Shooting An Elephant Analysis

In 1936 George Orwell wrote a short story titled "Shooting an Elephant.” In it he discusses a fictional story of a man who kills an elephant and the implications that arise afterward. He relates it to British Imperialism and uses the individual's experiences as a reference to larger experiences that we all face. Many issues of the societal pressures and morality of killing arise over the death of the elephant as well as how the narrator’s identity was altered by his environment. While it appears to be a story of a rampant elephant being euthanized, George Orwell uses the story as an analogy to describe man's inner struggle between acceptance, morality, and the pursuit of power.

The narrator of "Shooting an Elephant" grows to fit an invisible mask, meant to prevent himself from appearing foolish to those around him. Molded to fit the demands of others and their needs and not his own. When the Burmese stand behind the narrator, he knows if he doesn't do what they want they’d like him to do it would make him look like a fool in their eyes. He is careful not to lose any respect they might have had for him. The narrator brings up a valid point about the people he is there to protect saying, "They did not like me, but with the magical rifle in my hands I was momentarily worth watching" (Orwell). This shows how he is yearning for respect of others and is more than willing to do what it takes to achieve it, although he had not come to think what others could think of him, at the time he only called out for the rifle for his own protection. He adorns his mask of shame to attain the admiration of others at the cost of his humanity. Orwell depicts how the narrator is secretly sided with the Burmese as opposed to the British, and how the nar...

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... reveal the sacrifices we make when we make choice of morality. With the sacrifice of his humanity, the narrator has a transition of identity from being a morally driven person to someone whose will is easily bent to serve those around him, someone who does and never ask why.

George Orwell's "Shooting an Elephant" describes the turmoil that follows after an elephant goes on a rampage through a village and the narrator made a choice to kill the elephant. Weighting the options he had, deciding to do the right for man or the right for himself. Orwell extrapolates meaning from a fictional story by using the story as a whole as an analogy. With this analogy he is able to give a deeper insight into the decisions we make and their effect on our morality, as well as the consequences of placing more importance with acceptance and power than with what we believe to be just.