Soapstone

Soapstone for Shooting An Elephant

S.   This story is about a police officer in India. He explains some of his hardships from his childhodd and mostly  as a young man during bad political times, and how he deals with them. He then tells the story about how he was called upon to check on a rogue elephant, and how he came to the conclusion that it needed to be shot.

O.     This story, or article, is set sometime around the start of the 20^th century. It is during a time when the Europeans are hated in India, where the police officer is working. The political and cultural issues make are important in this story.

A     The audience is younger people, people in their late teens to their late 20’s who are going through some of the same troubles he was at this time. Orwell rights to this audience because that is the age group that he is in during the story. It appeals to this audience because they can relate to the feeling of conforming to people’s views to not look like a fool.

P     I think there are two purposes. The first is to entertain, to give a story that is interesting. But I think the real purpose is to inform. Orwell’s underlying message in this story is that we shouldn’t do things just to look good. The elephant could have lived, but instead was put through torture just so Orwell wouldn’t be mocked or ridiculed. This is what he informs the audience of through this story.

S.      The speaker is George Orwell, and he is also the main character of the story. He is a police officer living in India sometine around the early 1900’s.

T.     The tone is very thoughtful. He is reflecting back on himself and telling about himself as a younger man. He often questions his actions and wonders whether they were just. He never switches tones, even when he is describing the awful, gut-wrenching death of the elephant. He is constantly thoughtful and clear throughout his story.