Introduction
“Shooting an Elephant” by George Orwell was recognized by the literary magazine in 1936 even though with no conclusive evidence of whether it was fact or fiction. All in all, the essay serves its purpose in literature which is to question our morality every time from that of our counterparts who may include peers, family or colleagues. The text emphasizes that social pressure and the feelings of belongingness are major predictors of our actions in our day to day lives (Orwell and Jeremy, 36-41). In his essay, Orwell narrated his story with a sense of comparison and analogy to how he managed to live under the crucial rule of the British Empire. We see his analogy comes to life in “Shooting an Elephant” by reflecting his story of imperialism through the choice of action to shoot the elephant.
Discussion
The story takes place in lower Burma, India; the imperialist British colony, where He served with the Indian imperial police despite his hatred to the rule of the British. One day he received a call about a tamed elephant that had gone wild and had escaped its keeper. The natives requested his service, which is to deal with the elephant since he was the only one with the capacity to do so. He then takes his rifle, a small rifle for an elephant, and heads to where the elephant was last seen. He does this with the hope of not taking any action but rather to only scare the rogue elephant with the noise from the rifle (Orwell and Richard, 4-7). With nothing to find, he started asking people about where the elephant had wondered to. When he heard an old woman shooing away naked children, he walks there to see a man’s dead body caused by the aggressive act of the elephant. Then a Burmese had arrived and told them the location of the elephant. Heading towards the elephant with a bigger rifle that he requested, a flock of the town’s population followed him with a sense of excitement and joy, anticipating how and when he will shoot the elephant. Even though, his “cognitive thinking” was not intended to shoot it, but to please the “immense crowd” so he won’t be laughed at, he had to kill the elephant. He shot the elephant one “bullet” after the other. This he also did to avoid becoming a second victim to the wild beast. Following it with a deep thinking about why he did it, Orwell reveals that he did it only not to look like a fool.
The fact that Orwell shot the Elephant to kill it demonstrates that his insecurities (the dilemma of doing what he thought was morally upright and acting according to what the society wanted) got the best of him. He acts as a result of what his job required of him; to maintain order among the natives and the desires of the crowd behind him which was to obtain game meat. He foregoes his initial plan of remaining neutral between the two parties whereby if he determined the aggressiveness of the elephant, he would shoot it but if the elephant remained calm, then it would imply it no longer posed a threat to the Burmese. At this point, it is evident that it is difficult to implement our own decisions in the midst of pressure from those around us and the need to feel as part of the crowd.
Orwell’s revelation that he acted only not to look like a fool is criticized by the fact that nobody realized his thoughts. He may have thought that the colonizer was still in authority since he has shot the elephant with all legality but the Burmese get to get the meat they desired. This is the point where the colonizer becomes colonized by the “inferior” community. The essay reveals our contemporary society whereby in our struggle to do what is morally upright, the society sways us to conform to a selected action (Orwell and Jeremy, 302). It is not strange to be in a tough situation where we have to navigate ourselves through certain directions citing Orwell’s dilemma of serving his country and the Burmese. Consequently, we may make bad decisions but it takes courage to confess our dilemmas and question the situations in which we live. The essay is our daily reminder that we are faced with conflicts of different kind everyday. However, in the midst of all these challenges it is our greatest responsibility to constantly be ourselves in a society that tries to channel us to a different direction.
Conclusion
Orwell reveals his hatred for the colonial rule that was ongoing in Burma. His essay is autobiographical in nature as he illustrates how civilians were not given the opportunity to own guns giving the British control over the Burmese and their resources (Orwell and Richard, 10). Orwell has repressed emotions of being stuck between hatred of the British Empire and his native counterparts who made his life and work impossible. He therefore did not want to risk treason nor associate with Burmese. The essay is evidently successful in illustrating British imperialism and the resulting destruction of both the oppressor and the oppressed.
Works cited
Orwell, George, and Jeremy Paxman. Shooting an Elephant. London: Penguin Classics, 2009. Internet resource.
Orwell, George, and Richard H. Rovere. The Orwell Reader: Fiction, Essays, and Reportage. New York: Harcourt, Brace, 1961. Print.
