Early in George Orwell's "On Shooting an Elephant," he
expresses his distaste for his provincial job. Ambivalence characterizes his feeling as
he explains that he was
readability="12">all for the Burmese and all against their
oppressors, the British....In a job like that you see the dirty work of Empire at close
quarters. The wretched prisoners huddling in the stinking cages of the lock-ups, the
grey, cowed faces of the long-term convicts, the scarred buttocks of the men who had
been Bogged with bamboos – all these oppressed me with an intolerable sense of
guilt.However, when he is
called upon to perform his duties, Orwell expresses negative feelings toward the
Burmese, saying that he could not get anything "into perspective"
becauseAll I
knew was that I was stuck between my hatred of the empire I served and my rage against
the evil-spirited little beasts who tried to make my job
impossible.Orwell's
diction indicates his more negative feelings. For instance, when realizes that he must
impress the sea of "yellow faces" when he is called upon to shoot the elephant. And,
while he is reluctant to kill the majestic beast, he does so because he does not wish to
be made a fool of by all the staring Burmese people who seem to delight in his position,
watching him as they would a conjurer and giving a "devilish roar of glee" as he finally
shoots the animal.
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