George Orwell, Shooting an Elephant

Robert Carson (Texas A&M (Qatar))

Ed. by Andrew Radford, University of Glasgow
The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.2.1.08: English Writing and Culture of the early Twentieth Century , 1900-1945.
Vol. editors: Chris Baldick (Goldsmiths College, University of London), Peter Childs (Birmingham Newman University), Atasoy Emrah (University of Warwick), Louise McDonald (Birmingham Newman University), Andrew Radford (University of Glasgow)

Domains

Political Science

Dates

First circulation or publication 1936

Places

England (Country of Origin)

Genres and Modes

Essays/ Lectures (any)
Non-fictional prose

Resources

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Recommended Reading

George Orwell’s 1936 memoir-essay, “Shooting an Elephant”, recounts the writer’s killing of an unruly elephant when he was a policeman in colonial Burma. Orwell reflects on the injustice of the British Empire, on his own ambivalence about enforcing imperial rule, and on the quasi-theatrical demands of that enforcement. Critics have praised the prose style of “Shooting an Elephant”, and it often features as a model in post-secondary writing instruction.

“Shooting an Elephant” belongs at the center of any discussion of Orwell’s complex thoughts on imperialism. Interested readers should also consult “A Hanging”, “Marrakech”, “Reflections on Gandhi”, and his 1942 essay “Rudyard Kipling”. Likewise, the novel Burmese Days, and his analysis of the Empire in

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3952 words

Citation: Carson, Robert. "Shooting an Elephant". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 17 October 2023 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=2068, accessed 17 May 2024.]

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