The details pertaining to the poor animals death were sad and upsetting. It left me feeling disgusted that the writer had "done it solely to avoid looking a fool" , rather than stick to his gut feeling of "I had never shot an elephant and never wanted to. (Somehow it always seems worse to kill a large animal)".
This story frustrated me because the narrator acted selfishly and killed an innocent being. After the shooting he only received minutes of fame since the Burmans were more concerned about gathering items from the dead elephants body then what the white man had done.
The gruesome detail Orwell used to describe the elephant's last moments made me a little sick. I do not know how any one could possibly live with themselves after doing such an immoral thing. I am not sure if it is the fact that the elephant had to die slowly or the main characters stupidity; but both factor into me disliking the outcome of the stories events.
i too agree that the elephant should have lived, i was bothered as well. i like how you pointed out the passage descibing the painstaking event of life being sucked from the giant. the mood was traggic i also disliked the tragic outcome of the stories events. well put.
ReplyDeleteAt first, I had that same frustration you had about the officers choice to act on his fear of the crowd. But when I thought about it, I realized that everyone (myself included) has acted this same way at some point in their lives. I think Orwell wasnt trying so much to show the shame in an innocent elephant dying, as much as the shame in humanity going against ourselves in what we know is right/wrong.
ReplyDeleteYou have some good observations here. Definitely the scene describing the elephants death is difficult to read. I think Jolie makes a good suggestion on how the incident relates to the overall meaning of the piece. You clearly understand the conflict Orwell faced and why he did what he did. What does this all have to do with imperialism. Do you think Orwell is making an argument here?
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