Brittany Maynard

28 April 2015

ENG 111

Elephants' Memory: Defining Moments ofGeorge Orwell

       

                 In the essay, “Shooting an Elephant,” George Orwell recounts a defining moment of his life when he realized that people in rule become the people that their subjects expect them to be.  Orwell worked as a police officer in British occupied Burma and was generally hated by the natives. He found this odd as he believed imperialism to be evil and sided with the natives. On one day Orwell was called with a message that an elephant had become loose and was destroying the bazaar. By the time Orwell arrived, the elephant had trampled a man. A rife was sent for, and the crowd grew interested in the proceedings believing Orwell was going to shoot the elephant. Nearly all the people of the small town followed Orwell to a paddy where the elephant was now calmly eating. Orwell decided that he should not shoot the elephant; it was now harmless as its attack of “must” had passed and was considered an expensive piece of “machinery.” Orwell then realized he was followed by a crowd of two thousand, all of which, he felt, wanted him to shoot the elephant. He fell to the group’s wishes and set himself up on a hill with the rifle. He took the shot, but the elephant did not die immediately and Orwell could not bear to wait for the end. He shot the elephant four more times, but it still died slowly. George Orwell felt that he had molded himself to fit the view which the natives had formed of him as a tyrant. He was as much a slave to them as they were to the British Empire. This one event forever shaped all of Orwell’s views and future works as he now viewed imperialism and many other forms of rule as evil. (Orwell, “Shooting an Elephant”.)

                    George Orwell is considered by many to be one of the best writers of the Twentieth Century. His works are standard reads throughout the American education system and focus the reader on political fictions which he aptly creates. These works include the titles Animal Farm and Nineteen Eighty-Four. From the later we have obtained phrases such as “big brother is watching” and “two and two makes five.” (Orwell, Nineteen Eighty-four.) His legacy has far outlived his short life.

                    George Orwell was born Eric Blair on June 25, 1903 in India. At age one, all his family apart from his father left to live in England. He did very well in school and won several scholarships. (“Biography of George Orwell.”) His entrance into the literary world occurred at the young age of eleven with the poem “Awake! Young Men of England.” The poem was a call to those of fighting age in England to join the fight against Germany in the Great War (World War I.) (Orwell, “Awake young men of England.”) Despite this success George Orwell thought of himself as a failure and felt guilty of his family’s involvement with imperialism. (“George Orwell.”)

                     In 1922, George Orwell left his home to join the Indian Imperial Police in Burma. During this time he came to hate imperialism and the control it had over people. He began to see the people as oppressed and victims of the empire. Orwell also wrote in one of his accounts that he felt those who enforced the imperialism were molding their faces to fit the masks they wore. (Orwell, “Shooting an Elephant.”) He would later write his experiences of Burma in the book Burmese Days which included the stories “Shooting an Elephant” and “A Hanging.” This would prove to be the most influential period of Orwell’s life. George Orwell hated his job and was given an excuse to resign in 1928 due to contracting dengue fever. He proceeded to return home for a short time. (“George Orwell.”)

                    George Orwell soon left his home and spent time in London and Paris. During the time he became impoverished and often homeless. His experience was recorded in Down and Out in Paris and London the first novel to be published under the name “George Orwell.” He contracted tuberculosis on the streets of Paris and was hospitalized for a time. After recovery, he moved back home and worked as a bookseller and teacher. A quiet life was not for him, however, and he joined the POUM, a Spanish Republic party during the time of the Spanish Civil War. The army converted Orwell to the socialist cause. He was forced to leave the movement after being shot in the neck by a sniper who chose him as a target due to his height. (Taylor.)

                    World War II was not far away when Orwell returned once again to England. He was not able to actively fight in the war due to his previous war injuries and tuberculosis. At the beginning of the war, he worked in a Censorship Department. Later he joined the Home Guard and produced propaganda for the BBC. Animal Farm was created at this time and was often considered anti-Stalinist literature. He had a hard time publishing the story during the war as Russia was a vital ally to England during the war. (Taylor.)

                    Animal Farm gained popularity quickly in post-war Europe and America which made George Orwell a popular and prominent figure. He moved himself and his adopted son to the secluded town of Jura, Scotland. There the manuscript of Orwell’s most famous book, Nineteen Eighty-Four, was created. A boating accident and worsening tuberculosis nearly meant this radical literary work was not finished. Nineteen Eighty-Four was published in June 1949 and quickly gained popularity in Great Britain. Just seven months later George Orwell died due to his tuberculosis. (Taylor.)

                   Many people around the world have read or at least heard of George Orwell and his works. His personal and political views were changed by his time in Burma, and no event changed him more than the time which he fell victim to his own power and was required to kill an elephant. He found that when a person becomes a tyrant, they themselves loose freedom. His legacy lives on every time someone feels that “Big Brother is watching.”

 

Works Cited

"Biography of George Orwell" George Orwell. 2004. Web.  21 Apr. 15. <http://www.george-orwell.org/l_biography.html>.

 

“George Orwell” Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Web. 28 Apr. 2015. <http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=George_Orwell&oldid=659625521>.

 

"George Orwell Chronology.” Net Charles Web 21 Apr. 2015. <http://www.netcharles.com/orwell/chrono.htm>.

 

Orwell, George. “Awake Young Men of England.” Orwell. Web 5 May 2015. <http://orwell.ru/library/poems/awake/english/e_awake>.

 

Orwell, George. Nineteen Eighty-four. George Orwell 1903-1950. Web. 5 May 2015. <http://www.george-orwell.org/1984/>.

 

Orwell, George. "Shooting an Elephant." George Orwell 1903-1950. Web. 19 Apr. 2015. <http://www.k-1.com/Orwell/site/work/essays/elephant.html>.

 

Taylor, D. J. The Real George Orwell: The South Bank Show. Video file. 5 May 2015. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Db3-svhC4k>.