Orwell chooses to evaluate his actions wisely thinking about the advantages and disadvantages. He personally doesn't want to kill the animal but he knows that the multitude of people are pressuring him to.
We believe that Orwell has a lot of guts writing about his personal experience of shooting an elephant which makes him admirable. His entire story was the truth and was unbiased to his own action. He didn't leave out important details and is aware of the consequences. He accepts that he was just a puppet to the people trying to give them what they wanted. Although he told the truth, that doesn't make it right for shooting the "wild animal."
I agree with you guys, it was wise of him to evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of his actions. That was a smart move, but I dislike the fact he killed the elephant. I feel like he could have handled the situation in a better way.
ReplyDeleteI believe so too. I feel that he was under so much pressure, he didn't want to disappoint the crowd so he did what was expected of him.
DeleteI agree. He could have handled the situation better. He had already weighed out the pro's and the con's, yet he gave the con's more weight simply because of the amount of people. Majority rule is not always right. In the words of Ghandi, “In matters of conscience, the law of the majority has no place.”
DeleteI admire him for the fact that he did look at the pros and cons instead of just acting upon his extinct.
DeleteWell Julia, I agree that he could've handled the situation better, but we are all looking at this from a standpoint of readers. Although Orwell does his best to help us feel the intense pressure of the crowd that drove him to do what he did, it's a bit unfair to criticize him completely since we aren't in that situation ourselves. We don't hear the bellowing of the crowd or feel the anticipating gazes. I feel like I have to cut the man a little slack considering that even after the event, he owned up to what he did and told the story, doing nothing more and nothing less.
DeleteYou guys said that Orwell had a lot of guts for writing this piece, would you say writing about this experience is a way of releasing his guilt?
ReplyDeleteYes because one way of letting go of guilt is by expressing it by writing or telling. He got everything out of his mind and doesn't want to hold onto this guilt any longer. He just wanted to move one.
DeleteI like how you pointed out that the story is not bias because i think that gives it a deeper meaning to the story. Orwell could have written the story in such a way so that it could have justified his actions toward killing the elephant;yet, he does not coward and reveals all the truth.
ReplyDeleteEven though he has admitted his faultiness by writing about his foolish actions, I believe he is still partly foolish. He became the person (puppet) the crowd wanted for his "dignity" and "honor". Even though he has reached his enlightenment, I think the shame is still ingrained in him, at least it would be for me.
ReplyDeleteI don't feel as if it's wrong, yes he was there puppet but he had to do what he had to do or else someone else might of done it . Sometimes it is very hard to stand up in life , and in this case he could not do it.
ReplyDelete