Power is a rather nebulous thing. Orwell was the one with the gun, the authority. If he had declared that the elephant would not be killed, that’s exactly what would have happened. But the desire to save face, or to command respect, perhaps to be liked, these desires can make it seem as though we have no power, no choice, in any given situation. For example, when called upon to defend a loved one’s honor, it often doesn’t seem that we’re the ones holding the power to choose our actions in that situation. It seems some force is inexorably dragging you towards one path, “power” be damned. Orwell is describing this very phenomena with his elephant story. Colonizers came in thinking they would be like gods, and discovered that they were still men. Men with power, men with guns, yet still governed by the same desires as the rest of us. In the face of those desires, power is revealed to be far less concrete than it is presented in the movies.<\/p>\n
Another confounding factor is that power in Orwell’s case lies only in the threat of violence. There are plenty of other forms of power, each with their own strengths and limitations. If he had rapport with the villagers, if they trusted and respected him, he could have avoided killing the elephant. That’s certainly a different sort of power than the kind his gun and uniform represents, but it’s no less authentic.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Power is a rather nebulous thing. Orwell was the one with the gun, the authority. If he had declared that the elephant would not be killed, that’s exactly what would have happened. But the desire to save face, or to … Continue reading