George Orwell's Shooting an Elephant

792 Words2 Pages

George Orwell's "Shooting an Elephant"

In 'Shooting an Elephant,' George Orwell finds himself in a difficult situation

involving an elephant. The fate of the elephant lies in his hands. Only he can

make the final decision. In the end, due to Orwell's decision, the elephant lay

dying in a pool of blood. Orwell wins the sympathy of readers by expressing the

pressure he feels as an Anglo-Indian in Burma, struggling with his morals, and

showing a sense of compassion for the dying animal.

Readers sympathize with Orwell because they can relate to his emotions in the

moments before the shooting. Being the white ?leader,? he should have been able

to make an independent decision, but was influenced by the ?natives? (Orwell

101). Orwell describes his feelings about being pressured to shoot the

elephant: ?Here I was the white man with his gun, standing in front of the

unarmed crowd - seemingly the leading actor of the piece; but in reality I was

only an absurd puppet pushed to and fro by the will of those yellow faces behind

(101). Everyone has been in a situation in which he or she has been expected to

be a leader. For different reasons people are looked to as leaders, sometimes

because of their race, ethnicity, or heritage. In this case, Orwell was

pictured as a leader because he was British and he worked for the British Empire.

Readers are able to relate to the fact that he does not want to be humiliated

in front of the Burmese. He declares, ?Every white man'...

Open Document