Shooting an Elephant

“Shooting an Elephant”

• Genre: Nonfiction; reflective essay
• Originally Published: 1936
• Reading Level/Interest: Grades 9-12; college/adult
• Structure/Length: Approx. 6 pages; approx. 22 minutes
• Central Concern: In this essay, Orwell recounts an incident that occurred in his early adulthood while he worked as a British police officer in Burma, where he describes a pervasively bitter and hostile attitude toward European colonizers among the Burmese population. Orwell sympathized with the Burmese and hated his job, so it frustrated him that he was the target of so much vitriol; then he has an opportunity to impress a large crowd that wants him to shoot a male elephant that has gone on a rampage. Orwell shoots and kills the elephant, but he realizes quickly that the quieted animal died in service of his own public image as a strong, decisive British police officer and nothing else.
• Potential Sensitivity Issues: Violence toward and killing of an animal

George Orwell (Eric Arthur Blair), Author

• Bio: 1903-1950; English novelist, critic, essayist; known for themes that warn against Imperialism and authoritarian control; winner of Prometheus Hall of Fame Award (in 1984 for 1984 and 2011 for Animal Farm).
• Other Works: Animal Farm (1945); 1984 (1949)

CENTRAL THEMES connected and noted throughout this Teaching Unit:

• Imperialism
• Power
• Worth

STUDY OBJECTIVES: In accomplishing the components of this Unit, students will:

• Develop an understanding of the cultural and social context around the impact of British Imperialism in Burma (present-day Myanmar) that led to Orwell’s actions.
• Study paired texts and other brief resources to make connections via the text’s themes of Imperialism, Power, and Worth.
• Analyze and evaluate the long-term impacts systems of oppression can have on the oppressed by creating a country-specific timeline.