, thoroughly regrets it. I, personally, regret dozens of things I do per day. That's why, although I would certainly label him as a hypocrite, I would never label him as evil. He's only human.
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ReplyDeleteI think Orwell isn't as hypocritical about disliking the British Empire. One, he was actually born in India but raised as a British Citizen and two; he just didn't like the idea of imperialism there. He mentioned,
ReplyDelete"For at that time I had already made up my mind that imperialism was an evil thing and the sooner I chucked up my job and got out of it the better."
Just because someone is born somewhere and they have these certain rules, doesn't mean they have to go with the populations’ major morality. Such as here in America: most people are either a Democratic or Republican but some people are libertarians. Then, I think Orwell is kind of hypocritical that he only understands that the British Empire is bad because of the cons such as imperialism, but not enough to realize the Empire's major pros. In the first sentence he mentioned,
"In Moulmein, in lower Burma, I was hated by large numbers of people – the only time in my life that I have been important enough for this to happen to me."
He is implying that hatred only meant importance to him. The reality should have been accepting the advantage of the unexpected kind of ordeal experience working as an official in Burma. Then, once working with the people there, his morality is much stronger for the people in Burma than the Britain Empire. That makes him kind of hypocritical because the people disrespected him more in Burma as they didn't in Britain.
“As for the job I was doing, I hated it more bitterly than I can perhaps make clear.” I believe that no matter how much Orwell hated his job he couldn’t just become one with the Burmese because he will always be a British to them. The fact that they always treated him terribly probably was a main reason he never reached out to them. They never gave him a chance to prove that he was different than the other British officers who probably didn’t side with them, the Burmese. So, I believe Orwell was stuck in the middle, disliking both the oppressed and the oppressors.
ReplyDeleteI don’t think Orwell saw himself as a hypocrite.” …and all against their oppressors, the British.” That quote shows that he isn’t categorizing himself as one of the British. He could either be an in denial oppressor or an unaware oppressor. I believe he has good intentions, but by being a British he has no say what the Burmese think of him because they already dislike the British. I also believe that since he was raised and is a British that he could never fully turn against his own kind and join the oppressed group.
Orwell, "was young and ill-educated." He was unaware of the true meaning of imperialism, and he didn't know he was going to become a symbol of what the Burmese despised the most about the British. His experiences lead him to believe, "imperialism was an evil thing." While in midst of chasing the elephant, a group of Burmese were tailgating him. He gets an elephant gun. He's in position of choosing the ethical choice, whether to shoot the elephant or not. The minute he sees the elephant he comes to realize, "one ought not to do it if it can possibly be avoided." He looks back to see a big crowd, knowing they expect him to shoot the elephant. "I perceived in this moment that when the white man turns tyrant it is his own freedom that he destroys."
ReplyDeleteI don’t think that Orwell is a hypocrite. He just has a role to play. He is the white man with the gun in an undeveloped third-world country full of “wild native beasts”. He is forced to assert his “dominance” over them by shooting the elephant. Even though he is secretly against the British, he still has to live up to their stereotypical European: Strong, powerful, bloodthirsty. If he shows over 2,000 people that he isn’t like that and shows empathy for the elephant, they would start to believe that not all of them are like that and they wouldn’t feel as forced to respect British imperialists. That is why he was forced to kill the elephant. On page 70, Orwell says, “He [Europeans] wears a mask, and his face grows to fit it.” Orwell’s mask is strength, power, and lack of empathy. When he shoots the elephant, he truly becomes this person. Throughout the story, his face metaphorically grows to fit his mask. On page 72, Orwell says about the elephant, “He was dying, very slowly and in great agony, but in some world remote from me where not even a bullet could damage him further. This line shows in great detail how much he regrets his decision to this day. It shows when he realized that the elephant had a life that he didn’t even know about and could never know about or understand. It was gone, and he had turned into a true British imperialist.
ReplyDeleteI think Orwell is not a hypocrite because he states that he both despises the British rule and his job:"Theoretically – and secretly, of course – I was all for the Burmese and all against their oppressors, the British. As for the job I was doing, I hated it more bitterly than I can perhaps make clear." Also he wasn't being a hypocrite for taking the job. Since his hatred for imperialism did not develop until he saw its affects in person. Being an enforcer of tyranny made him hate it:" In a job like that you see the dirty work of Empire at close quarters. The wretched prisoners huddling in the stinking cages of the lock-ups, the grey, cowed faces of the long-term convicts, the scarred buttocks of the men who had been Bogged with bamboos – all these oppressed me with an intolerable sense of guilt." Orwell's hate of the Burmese was not the same as his hate of imperialism. Thinking of them as annoying not evil, being on their side the whole time. The only time George maybe was a hypocrite was when he enjoyed the attention of the villagers a the shooting of the elephant, thinking of himself as a god to them, leading them. Most often Orwell was not a hypocrite because there was truth in experience behind what he said. He was just a knowing person who learned the bad parts of imperialism the hard way.
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