Shooting an elephant

            Shooting an Elephant by George Orwell is an essay written in (date). The purpose of this essay is arguably to prove the point that peer pressure can cause people to do things that they do not believe are necessarily right. This message comes across throughout the entire story, but it is most evident after the narrator decides not to shoot the elephant, but then sees all of the people who expect him to shoot the elephant. While this point does seem logical, another equally valid interpretation of this story is that the local Burmese people were not appreciating the Imperialist system.

This story starts off by first showing the reader that this British police officer has little to no respect from the locals. What the locals do not know is that this officer is also against Imperialism, and does not support British rule. I think that this is an interesting point to bring up because it is the common misconception that all people within the British system support the British system (at least that is what I assume). This point was an interesting point to make because it adds some contrast into the essay. The story then progresses to mention an elephant that has gone wild, and killed not only a cow, but also another person. The police officer is then asked to go deal with the situation. He goes and decides to observe the elephant, because it now seems docile. This is a tamed elephant, and it is used in fields, so if it were calm it would be easy to control. After observing the elephant for a while he deems the elephant calm, and turns to walk away. After turning he sees a bunch of people who have come to see him shoot the elephant. They expect him to shoot the elephant, so he gets the gun that he got from his friend (this gun is used specifically for killing elephants), which has five bullets in it. He shoots the elephant in the head, but it does not die, he then shoots it in a variety of other places but he is unable to kill the elephant. The locals then proceed to kill the elephant. This part of the essay is interesting because it shows exactly what Orwell was trying to communicate. It shows how a man was willing to go against his own morals just in order to please a crowd. In the essay a moral conflict comes about after the elephant is killed. Should he have really killed the elephant? According to the law he was in the right because the elephant had killed a person; however, morally he was in the wrong because the elephant was under control. After all, elephant are wild creatures.

This story brings up some interesting points and most importantly it brings up an ethical issue. It is interesting to try and think what I would have done in that situation. This story is good for trying to see where you stand on a moral issue.