Shooting an Elephant

(c) Discuss ‘Shooting an Elephant’ as a critique on colonialism.

(c) Discuss ‘Shooting an Elephant’ as a critique on colonialism.

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One of the central themes threaded through the essay is the latent resentment of the colonized people of Burma for the British occupiers who aim to control their society, yet cannot fully do so. We see this resentment in the open disgust which the monks reveal for Orwell personally, a sentiment that he feels is hypocritical given their office; we see it in the cruel laughter of the Burmese for the British players on the football field; and ultimately Orwell's awareness of his resentment manifests in his explicit rationalizing for his motivation for killing the elephant.