In George Orwell’s “Shooting an Elephant”, Orwell is caught between many of the painful ironies of British Imperialism and discovers that the bizarre circumstances he faces led to the dramatic killing of the elephant. In other words, Orwell kills the elephant only because it was the effortless method to justify all endings. This idea can be seen throughout Orwell’s narrative as these particular opportunities allow Orwell to escape resentment, disrespect, and to carry out his moral obligations. As an example, Orwell ends up killing the elephant because he is required protect the Burmese people. Orwell describes himself “as a police officer [, that] was an obvious target” and therefore he had to do whatever it took to save the people. (Par. 1).
