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Student’s Name Instructor’s Name Course Date Shooting an Elephant George Orwell’s “Shooting an Elephant” is an autobiographical essay in which the author outlines his disgust for the colonial rule by recalling an event from his life in Burma as a policeman. The essay describes the author’s inner conflict as an imperial police officer (Keskinen 667). The author outlines how the Burmese civilians were discriminated upon in a time when racial discrimination was rife in the society. The British had undue control over the Burmese civilians as they were not even supposed to own any gun. The author detested his situation in life as he was always faced with a moral dilemma. The Burmese hated the rule and expressed their displeasure by taking any opportunity to harass the Europeans (Alam 126). The author was ironically among those harassed now and then through insults by the locals, yet he was on their side. He felt stuck between his loathing of the British Empire that he served and the Burmese who still made his work difficult (Orwell 2844). Orwell did not like the British authority as it was very oppressive to the Burmese citizens, but he had no otherwise but to take a neutral position as his efforts alone would have been insignificant. There were also serious repercussions that would befall him if he took a contrary position on the matter. The betrayal of his country would have been treated as treason. He would also be treated as an outcast by siding with the Burmese. According to him, quitting his job was the only way out of his predicament, and the sooner he got out, the better it would be for him (Orwell 2845). Orwell’s “wait and see” approach
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