Modern Classics Shooting an Elephant

by George Orwell

Book Overview

'Shooting an Elephant' is Orwell's searing and painfully honest account of his experience as a police officer in imperial Burma; killing an escaped elephant in front of a crowd 'solely to avoid looking a fool'. The other masterly essays in this collection include classics such as 'My Country Right or Left', 'How the Poor Die' and 'Such, Such were the Joys', his memoir of the horrors of public school, as well as discussions of Shakespeare, sleeping...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0141187395
• ISBN13: 9780141187396
• Release Date: July 2009
• Publisher: Penguin Classic
• Length: 460 Pages
• Weight: 0.70 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 5.1" x 7.8"

Customer Reviews

Orwell on politics and language

Of course I read this collection many years ago as all self-respecting writers of my generation have. After all, Orwell was a mentor to all of us as well as one of our heroes, and this collection includes not only the title piece, which is as good a personal experience essay as has ever been written, but also "Politics and the English Language," an essay on how to write and how not to write that is without parallel. But as I perused the "Contents" page a forgotten chapter title caught my eye,"Confessions of a Book Reviewer"! I immediately turned to page 171. Oh, what a delight I beheld! Orwell begins the essay with, "In a cold but stuffy bed-sitting room littered with cigarette ends and half-empty cups of tea, a man in a moth-eaten dressing gown sits at a rickety table, trying to find room for his typewriter among the piles of dusty papers that surround it." After some further dreary detail, Orwell continues, "Needless to say this person is a writer. He might be a poet, a novelist, or a writer of film scripts or radio features, for all literary people are very much alike, but let us say that he is a book reviewer." Of course Orwell is writing (with some scant distance) about Orwell. How candid he is and how well he eschews any glamour or romance in the self-portrait! And yet, there is something heroic about Orwell's depiction of the literary "hack" that is agreeable. He goes on to say as "the menacing finger of the clock" moves toward the reviewer's deadline, "suddenly he will snap into it. All the stale old phrases--'a book that no one should miss,' 'something memorable on every page.' 'of special value are the chapters dealing with, etc., etc.' will jump into their places like iron fillings obeying the magnet, and the review will end up at exactly the right length and with just about three minutes to go." Orwell practiced a style that never called attention to itself (because the content was paramount), yet upon closer examination is characterized not only by precise diction and a rare clarity of expression but with the sort of metaphorical language that brings content to life. Note those "iron fillings"! "Shooting an Elephant" begins with these famous words, "In Moulmein, in Lower Burma, I was hated by large numbers of people--the only time in my life that I have been important enough for this to happen to me." A few lines down he remarks, "I was young and ill-educated and I had had to think out my problems in the utter silence that is imposed on every Englishman in the East. I did not even know that the British Empire is dying, still less did I know that it is a great deal better than the younger empires that are going to supplant it...With one part of my mind I thought of the British Raj as an unbreakable tyranny...; with another part I thought that the greatest joy in the world would be to drive a bayonet into a Buddhist priest's guts. Feelings like these are the normal by-products of imperialism; ask any Anglo-Indian offi

Orwell and His Writing

This book was very good and I enjoyed reading it. I think one of the reasons for that is because I like short stories. Another reason was that the book was very good in my opinion and I couldn't let it go of my hand once I started reading it. This was one of the few books that I have taken with me home and read it even in my bed before sleep. I like reading the book so much that I told my friends to go get it and read it. There was something about this book that i just could not make out what it was that it took all my attention. George Orwell (Eric Blair) is a great writer and one of my favorites. The first book that I read from him was "1984" also a great book I should say. I also read "Animal Farm" from the same author. When I read those books I thought that George Orwell was a politician the way the books were written, but when I read this book last week I saw that there was more to George Orwell than a politician, there was a writer in him. Even though in most of the stories in "Shooting an Elephant and Other Essays" he talks about how he didn't like the system and how people were oppresed by the British or the rich, these stories were good because you could tell them to other people and they would understand them. The reason why Orwell doesn't like the government is because he was a socialist and he wanted the people to govern themselves not some rich man beating them. These stories talked about the man's war with authority and with itself. He wanted wanted to write about his struggle with poverty, when he was washing dishes in France that's why he changed his name in his stories. He didn't want his friends and family to know about his poor days. Also because George Orwell sounds more like someone from the streets. I should say that most of the stories in this book were placed in India where Orwell was born or in France. George Orwell with his stories gave people a view of how they could oppose the government. You don't have to oppose the government just with the gun as a fighter but also with the pen as a writter. He is a very good writer that shows to the reader the way things really are. Through his stories he told people that he didn't like what the government was doing to people and what the rich people with power were doing to the poor class. In the first story of the book he writes how he was a policemen in Burma, India where he was born. He writes how being a policemen of the British Empire made him someone that was hated by all the people. He was representing something he didn't like the British oppressor. Also he talks about the dilema inside him about what to do with the elephant. In almost all the stories there were the same conflicts man against authority, man against man and, man against himself. To say that George Orwell has written just some essays would not be fair to the author and the reader. In my oppinon these stories were better than some his major works. I know now what got my attention in this book. It was the way

His Views on Society

This collection of essays was published posthumously, after the publication of '1984' made him famous. The title refers to an incident when as an Imperial Policeman in Burma he had to kill a tame elephant that went wild. He describes the times, and his reluctance to kill a working elephant "a costly piece of machinery". But the people seemed to expect it - for safety, and a huge amount of meat.The next essay tells of his participation in a hanging. He doesn't tell of the offense, only that he was "a puny wisp of a man". "How the Poor Die" tells of his hospitalization in 1929 Paris; he had a fever. He saw a doctor perform cupping on a patient! He was treated next, and then was given a mustard poultice. Orwell notes that a natural death means something slow, smelly, and painful. His prior experience was with people who died violent deaths. The public wards of hospitals often have horror, as if certain diseases only attacked lower income people. Later he learned this hospital had a bad reputation.His "Thoughts on James Burnham" and the organization of society are still fresh and relevant after 50+ years, but outdated in parts. He pointed out that Burnham's prophecies are of "a continuation of the thing that is happening"; Orwell calls this cowardice and a worship of power. Orwell notes that a poll would have intelligent people guessing wrong, and less knowing people being right! He blames the worship of power for this. You can judge Orwell by this essay.Orwell criticizes the claim "sports creates goodwill" by pointing to everyday experiences. Only local games played for fun and exercise create no fanaticism. Sport is frankly mimic warfare. It arouses the passion of the spectators to believe a kicked ball tests national virtue! But these actions merely illustrate the emotions hidden in everyday life.In the "Decline of the English Murder" he points out that sex and money were involved in many famous murders. To get it or to keep it."Reflections on Gandhi" gives Orwell's views. He notes that his prevention of violence served the British Empire. The Indian aristocracy and millionaires preferred him to Socialists and Communists. But nobody thought he was corrupt or ambitious. One fault was that he did not seek adequate personal protection in public! Gandhi treated all people with respect. Gandhi's personal philosophy was: no meat-eating, or any form of animal food. No alcohol, tobacco, spices or condiments; no sexual intercourse. No close friendships and no exclusive loves whatever. [I wonder what the point of all this was?] Satyagraha only seems feasible when a Ruling Class is inclined to grant your requests. It is useless against 19th century British (or other) imperialisms. Most people understand this if they can't articulate it. The concept of "passive resistance" is useful for a Ruling Class that does not want to lose their power, but may ameliorate the conditions of their subjects. Think about it.