Work record

Shooting an Elephant and Other Essays

George Orwell

1950 · Postwar Contemporary · Essays · English

Copyrightedlow medical relevanceFive-minute digest

Abstract

Written: Published 1950 (essays written 1931-1949)
Setting: 1920s to 1940s; Burma, Paris, England and elsewhere
Author: George Orwell
Country: United Kingdom
Language: English
Genre: Essays
Form: Posthumous collection of essays
Recommended: Grades 9–12 (An execution scene and the death of an elephant.)

Overview. This posthumous collection gathers short prose spanning two decades, from memories of police service in Burma to literary criticism.

Title essay. As a young police officer in Burma, the author faced a runaway elephant that had killed a man. When he found it calm, he shot it anyway because a vast crowd expected him to, and it died slowly.

Execution. A companion piece describes a prisoner walking to the gallows who sidesteps a puddle, revealing to the writer the wrongness of cutting short a life.

Hospital. Another essay describes a public hospital ward in Paris and the indignities of dying poor.

Criticism. Other pieces defend Shakespeare against Tolstoy, examine Swift's politics, and weigh Gandhi's saintliness. Lighter essays recall working in a second-hand bookshop, the drudgery of reviewing books for a living, and the stubborn return of spring as a common toad wakes from its winter sleep.

For students. These essays model plain style and moral honesty. Discuss peer pressure, empire and the value of life. The collection appeared in the year of the author's death, and its contents differ slightly between British and American editions. Because the 1950 collection stays in US copyright through 2045, the Moulmein elephant essay and its companions are described here rather than reprinted; use a library or purchased copy.

Key figures

George Orwell: essayist
The elephant: victim of the title essay
Tolstoy: subject of a critical essay
Gandhi: subject of a reflective essay

Portrait of George Orwell. Source · Public domain

Summary

Shooting an Elephant and Other Essays is a posthumous collection of George Orwell's essays, published by Secker and Warburg in 1950, the year he died. It gathers some of his most famous short prose, written between 1931 and 1949. The title essay, 'Shooting an Elephant' (1936), recalls an episode from Orwell's service as a police officer in Burma: an elephant in 'must' has run wild in a town, killing a man. By the time Orwell arrives with a rifle, the elephant is peacefully grazing, and he knows it need not be killed. But two thousand Burmese are watching, expecting a show, and he realizes that he must shoot it to avoid looking a fool. The elephant dies slowly and terribly. Orwell concludes that the imperialist becomes a puppet of those he rules, acting to keep face. 'A Hanging' (1931), also from Burma, describes an execution, and how a condemned man stepping aside to avoid a puddle showed Orwell 'the unspeakable wrongness' of cutting a life short. 'How the Poor Die' describes a Paris hospital ward in 1929. 'Lear, Tolstoy and the Fool' defends Shakespeare against Tolstoy's attack. 'Politics vs. Literature' examines Gulliver's Travels; 'Reflections on Gandhi' weighs the saint's life with respect and doubt; 'Such, Such Were the Joys' (in some editions) recalls his prep school; 'Riding Down from Bangor', 'Bookshop Memories', 'Some Thoughts on the Common Toad', 'Confessions of a Book Reviewer' and others show his range. Throughout, Orwell writes in clear, concrete prose, admits unflattering truths about himself, and examines conscience, power and decency. Christian readers will find much to discuss in his moral seriousness and his skepticism about religion. Because the collection was published in 1950 and Orwell died that year, it is under US copyright for many years; the library offers only an abstract and study guide.

Virtues in this work

Honor: Orwell confesses his own weakness and shame honestly.
Justice: He exposes the injustice of empire.

Plot or Argument

Shooting an Elephant
Orwell shoots an elephant to avoid looking foolish before a Burmese crowd.
A Hanging
An execution in Burma reveals the wrongness of taking life.
How the Poor Die
"How the Poor Die" describes a Paris public hospital ward in 1929.
Literary essays
On Shakespeare, Tolstoy, Swift, Gandhi and reviewing.

Lessons

Acting to save face
Orwell kills the elephant against his judgment because of pressure.
- Why does Orwell shoot?
- When have you acted to avoid looking foolish?
Related across the library
- Because I could not stop for Death, Lesson: Death as a courteous caller
  Death as a courteous caller. Dickinson strips death of terror by giving it manners: Death stops kindly, drives slowly, and earns the speaker's trust by his civility. The calm is part of the meaning, since a frightening subject is met with composure rather than panic.
- The Twelve Caesars, Lesson: Death scenes summarize lives
  Death scenes summarize lives. Each emperor's death is treated as revelation: murder, suicide, serenity, panic or omen becomes final commentary. Ancient biography turns dying into moral interpretation.
- The Aeneid, Book 2
  Aeneas narrates the fall of Troy, Priam’s death and the loss of Creusa as survivor testimony.
- Charlotte's Web, Lesson: Death is part of the seasons
  Death is part of the seasons. White does not hide that Charlotte must die or that spring pigs are often killed in winter. He sets these sad facts inside the turning year of the barn, so that death comes with new life, as Charlotte's children hatch in spring.
- On Happiness: Letter to Menoeceus and Principal Doctrines, Lesson: The fear of death
  The fear of death. Epicurus argues death is nothing to us. Christians answer that death is an enemy defeated by Christ.
The value of life
In A Hanging, a man stepping aside from a puddle reveals life's worth.
- What does Orwell notice?
- How does Genesis 9:6 bear on this?
Related across the library
- The Death of Ivan Ilyich, Lesson: The cruelty of the lie
  The cruelty of the lie. The family's and doctors' refusal to acknowledge his dying isolates Ivan Ilyich more than the pain does. The story is a classic text on honest communication with the dying.
- The Life of Samuel Johnson, 1784 (Aetat. 75)
  Dropsy, breathlessness that forces him to sit up all night, and the last days and prayers before his death on 13 December.
- Poems: First, Second and Third Series, Full Text
  Published in A Masque of Poets at the request of H H the author's fellow-townswoman and friend Success is counted sweetest By those who ne'er succeed To comprehend a nectar Requires sorest need Not one of all the purple host Who took the flag to-day Can tell the definition So clear of victory As he defeated dying On whose forbidden ear The distant strains of triumph Break agonized and clear II Our share of night to bear Our share of morning Our blank in bliss to fill Our blank in scorning Here a star and there a...
- Carmilla, Lesson: Reason, science and the limits of explanation
  Reason, science and the limits of explanation. Laura's father explains the peasant deaths as fever and the doctors at first treat Bertha's decline as a disease. Only the old physician from Gratz, who is ridiculed by his colleague, recognizes that no natural illness matches the symptoms. The tale stages a contest between confident rationalism and older knowledge, and lets the reader judge which proves wiser.
- Hippocratic Writings, Lesson: Observation precedes theory
  Observation precedes theory. The Corpus repeatedly values the disciplined noticing of symptoms over showy speculation. It teaches that clinical knowledge begins in repeated attention to individual bodies, seasons and outcomes.
Honesty about oneself
Orwell confesses his worst feelings honestly, which gives his essays moral weight.
- What does Orwell admit?
- Why is self-honesty valuable?
Related across the library
- Beyond the Pleasure Principle, Lesson: Honesty about speculation
  Honesty about speculation. The book repeatedly marks the line between observation and conjecture, admits that every step away from facts makes the result less trustworthy, and warns that people are rarely impartial about ultimate questions. Whatever one concludes about the death instinct, this candour is a model of intellectual honesty, though Freud also says self-criticism does not oblige him to tolerate divergent views.
- Because I could not stop for Death, Lesson: Death as a courteous caller
  Death as a courteous caller. Dickinson strips death of terror by giving it manners: Death stops kindly, drives slowly, and earns the speaker's trust by his civility. The calm is part of the meaning, since a frightening subject is met with composure rather than panic.
- The Twelve Caesars, Lesson: Death scenes summarize lives
  Death scenes summarize lives. Each emperor's death is treated as revelation: murder, suicide, serenity, panic or omen becomes final commentary. Ancient biography turns dying into moral interpretation.
- Essays, Moral and Political (selection), Medical lens
  Hume had personal experience of what his age called the disease of the learned: from about 1729 to 1734 he suffered low spirits, loss of appetite and other symptoms, consulted physicians, and described the illness in a long letter of 1734 to an unnamed physician (often thought to be George Cheyne). The essays reflect the 18th-century medicine of temperament. Of Superstition and Enthusiasm explains two religious dispositions by mood: weakness, fear and melancholy breed superstition, while luxuriant health, strong...
- King Solomon's Mines, Lesson: Treasure and its worth
  Treasure and its worth. The heroes reach a chamber holding more wealth than they can carry and immediately find it useless, sealed in the dark without food or water. Haggard gives Quatermain the reflection that wealth is valueless at the last, and gives Ignosi the reproach that his friends love the stones more than him.

Context

The essays span Orwell's career, from early pieces in The Adelphi in the early 1930s to postwar essays written shortly before his death in 1950.

Composition

Published by Secker and Warburg in 1950, months after Orwell's death; contents vary slightly between UK and US editions.

Reception

Shooting an Elephant and A Hanging are among the most anthologized English essays.

Colonialism Empire Justice Law Death / Mortality Honor Shame Language / Storytelling Virtue Ethics

Comparisons

Politics and the English Language
Orwell's essay on clear prose.
Burmese Days
Orwell's novel of Burma, drawn on the same experiences.
Gulliver's Travels
The subject of Politics vs. Literature.

Quotes

For Students

A reading companion for classical Christian high school students. See the student guide.

Reading Guide

Watch for

Why Orwell shoots the elephant.
The puddle in A Hanging.
Orwell's self-criticism.
His plain, concrete prose style.

Key terms and names

Must: A state of aggression in male elephants.
Imperialism: Rule over other peoples.
Sahib: Title used for a European official or gentleman in British India and Burma.
Essay: A short prose work of reflection.

Seminar Questions

Comprehension Why was the elephant dangerous?
Comprehension What happens in A Hanging?
Interpretation What does Orwell learn about empire?
Interpretation Why does the puddle matter?
Interpretation How does Orwell's style support his argument?
Big Question When should we resist the pressure of a crowd?

Faith Connections

Proverbs 29:25 (Scripture)
The fear of man bringeth a snare; Orwell shoots for fear of ridicule.
Genesis 9:6 (Scripture)
Man is made in the image of God; a ground for Orwell's sense of the wrongness of the hanging.

Logic and Rhetoric

Central argument: Power corrupts the powerful, who act to keep face; honest self-examination reveals the moral cost.

Rhetorical device: anecdote as argument. Orwell uses a single episode to illustrate the nature of imperialism.

Debate: Resolved: that Orwell was right to shoot the elephant.

Writing Prompts

Essay: Explain what Shooting an Elephant teaches about the effects of power on the powerful.

Comparison with Burmese Days: Compare Orwell's essay and novel about Burma.

Medical Lens

How the Poor Die describes a 1929 Paris hospital ward; A Hanging describes an execution.

Death Dying Physicians Doctors

How the Poor Die
Conditions in a Paris public hospital.
Physicians Doctors Death Dying

Creative Prompts

Essay
Write an essay in Orwell's style about a moment you acted against your judgment.
Classroom
Compare A Hanging and Shooting an Elephant.
Dialogue
Write a conversation between Orwell and a Burmese villager after the shooting.