Persuasion and the Use of Concrete Detail in "shooting an Elephant"

Kamila Oh

Professor Johnson

English 1102

16 October 2012

Persuasion and the Use of Concrete Detail in "Shooting an Elephant"

Throughout "Shooting an Elephant", George Orwell, uses in depth descriptions to evoke emotion. He maneuvers the reader into believing that his side is correct, even if he changes views. George Orwell controls the readers' opinions about the Burmese and the elephant to correspond with his own feelings through his use of concrete detail/language.

George Orwell successfully attempts to make us dislike the Burmese people from the start by using concrete detail throughout his stories to make him act as a victim. In the beginning, he states, "As a police officer I was an obvious target and was baited whenever it seemed safe to do so". Although somewhat in a position of power, Orwell nevertheless felt downgraded by the Burmese people. People associate a "police officer" as an authority figure that is well respected. He used harsh terms like "target" and "baited". Most people would not consider those two words in relation with a police officer. By doing so, he gave the reader a feeling of how insulting the Burmese were. With using these descriptions, he victimized himself. "Target" and "baited" are words that we associate with a prey. Therefore, by using them to describe himself, he gave us the idea that he was innocent and all of the Burmese were out to get him. Right after he stated he was a "target", he gave us a specific example: "When a nimble Burman tripped me up on the football field and the referee (another Burman) looked the other way, the crowd yelled with hideous laughter. This happened more than once". Not only was this officer teased, but the community as a whole allowed it. The job of a referee is to call out instances of the game when it is not being fair. He drew a picture with his diction when he noted that the referee knew what was going on but "looked the other way", obviously not doing his job. He used words like "yelled" and "hideous" to describe the laughter. Not only did these people laugh about this instance, but the author vividly recalls how they laughed. By describing that they did not hide their giggles but instead "yelled with hideous laughter", he conveyed an image that the whole crowd was proud to ridicule this man, who was supposed to be their protector. Orwell convinced us with his concrete details of the hate that all of the Burmese had for him. They detested him to the extent that they individually went out of their way to torment him. He made himself seem like the helpless cockroach while the citizens from Burma were the powerful feet. Not only were they feet, but they also acted as dogs; "if a European woman went through the bazaars alone somebody would probably spit betel juice over her dress". He illustrated in our mind that these people were disrespectful to anyone but their own kind. It is understood, in our society, to not treat women in such an ill manner. By giving us an instance to how discourteous they were to women, it gave us a broader view to how they treated everything else as well. The author used "spit" as a powerful verb. Instead of using a simple verb like "throw", he used "spit" to put across the message of how degrading these citizens could act. Making us imagine these creatures "spitting" on women, Orwell effectively used his concrete language to make us despise these degrading people. He continued doing this even towards the end. As Orwell was set up and had the rifle in his hand ready to shoot, "the crowd grew very still, and a deep, low, happy sigh, as of people who see the theatre curtain go up at last, breathed from innumerable throats. They were going to have their bit of fun after all". The writer compared the Burman's reactions to "people who see the theatre curtain go up at last" to compel the idea that they were crowded around acting as if this was about to be a spectacular show. Using the term "theatre curtain" as a way to make us contemplate the difference between watching a show at the theatre and watching the killing of an elephant, Orwell pushes the reader into the notion of the extremity of the inhumane nature of the Burmese. He also causes us to feel this way through using the word "fun" to portray how the Burmese felt while viewing the killing of this creature. To the majority of civilized beings, "fun" would not be the word to describe the observation of the deterioration of this God given animal. He