Shooting an Elephant questions to consider

Define the concept of Imperialism. 
How does Orwell describe British Imperialism? 
How does this story expose the perplexity and irony of imperialism? 


What does the elephant represent metaphorically, and how is it seen differently by the narrator and the natives? 
Describe the communication between colonizer and native: What do they create in common? 

How is the narrator more of a spectator in his own life than a participant, like a prisoner in Plato’s cave? 
What are the consequences of the narrator’s alienation from himself? 
Explain what W.E.B. Dubois would call the double consciousness of Orwell as a police officer in the British army. 
Even though the narrator is in a privileged position as a white male, how does Orwell show a conflict within that position?

PARADOX A paradox is a statement or situation that appears to lead to a contradiction but, in fact, reveals some element of truth. Characters can say or do things that seem contradictory but, because of ambiguous or complex circumstances, may in fact express a deeper truth. 

Orwell writes, “I perceived in this moment that when the white man turns tyrant it is his own freedom that he destroys.” Why is this statement paradoxical? How does it reflect Orwell’s point of view about British imperialism? 






RI 2 Determine central ideas of a text and analyze their development. RI 3 Analyze a sequence of events and explain how specific events interact and develop over the course of the text. RI 5 Analyze and evaluate the effectiveness of the structure an author uses in his or her exposition, including whether the structure makes points clear and engaging. RI 6 Determine an author’s point of view or purpose in a text in which the rhetoric is particularly effective, analyzing how style and content contribute to the power of the text.