Shooting an Elephant was a motivational essay that displays how people are influenced by society. It shows that often at times when people are put under pressure by a society they make moves that are against their own will and do not support their beliefs. However, in order to change or improve their reputation people will do what the society wants them to. In this essay the use of imagery, description and sentence structure effectively enhance the mood, sound, tone and emotion of the essay to clearly project the central idea. The essay also uses a few other literary features that help to enhance the essay such as humour.
Humour is used in this essay on page 4 of the essay and it was an interesting line that shows the main character’s relation to the place and shows the personality of the civilians of Asia. “They had not shown much interest in the elephant when he was merely ravaging their houses, but it was different now that he was going to shot.” (Orwell 4) This quotation particularly stuck out to me because knowing the mentality of Indians it was quite funny to see how true this was. It also shows the reason they were impressed with the ‘foreigner’ he was about to do something they were all afraid to but they supported him in the process since they were not the ones having to kill the elephant themselves.
Imagery and description were used effectively to enhance the emotion, mood and tone of the essay, which shapes the overall sound of it. Imagery is used firstly to describe the situation that the narrator is in as an Englishman in Asia. Description and imagery are also used later in the essay when the elephant is introduced. Page 3 of the essay had a great detailed description that created an image of the state this man was in after having supposedly been attacked by the elephant. My favourite description in the story was near the end of the essay, “The thick blood welled out of him like red velvet, but still he did not die.” (Orwell 8) This strong image displayed strong emotion and it helped come to the realization that what he did was wrong and it almost showed his regret for having made this decision. This evidently ties in with the tone and mood of the poem.
The tone, mood and emotion of the poem not only were affected by the imagery but also by the formation or structure of the sentences. Near the end of the essay when the Englishman has shot the elephant the sentences become short and choppy because of all the punctuation that is added. This shows a lot of hesitation in his voice, which gives off a sense of regret, “ Besides, legally I done the right thing, for a mad elephant has to be killed, like a mad dog, if its owner fails to control it.” (Orwell 8) This quotation through its structure presents not only a lot of emotion but the tone seems to change to one of regret. “In the end I could not stand it any longer and went away. I heard later that it took him half an hour to die.” (Orwell 8) This displays his feelings towards the fact that he killed the elephant, which was a move he did not want to do but was pressured to do. His slow voice and pace also helps to display the emotion of excitement around him, which is worrying him and pressuring him to do something he is not supposed to. The change in emotion of the crowd is displayed through his voice and his subtle and slow paced voice greatly enhances the tension and idea that what he is doing is wrong.
From the previously mentioned points about the effects of structure of sentences, imagery and description and their effects on mood, tone and voice, it is clear that the essay is about pressure and regret. The tension and hesitation is what further extends the idea of making a mistake due to pressure of a society. Which links to the central idea which is that people are greatly influenced by what other’s think and want to fit into society even it may mean doing something against your own belief.
