George Orwell’s “Shooting an Elephant” help, please?
I read the whole story and interpreted that the elephant was just a naive animal and did not deserve to die and that the narrator felt bad for being the weaker one of the two by killing it just to appease the crowd. Then, when I was done I read something that said.. “…the elephant is a symbol of the British Empire, what might the elephant’s behavior suggest about the way the British rulers have treated the Burmese people?”
I did not see how the elephant was a symbol of that, so if someone could explain it in lamens terms that would be awesome. :] Thanks!
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Here are a few sites that may help you. (remove all spaces from links)
http://www. bookrags.com/ studyguide- shootinganelephant/
http://www. enotes.com/ shooting-elephant
Best wishes!
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WOW, I wish I could help…I recently read the story for a Humanities class, and I did not see how the Elephant was a symbol of the British Empire. All I can think of is that if the Elephant was in fact a symbol, then they must have treated the Burmese people very badly…..and the killing of the elephant was a type of revenge. But the elephants behavior symbolizes WHAT??? Maybe that he didn’t care and he was going to do his own thing, no matter what the Burmese people did or said. Even when the elephant killed one of the Burmese people, the elephant carried on and moved throughout the town until it came to the field where it faced its death. I dont know, I wish I could help, but I just wanted to comment since I read it also.
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