Conflict in George Orwell’s ‘Shooting an Elephant’
Introduction
The George Orwell story ‘Shooting an Elephant’ exhibits different scenarios that clearly show existence of conflict at different levels. However, this paper will discuss the three major levels of conflict evident in the story. The conflict levels include the conflict within himself, conflict with nature, and conflict with the society. The discussion will be based on evidence from the narrative.
Discussion
Conflict with Himself
The narrator of the story is in conflict with his intrinsic beliefs. He loathes subjecting the Burmese people to oppression, yet since he is part of the British police force, he has a moral duty to oppress. The conflict emanates from what he believes in as an individual, his principles, and values vis-à-vis the moral duty he signed up for as police for the British forces. In the text Orwell and Kernerman (1969), posit that, “All I knew was that I was stuck between my hatred of the empire and my rage against the evil-spirited little beasts who tried to make my job impossible.” Therefore, Orwell is put in a dilemma to strike between two worlds: himself and his job.
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Additionally, Orwell is in utter conflict with his conscience on whether he should or should not kill the elephant that based on his judgement does not impose any threats to attack them in that moment. The narrator understands that shooting the elephant will lead to its death, which according to him is an unjustified killing. However, since failure to shoot the elephant will be perceived by the Burmese people as a weakness, which might undermine British authority, it also dawns on him that he has a duty to kill the elephant to protect the image and dignity of the British authorities.
Conflict with Nature
The conflict between nature and the narrator is clearly portrayed when Orwell was informed about the death of a man caused by the elephant. The actions of the elephant were violent towards anything or person who seemed to come in his way. Therefore, according to Orwell, these violent actions are normal based on the situation of the elephant: it is a creature of nature, which makes it prone to fright caused by humans’ existence and as a result may react with violence most times. Based on the knowledge that the actions of the elephant are part of nature’s course; the narrator is expected not to go ahead with the shot. However, Orwell proceeds to not only shoot the elephant but to kill it from firing multiple shots. In the text from Orwell and Kernerman (1969) he acclaims, “As soon as I saw the dead man I sent an orderly to a friend’s house nearby to borrow an elephant rifle.”
Conflict with Society
There is a major conflict between the narrator and the society, in which case it is the Burmese people. Existence of this conflict is driven by colonialism where the Burmese people hate the British masters for their violence. The narrator is a member of the British police force who have been deployed to inflict suffering to the locals for their non-compliance to colonial power. The Burmese on the other hand are also violent towards the British force, including the narrator: when the narrator plays football, a Burmese man would frequently trip him to inflict injury.
Conclusion
The conflicts in the three levels all contribute to defining the character of the narrator superficially while also portraying what he truly is intrinsically. Orwell remains an individual who has a different mindset on the inside but chooses his actions based on what his peers expect him to do. Orwell hates actions of the British Empire but still works for them. Additionally, evidence for this stipulation on the narrator’s character manifests when he succumbs to the expectations of the society to kill the elephant.
References
Orwell, G., Kernerman, A., & Kernerman, A. (1969). Shooting an elephant. Yehud Comprehensive High School. Retrieved from https://springboard.collegeboard.org/sites/default/files/2018_ELA_G12_Act1_19_SE.pdf .
