About midway through this short story, I realized I couldnt walk away from the reading without knowing what would happen in the end. learning about both emotional sides of the man kept me locked in. Orwell did a great job at fully expressing the roundness of his character in so few pages.
Shooting an elephant not only connected with the emotional states and choices that one faces on a daily basis, but also forced me to "pick a side" as it were. Not just of 'shoot or not shoot', but also of who i am in the story: the officer (the puppet), the people (the influence), or the elephant (facing difficulties but not letting it phase me). come to think of it, Im sure theres no definitive response i can give, since with time comes better judgement.
But besides the point, Orwells writing forces the reader to question themselves in a myriad of ways.
i felt the same way. though i was confused in the first passage i couldnot stop reading until i discovered the endingly unfortunate fait of the elephant that alone captivated my attention. i definitly agree with ur analytical post .
ReplyDeleteYou have very succinctly made a lot of very important points here and I appreciate your comments and insights posted on your classmate's blog. I like the idea here that Orwell mangages to pull you in and make you participate on such a level that you feel compelled to decide what part you are playing. That is a really interesting way to describe your interaction with the text. It is also very insightful to point out that Orwell may not only be questioning himself and even imperialsm, but asking the reader to question him or herself as well.
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