Today’s class was mainly about symbols and persona. The class decided that the definition of persona was “The way the author wishes to be viewed for the purposes of the story”. In Shooting an Elephant, George Orwell’s persona was purposely negative. He is racist, low in power, and would do anything for attention. This is partly because he wants the reader to believe him. It takes a while for anyone to tell you about their flaws. The elephant that he shoots is a symbol. It could be of many things, power, fears, himself. The symbol that seems most likely is Imperialism. Saying that Imperialism is as ludicrous as shooting an elephant. The persona was an imperialist who was helping control a country, and it is a reoccurring theme that Imperialism was a flawed system.
And the next Scribe is Slaw.
I agree with what you say here. I feel like the elephant is a symbol for power. It may be the power that he lacks or the power that he is attempting to gain.
ReplyDeleteIt's interesting to see how you connected shooting the elephant back to his hatred for Imperialism. I never thought about it that way but I can see the metaphor now. Nicely written
ReplyDeleteMichael this was nicely written! I love how you explained what the symbols could be. The small history lesson was cool too. I am excited to watch the youtube video and see what that's about.
ReplyDeleteHe also could have portrayed himself negatively because it makes you feel bad for him instead of hating him. If he was a person who hated his job but had no flaws, then went and shot an elephant, I don't think I would feel as bad for him in the end as I do when I read it now.
ReplyDeleteNicely done Michael, I would have said something more about George Orwell's other work, like Animal Farm and how those two books/short stories may differ. Excellent work!
ReplyDeleteAlthough I like your scribe post as a whole, I don't completely agree that the elephant symbolizes imperialism. I thought he shot the elephant only to conform to the villagers pressure. Both could be what the elephant represents.
ReplyDeleteThis is very thorough, but couldn't his low feel of power also be a way of making his actions more understandable as it is a search for acceptance and this is what he thinks with earn him the acceptance
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