1984 George Orwell Chapter 1 Analysis

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James chapter 1 verses nineteen through twenty-one, “everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, because human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires. Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you.” Injustice cannot continue, and the tyranny of man has corrupted the people. We all partake in impiety, and survival is dependent on the morality we cannot find. Eric Blair, better known by his pen name George Orwell was a man of faith, a man with an opinion. Orwell masters the ability to provide political rhetoric within anecdotes and narratives. “Shooting an Elephant,” telling of a young Blair, is no different.…show more content…
It is also the influence behind the entire paper, and the shaping factor of his political philosophies. Or well goes on to say, “it seemed dreadful to see the great beast lying there, powerless to move and yet powerless to die, and not even able to finish him”(Orwell 301). The burmese people were also this grand animal stuck inside an undesired situation. They are unable to escape, powerless in their captivity. They are aware of this oppressing force, yet still they hold determination and unwillingness to accept the oppression they face. Even though they emulate the strength and grandeur of the elephant, they also represent the other image given as well. To the government, the Burmese people are wild, uncontrolled and not modernly civilized beasts, the government feels pressure to control them the same way Orwell struggles to take up action against the elephant. Quite literally, Orwell sees through the destruction of a beautiful, large, and powerful being. This is an eye opening experience that shows him a small scale of oppression and life existing of those around him. Being that he struggles to shoot the animal, only for protection and, “to avoid looking like a fool”(Orwell 302), does Orwell shoot the elephant. It is the fear created through his actions that propels him toward a state of enlightenment. The way we had to put down such an…show more content…
I see this being the first major political comprehension Orwell grasps, and this molded what he would go on to write about. Most of his works explain a government mad with power, a negative force for the public and even today people refer to his books as definition of the horrors of government. I believe that he thought he was trying to help those oppressed beings, but he would quickly come to realize, he was only aiding in their oppression and his own. The native people being ruled over, expect action from the oppressors, and to keep order action was taken. Orwell says, “I perceived in this moment that when the white man turns tyrant it is his own freedom that he destroys”(Orwell 299). With having a group dependent on your action, Orwell feels like a puppet, played by the will of those surrounding him. He states, “for it is the condition of his rule that he shall spend his life in trying to impress the ‘natives,’ and so in every crisis he has got to do what the ‘natives' expect of him. He wears a mask, and his face grows to fit it”(Orwell 299). Here he expands his point to show that all who oppress must act as a puppet to the natives expectations and needs of life. While cruel and unnecessary that we intervene with these people’s lives, they also hold power of how we act, creating an invisible oppression

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