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3.89 AVERAGE
3.89 AVERAGE
'—I was hated by large numbers of people—the only time in my life that I have been important enough for this to happen to me—As a police officer I was an obvious target and was baited whenever it seemed safe to do so.'
See, the thing is I am not, and can never be the 'target'/intended audience/reader for this piece of writing. I only wanted to read this because Yan Ge mentioned it in her latest book, [b:Elsewhere|62919909|Elsewhere|Yan Ge|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1686761218l/62919909._SY75_.jpg|98737271]. And I think, I know now what she was implying when she planted the reference over there. Reading this does add some form of 'understanding' to Yan Ge's story (sort of?), but is it worth it though? But it's such a tiny piece of writing anyway so I'm not mad about it.
Readers (as in those who wrote/published journals and articles on this) like to debate on whether or not this is based on a 'true story' (or if it's only fiction). It is still a 1* for me either ways.
'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. In the end the sneering yellow faces of young men that met me everywhere—.'
'And my whole life, every white man’s life in the East, was one long struggle not to be laughed at—And afterwards I was very glad that the coolie had been killed; it put me legally in the right and it gave me a sufficient pretext for shooting the elephant. I often wondered whether any of the others grasped that I had done it solely to avoid looking a fool.'
Read this for class. Actually a very interesting read. We all kept screaming at each other with our own beliefs of what the elephant stood for in the story, which made it even more engaging and fun to read. What made me mad though, as much as I love Mr Orwell, his constant complaining of how the Burmese people treated him. What in the world did you except a group of people COLONIZED by YOUR COUNTRY TREAT YOU???? Like stop this horrid white people shit. Get a grip man....
This is one of the most heart breaking things I've ever read.
medium-paced
challenging
emotional
informative
inspiring
fast-paced
For å forstå 1984 og Animal Farm er denne boken et must. Den et også nødvendig fort å forstå at vår tid ikke et så mye annerledes enn alle tider.
Meget vel anvendt tid.
Meget vel anvendt tid.
Read it here. My friend recommended "Shooting an Elephant" as a good read about imperialism. It was only when I was going to add this here that I realized that it's both an essay and a book, and he may have been recommending the book. While my want-to-read is extensive enough that I won't be getting to the book anytime soon, the essay was a good place to start.
"Shooting an Elephant" is about imperialism and image, and how they feed into each other. It's such a short read, but there's an awful lot there. I'm certain I haven't given it enough thought yet. However, the first thing I thought of, and the thing I'm still thinking of, is how Orwell (and imperialists as a whole) feared being laughed at, and how neatly that fits with the feminist question, "What are you afraid of?" where women answer, "that men will kill me," and men answer, "that women will laugh at me."
This is not an essay about misogyny, but that's my theoretical framework, and I was shocked at how well it fit in.
It's a powerful, quick read, about being trapped going through actions one doesn't believe in for the sake of image.
"Shooting an Elephant" is about imperialism and image, and how they feed into each other. It's such a short read, but there's an awful lot there. I'm certain I haven't given it enough thought yet. However, the first thing I thought of, and the thing I'm still thinking of, is how Orwell (and imperialists as a whole) feared being laughed at, and how neatly that fits with the feminist question, "What are you afraid of?" where women answer, "that men will kill me," and men answer, "that women will laugh at me."
This is not an essay about misogyny, but that's my theoretical framework, and I was shocked at how well it fit in.
It's a powerful, quick read, about being trapped going through actions one doesn't believe in for the sake of image.
I'm still unshaken in my conviction that one should read everything Orwell ever wrote.
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
challenging
dark
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
It does what it says on the tin.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death, Gun violence, Blood, Colonisation