A British police officer stationed in Burma is having a hard time since most of the Burmans are anti-European. He recieves a call to go kill a wild elephant and when he gets there he has to decide to shoot or not. With all the Burmans watching, he does not want to look like a fool and shoots is out of fear. He feared that they would laugh at him and that if he killed it, they would respect him and his job. This symbolizes imperialism and how the government's drive for control. The Burmans are the ruled people and the police officer is the government that wants to control the people, fearing that they might over rule it. The elephant was an example to show the power of the government.
This relates to Lord of the Flies. The Jack ruled out of fear of rebellion, just as the police officer did. He hurt other children to show that he was powerful and to not cross him. I think Orwell believes that the government has to inflict some sort of pain among the people to show that it is not afraid to control them.
Why was this man a police officer?
1) Odd question. I have no idea.
ReplyDelete2) Be careful with grammar: lots of little mistakes here that make your argument look rushed and poorly thought out
3) What conclusions can you draw about Imperialism as a philosophy and practice?