Rachditya Puspa Andiningtyas 180410090079

Imperialism in Shooting an elephant Shooting an elephant told about a white man from British who worked in Burma as an imperial police. He was hated by Burmese but one day he felt that he had been important in a tiny incident. Early one morning, his sub-inspector at the police station the other end of the town rang him up on the phone and said that there was an Elephant which was ravaging the bazaar in Burma. But it was not a wild, it is the tame one. Its mahout, the only person who could manage it, had set out in pursuit. The Burmese had no weapons and were quite helpless against it. He was in internal conflict situation that he had to kill the elephant or not. As soon as he saw the elephant he knew with perfect certainty that he ought not to shoot it. And at the distance, peacefully eating, the elephant looked no more dangerous than a cow. He did not in the least want to shoot it. I decided that I would watch him for a little while to make sure that it did not turn savage again, and then go home. It was clear to him what he had to do. He had to test its behavior. If it charged, I could shoot; if it did not charge him, it would be safe to leave it until the mahouts came. But the pressure of the Burmese made him take the right decision immediately. But finally, he shot three times to the elephant but did not kill it so he shot it again into its heart and its throat. The Burmese seemed not impressed of what he was done so that he went away. Shooting an elephant is an essay which was written by George Orwell (Eric Arthur Blair) in 1936. This essay is based on his experience in Burma so that

he could tell the story in a perfect way. He described every step that he took when he wanted to shoot the elephant. He wants to make the readers feel that they are involved in the story. George Orwell was born in India in 1903 but grew up in British. His father, Richard Walmesley Blair, was a British civil servant in Opium Ministry in India and it made he worked for the British Imperial in Burma as the imperial police. His works which was related to the imperialism, of course, made him became anti-imperialism, as we can see in his passage: All this was perplexing and upsetting. For at that time I had already made up my mind that imperialism was an evil thing and sooner I chucked up my job and got out of it better. It was his volition and need for justice which led him to write this essay, Shooting an elephant. He also didnt like about his job as an imperial police. He actually prefers helped the Burmese against the colonizer, British, to work for British Empire as he wrote in the passage: Theoretically and secretly, of course I was all for the Burmese and all against their oppressors, the British. As for the job I was doing, I hated it more bitterly than I can perhaps make clear. In a job like that you see the dirty work of Empire at close quarters. The wretched prisoners huddling in the stinking cages of the lock-ups, the grey, cowed faces of the long term convicts, the scarred buttocks of the men who had been Bogged with bamboos all these oppressed me with an intolerable sense of guilt. In this essay, he was shown that he was a brave man. It didnt mean that he was brave to shoot the elephant but I said so because he made an extreme but right decision although he was in under pressure feeling. When he was returned to the

British, he resigned from his job as a police in 1927 to become an author. In the other hand, Orwell was also shown as a weak person in Burma although he had a big power as an imperial police to rule the Burmese but at that time, the Burmese was anti-European so that the European in Burma would be expelled. But one time, a tiny incident, which made he guessed that the Burmese perception about expelling the European would be changed, happened. He had to shoot the ragging elephant but the Burmese still not impressed of what he had done about the elephant. Like we can see in the passage: Finally I fired my two remaining shots into the spot where I thought his heart must be. The thick blood welled out of him like red velvet, but still he did not die. I sent back for my small rifle and poured shot after shot into his heart and down his throat. They seemed to make no impression. He also did this job with under pressure feeling. It is seen as in the passage below: As I started forward practically the whole population of the quarter flocked out of the houses and followed me. They had seen the rifle and were all shouting excitedly that I was going to shoot the elephant..I had no intention of shooting the elephant I had merely sent for the rifle to defend myself if necessary and it always unnerving to have a crowd following you. I marched down the hill, looking and feeling a fool, with the rifle over my shoulder and an ever growing army of people jostling at my heels. And also in this passage: They did not like me, but with the magical rifle in my hands I was momentarily worth watching. And suddenly I realized that I should have to shoot

the elephant after all. The people expected it of me and I had got to do it; it could feel their two thousands wills pressing me forward, irresistibly. After I researched about what the British had done to the Burmese that the Burmese became anti-European I found that in 1823 - 1886, British conquered Burma which is known as the Anglo-Burmese Wars. It occurred in three periods. First Anglo-Burmese War was in 1824 1826. British succeed to conquer Burma. British proposed a treaty, the Treaty of Yandabo, which was contained that Burma lost territory of Assam, Manipur, and Arakan. British also took possession of Tenasserim with the intention to use it as a bargaining chip in future negotiations with either Burma or Siam. Besides, the British in India began to exploit the resources and main part of Burma during an era of great territorial expansion. Then, the Second Anglo-Burmese War in 1852, Commodore Lambert was sent to Burma by Lord Dalhousie over a number of minor issues related to the previous treaty. The Burmese immediately made concessions including the removal of a governor whom the British had made. Lambert eventually provoked a navy confrontation and thus started the Second Anglo-Burmese War in 1852, which ended by the British clustering the Pegu province, renamed Lower Burma. The war resulted in a palace revolution in Burma, with King Pagan Min (1846 1852) being replaced by his half brother, Mindon Min (18531878). Third Anglo-Burmese War, 1885, King Mindon tried to modernise the Burmese state and economy to resist British interruption, and he established a new capital at Mandalay, which he proceeded to fortify. This was not enough to stop the British, however, who claimed that Mindon's son Thibaw Min (ruled 1878 1885) was a tyrant intending to side with the French, that he had lost control of the

country, thus allowing for disorder at the frontiers, and that he was denied on a treaty signed by his father. The British declared war once again in 1885, conquering the remainder of the country in the Third Anglo-Burmese War resulting in total clustered of Burma. In Shooting an elephant, Orwell, the British, as the minority was expelled by the Burmese as the majority. This thing was happened because of the bad experience that the Burmese had in the history. The British or the European had imperialized Burma. Formerly, the British had killed some of the Burmese, take their territories, and exploited Burmas resources. This imperialism, of course, make the Burmese give some stereotypes to the British. The Burmese thought that the British are mean, cruel, evil and the other bad stereotypes. From all this cause, it is clear why the Burmese expelled the British (in this case I consider it as discrimination). And in present, those bad stereotypes still stick in some of the Burmeses mind. This case reminds me about what had also happened in Indonesia. There was KNIL (Hindia-Belanda Royal Army) which the members were the native, most of them from Moluccas. They helped Dutch against the native whom wanted Indonesias independence. They killed the native no matter who they are. But unexpectedly, Dutch lost the war and pulled back to their country. The members of KNIL were expelled by the Indonesian because they had helped Dutch to seize the Indonesias independence. They finally moved to Dutch, expect that they would be accepted by the Dutch Empire. But what they got was not what they expected. They were not also accepted, because they were different.

So, from Orwells essay, Shooting an elephant, I conclude that the imperialism can cause the discrimination (expelling the minority by the majority). This is happened because of the bad experience in history that made a stereotype for the colony or the minority.