The short story “Shooting an Elephant” was set in Burma in the early 1900’s. This was when the British Empire took control of the Burmese, and the native Burmese people hated it. The main character in this short story is an English police officer who works in Burma. He continually gets ridiculed and harassed by the Burmese people because he is working for the British government. However, he hates his job and is on the Burmese’s side because he does not believe the British should have taken over Burma. One day when an elephant broke loose from it’s owner and started destroying the town, the main character was forced to take action. The elephant was trampling people, killing them and destroying houses and ruining the town. This elephant can be a metaphor for the British Empire taking over Burma and destroying the Burmese way of life. When the police officer heard about the elephant, he jumped on his horse and took his gun with him. When the people saw he was carrying a gun, they all started following him because they were excited that the police officer was going to kill the elephant. Once the police officer saw all of the people following him hoping he would kill the elephant, he felt like he had to kill the elephant even though he wasn’t going to in the first place. When he finally found the elephant, he went through an internal conflict in his head on weather he should kill the elephant or not. He thought if he killed it, he would have the respect of the Burmese people, and if he did not, they would think he is a coward and continue to disrespect him. When he finally decided to shoot the elephant, it took multiple shots until the elephant actually fell to the ground, and it took half an hour to actually die. The internal conflict the police officer had about killing the elephant could also stand for the internal conflict he has with working for the British government. He wants to quit his job, but he feels like he cannot. Having to make the decision of shooting the elephant or not could also symbolize his decision to quit working for the British government, the job he hates. The elephant is a metaphor for the British Empire and when he finally shoots the elephant it takes a lot of effort to actually kill it. This could be a metaphor for the British Empire slowly declining.
My favorite Banksy piece of artwork is the little girl holding the balloons and the saying next to the painting that says “There is always hope”. I think this saying corresponds with all of his paintings of the girl with the heart shaped balloon flying away, or the girl holding onto the five balloons flying away with them. I think this painting symbolizes hope because balloons are seen as majestic when they are flying through the air. When the little girl is holding onto them flying away with them, I think it symbolizes her trying to escape everything she knows and to go on an adventure somewhere. It could also stand for freedom because the balloon can end up anywhere in the world and they are taking her with them. In the painting where the little girl is reaching for the red heart balloon, I think the saying “There is always hope” means that even though she is losing something she loves, there is hope in the world and things will turn out better.
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