In George Orwell Shooting an Elephant how does the narrator cultural background affecthow he feels about the elephant?

Answer 1

In Orwell's "Shooting an Elephant" (1936) he displays the imperial administration's ambivalence concerning his action of destroying an elephant. On the one hand, it was his legal responsibility because the elephant had murdered a local "Coolie." On the other hand, killing the elephant is tantamount to destroying the means of production, which from a utilitarian point of view is a great crime. Orwell exposes the late-Victorian uncertainty over their true purpose as rulers - whether to uphold some truth-value embedded in the legal-rational state, or simply to maintain the utility of their dominion. This opposition between rational and utilitarian justification can be equated to the collapse of metaphysical truth to the realm of meaning-from the Idea of the True to the utility of communication within postmodern linguistic philosophy. For examples, consider Wittgenstein and Derrida.

Answer 2

The narrator's cultural background as a colonial police officer in Burma influences his feelings towards the elephant. He feels pressured to maintain authority and uphold the expectations of the native people, which leads him to shoot the elephant against his personal beliefs. This internal conflict highlights the impact of power dynamics and cultural expectations on individual actions.

Answer 3

Orwell faces the tricky aspect of pleasing the Burmese people by killing the elephant, just as he faces the trickiness of enforcing Imperialism when he doesn't agree with it.

(apex) He doesn't want to shoot the elephant but feels obligated to, just like he feels obligated to do a job he doesn't like.

Orwell is facing a moral struggle with shooting the elephant, just as he faces the moral struggle of serving a country he disagrees with.