Blog - 4.4 (Shooting an Elephant text analysis)

 

The text we read was the short story by the name of Shooting an Elephant, by George Orwell. This story contains many elements of form, structure, and language that differ it from other stories and make it intriguing.

Starting with analyzing the form of the short story we must first understand that this story is most similar to that of which a Journal. It is a personal account from the person who shot the elephant and it goes over the emotions that he experienced during the whole process. This journal aims to describe these emotions to a group of people. We can see by the way that it is written that the author most likely wrote this with the intention of people reading it. This is because of the amount of detail that is used in each sentence. If this was written solely for himself it would have left out a lot more details. We can also see that the usage of these details is used to make the story more empathetic and appealing to the audience.

Moving on to the structure, we can start with how the paragraphs are organized. We can see that this story mainly has medium-sized paragraphs and refrains from using both shorter, besides the one at the end, and one block of text. The way that the paragraphs are sectioned off from each other shows the process that the man goes through when he is about to shoot the elephant. He starts with debating what to do, then he loads the cartridges, then he pulls the trigger, then he discusses the aftermath. The paragraphs show both different thought processes and different events across the timeline. The final short paragraph shows his final emotion from the event. The way that the story starts and ends also shows how confused and regretful he slowly becomes throughout the story. It seems in each paragraph he slowly grows more regretful until he finally decides he can't bear to watch the scene any longer. It is also good to note the anaphoric/cataphoric usage of the word 'it' to describe the elephant when the word starts to become redundant. Possibly this can show that he has grown so guilty he can't even call it an elephant and reverts to labeling the beast as 'it.'

The final portion of this analysis is the analysis of the story's language. Throughout the story, we can see a wide usage of informalities like the phrase 'ought to' which is used mainly in the first paragraph. The usage of similes like, "as a toad under a steam roller" also show certain levels of informality but also add to the overall appeal of this story. The force of the elephant is compared to a toad being crushed by a machine, this analogy makes the concept much more understandable and adds to the severity of the situation. The combined usage of 'ought to' and 'if' also shows that the character is hesitant to make his choice. These phrases show hesitancy and make the man question if he is doing the right thing. It is also important to note the growth of the man through his lexical choices. Saying things like "I did not then know" shows that the man was once immature and that he has grown through the death of the elephant. We can also establish senses of sorrow, "terrible change had come over the elephant," entertainment, "They were going to have their bit of fun after all," and regret, "In the end I could not stand it any longer and went away." 

The way George Orwell talks about certain aspects of the elephant adds to all of these emotions and is one of the many reasons that this story is so well put together.