George Orwell Shooting An Elephant

In the essay “Shooting an Elephant” by George Orwell, the author is faced with a very conflicting situation that overall changes how he views himself and how others view him. Orwell believes that confession does not ease one’s guilt about a misdeed; this idea is shown through the tone of penitence and the metaphor of imperialism. Years after committing a wrong action, Orwell confesses his wrongdoing, but feels no weight lifted off of his shoulders. He feels just as guilty writing about it as when the event actually occurred. In the essay, an elephant is rampaging through a town in Lower Burma and accidentally tramples a man to death, as well as ruins many shops and houses. Orwell is faced with an impossible decision: shoot the elephant …show more content…
The elephant shows the British rule in Burma with its large size and its ability to spread fear into the citizens through how easy it is to destroy everything the people have. Orwell makes it very clear in the beginning of the essay his views on imperialism and which side he has taken when it comes to the British and the Burmese. “…imperialism was an evil thing and the sooner I chucked up my job and got out of it the better…I was all of the Burmese and against the oppressors, the British” (530). Orwell hates what the British are doing to these innocent people and hates his job trying to keep the Burmese people oppressed. Shooting the elephant means going against his country and ultimately standing up for the natives and for himself. This is the main conflict of the story, Orwell must decide whether to go against the people he knows, or stand by these people who are being treated horribly by his country, while also respecting his own beliefs. While Orwell would rather not have to shoot the elephant, he ends up doing it anyway. “But I did not want to shoot the elephant…it seemed to me that it would be murder to shoot him” (533). This quote shows Orwell’s reluctance to go against his country, despite his hatred for their actions. He knows that killing the elephant would show the power of the native people and the weakness of the British. The thousands of people crowded around Orwell are really what caused him to shoot the elephant in the end. The natives, who the British soldiers were supposed to control, were actually controlling the soldiers. This proves that the British never truly had control in Burma and the ultimate crumble of the imperial