Question

What is the overall message of Orwell's "Shooting an Elephant"? Consider the term epiphany, which is a moment of clarity and understanding. Is there such a moment in this story? If so, what triggers it?

Answer 1

Orwell's "Shooting an Elephant" is affected chiefly with imperialism. Orwell had written this story in the 1930s, when Great Britain still governed India and also the territories in Southeast Asia, such as Burma.

The purpose of George Orwell's Shooting an Elephant is to alert people to the danger of reconciling to the social norms. It displays this predicament when the narrator is ordered to shoot an elephant, due to which the Burmese man was killed.

The main idea of "Shooting An Elephant" is that the essence of imperialism which compels people to perform in a specific way. This incident is illustrated by the episode in which Orwell, in his efficiency as a police officer, is asked to bring an elephant under his control. It was clear to Orwell that he must shoot the elephant, not because he wanted to wreck the animal but he realizes that it was expected of him being an imperial officer. This essay, of "Shooting an Elephant" is to disclose the conflict between one's moral conscience and the laws, which relates to British imperialism.

Considering the term epiphany and its meaning, I believe the narrator gets to this moment in the story as he’s walking down the cliff and realizes the elephant is no longer a menace. When the British officer is compelled to shoot the elephant, at this moment he realizes the true essence of imperialism and reiterates how representatives of the dominant imperial power are persecuted by the native population. The British officer has no inclination towards killing the elephant but he experiences excessive companions pressure, due to which he appears uncompromising, modest, and powerful in front of the Burmese natives