George Orwell's, "Shooting an Elephant", Summary
In George Orwell’s autobiographical work, “Shooting an Elephant”, he detailed an event as an officer in the imperialistic era of Britain in India. Orwell began by stating how the locals in Burma, then a part of India, despised him because of his position of authority in their country. Even though he was a part of the empire, he disagreed with imperialism. One day, on duty, Orwell got a call that there was an elephant wreaking havoc in town. After finding that the elephant killed a local, he went to find the elephant, unsure of what to do. When he got to the scene, the elephant was far off, peacefully munching on grass. Orwell, with his rifle, then noticed that there was a “sea of yellow faces” (Orwell) of what looked to be two thousands locals, watching excitingly for the big show. Orwell contemplated his decision on whether he would shoot the elephant or not. He did not want to, but he felt pressured from the crowd, to do so. Not only was there pressure from the crowd but also from the empire to do the “right” thing. He did not want to be the laughing stock. He later decided to shoot the elephant and detailed its long tragic death. In the end, he was content with his decision to shoot the elephant. He only did so to “avoid looking a fool” (Orwell).
Works Cited
Orwell, George. "Shooting An Elephant." Online Literature. George Orwell 1903-1950. Web. 21 Apr. 2015. <http://www.online-literature.com/orwell/887/>
