Push and Pull of Society
Push and Pull of Society George Orwell writes of his experience in British-ruled India in the early Twentieth Century. At the time, he was a young, inexperienced soldier stationed there to help protect the Queen's interests (Menaker). George Orwell recalls an event early in his service as a police magistrate in India during the 1920s, an event that changed his views on death and killing. While he was there, he had to do something that had made some ethical conflicts within him. George Orwell conveys internal conflicts through his character to make his points. His character is torn between his own morals and the push and pull of society.
In his story, “Shooting an Elephant”, Orwell serves as a sub divisional police officer, who is against the cruel British. However, he also despises the mockery he is given by the natives of Burma. He knows that killing the elephant is wrong, but cannot find the courage to stand up to his fear of being laughed at. “And suddenly I realized that I should have to shoot the elephant after all. The people expected it of me… as I stood there with the rifle in my hands, that was the moment I first grasped the hollowness, the futility of the white man’s dominion in the East.”(Orwell 74) Orwell is forced to shoot the elephant, with the will of the crowd controlling him like a puppet. Orwell does this in order to avoid looking like a fool, and to preserve the common good of the village.
People are expected to view police officers as local heroes, and to protect local citizens from any harm while still maintaining the heroic view. Law enforcement officers are modern day heroes by representing and honoring the law enforcement codes and ethics, committing selfless acts, and by dealing with the effects of personal stressors that come with the job of being a leader (Klockars). Orwell’s character in Shooting an Elephant has to kill a wild elephant that runs uncontrollably throughout the village. In its act it destroys a truck, a hut, and a
In his story, “Shooting an Elephant”, Orwell serves as a sub divisional police officer, who is against the cruel British. However, he also despises the mockery he is given by the natives of Burma. He knows that killing the elephant is wrong, but cannot find the courage to stand up to his fear of being laughed at. “And suddenly I realized that I should have to shoot the elephant after all. The people expected it of me… as I stood there with the rifle in my hands, that was the moment I first grasped the hollowness, the futility of the white man’s dominion in the East.”(Orwell 74) Orwell is forced to shoot the elephant, with the will of the crowd controlling him like a puppet. Orwell does this in order to avoid looking like a fool, and to preserve the common good of the village.
People are expected to view police officers as local heroes, and to protect local citizens from any harm while still maintaining the heroic view. Law enforcement officers are modern day heroes by representing and honoring the law enforcement codes and ethics, committing selfless acts, and by dealing with the effects of personal stressors that come with the job of being a leader (Klockars). Orwell’s character in Shooting an Elephant has to kill a wild elephant that runs uncontrollably throughout the village. In its act it destroys a truck, a hut, and a