Shooting an Elephant

Analyze and then discuss how this story relates to America in the current year?

Analyze and then discuss how this story relates to America in the current year?

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There are a few themes that you might consider. The experience of the imperial police officer is an experience of representing the empire as a whole. As the face of the British empire, Orwell is personally subject to the Burmese peoples' derisions of the empire. To them, he is the Empire. By seeing Orwell's personal criticisms of that Empire contrasted with his experience asa representative of it, we are able to reflect on the experience of policing, and of representing state power more generally. The personal feelings, beliefs and ideologies of the officer are irrelevant so long as he is in uniform and thus represents a whole other set of beliefs and ideologies. America too has different beliefs, largely racial and political, that emotionally charge the relationship between people and the police.