Shooting an Elephant
In "Shooting an Elephant," George Orwell finds himself in a difficultsituation involving an elephant. The fate of the elephant lies in his hands. Onlyhe can make the final decision. In the end, due to Orwell's decision, the elephantlay dying in a pool of blood. Orwell wins the sympathy of readers by expressingthe 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 inthe moments before the shooting. Being the white "leader," he should have beenable to make an independent decision, but was influenced by the "natives". Orwell describes his feelings about being pressured to shoot theelephant: "Here I was the white man with his gun, standing in front of theunarmed crowd - seemingly the leading actor of the piece; but in reality I wasonly an absurd puppet pushed to and fro by the will of those yellow faces behind. Everyone has been in a situation in which he or she has been expected tobe a leader. For different reasons people are looked to as leaders, som
Herealizes the his decision must be based on the best interest of the Burmese. Almost everyone has been in a situation were he or she could not base a decisionon personal beliefs and knows that going against those beliefs is very difficult. etimesbecause of their race, ethnicity, or heritage. Another aspect that wins reader's sympathy is Orwell's struggle with whathe thought was right and what the Burmese wanted him to do. Also, Orwell showed great feelings of compassion for the dying animal. The compassion that he felt was obvious, he waited so long for theanimal to die but, "could not stand it anymore and went away" . Readersare able to relate to the fact that he does not want to be humiliated in front of theBurmese. In this case, Orwell was pictured asa leader because he was British and he worked for the British Empire. Orwell explains, "For it is the condition of his rule that he shall spend hid life intrying to impress the 'natives' and so in every crisis he has got to do what the'natives' expect of him" Readers respect Orwell for his sense of duty. Theelephant lay, "dying, very slowly and in great agony. He was killing the animal because he had to. Secretly he hatesthe British Empire and is on the side of the Burmese The elephant isequivalent to the British Empire ravaging through Burma and disrupting the littlebit of peace that they have. The detailed description that Orwell gives of the death leaves the impression thathe actually had feelings for the animal.
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Acceptance Essays
