Shooting an Elephant

George Orwell, born Eric Blair, served in the British military for five years in Burma between 1922 and 1927. Although there is a question of whether “Shooting an Elephant” is a short story or an essay, it presents the corrupting power of British imperialism. The narrator lives daily with the cruelty and hypocrisy of colonialism and tells readers that he does not believe in the colonization efforts and hates his job. Nearly every sentence expresses the narrator’s struggle with his conscience as he seeks to balance compassion, duty, and ego. In the end, he succumbs to the pressure of the crowd and kills the elephant not primarily to protect the village but to not be laughed at.

From 1824 to 1948, the British ruled Burma, now Myanmar. In “Shooting an Elephant,” readers see, in graphic detail, what can happen when greed and the hunger for power override compassion and even rationality. Despite being a British imperial officer, the narrator sides with the native people in the face of imperialism. Yet his position in the colonial system, and the need to appear dominant over an inferior people, cause Orwell to act against his conscience and judgment.