George Orwell Shooting The Elephant Summary

George Orwell was already hated by many people in Burma, and when he had stumbled upon the chance to handle the nuisance the aggressive elephant created, he saw an opportunity to redeem himself. The narrator states, “They did not like me. But with the magical rifle in my hands, I was momentarily worth watching.” (George Orwell 147). It transpires that he didn’t wish to be humiliated more or back out of the situation that was ongoing. At the moment when he was in the midst of the situation and people were watching him made him feel acknowledged and which he appreciated momentarily but also rubbished in a way. Despite, I thought he was very well aware that his decision of pulling the trigger wouldn’t make the “yellow faces” loathe him less. Since, the people in Burma disliked the foreigners or more so the Englishmen there wouldn’t be much chance of them accepting or liking him because he killed the elephant that was creating a commotion. …show more content…
His conscience was clear, but a daunting feeling continued to haunt him. The stares and howls of a sea of people that were surrounding him “expected it of [him] and [he] had got to do it; I could feel their thousand wills pressing me forward. Irresistibly.”(George Orwell 148). Anyone in his position would have felt forced and if he had backed out the consequences that would have followed would have been brutal. He felt like “an absurd puppet pushed to and fro by the will of those yellow faces behind.”(George Orwell 148). He felted controlled by the reaction of the people gathered around him. They were excited and happy because he was going to kill the elephant and the fact that they liked him or didn’t hate him at the moment made him feel like “an absurd puppet” (Orwell