"Shooting an Elephant " Summary

In the essay, “Shooting an Elephant,” George Orwell recounts a defining moment of his life. Orwell worked as a police officer in British occupied Burma and was generally hated by the natives. He found this odd as he believed imperialism to be evil and sided with the natives. On one day Orwell was called with a message that an elephant had become loose and was destroying the bazaar. By the time they arrived the elephant had trampled a man. A rife was sent for, and the crowd grew interest believing Orwell was going to shoot the elephant. Nearly all the people followed Orwell to a paddy where the elephant was now calmly eating. He decided that he should not shoot the elephant; it was now harmless and was considered an expensive piece of “machinery.” Orwell then realized he was followed by a crowd of two thousand all of which, he felt, wanting him to shoot the elephant. He fell to the group’s wishes and set himself up on a hill with the rifle. He took the shot. The elephant did not die immediately and Orwell could not bear to wait for the end. He shot the elephant four more times, but it still died slowly. George Orwell felt that he had molded himself to fit the view which the natives had formed of him. He was as much a slave to them as they were to the British Empire. This one event forever shaped all of Orwell’s views and future works. (Orwell.)

Works Cited

Orwell, George. "Shooting an Elephant." George Orwell 1903-1950. April 19, 2015 <http://www.k-1.com/Orwell/site/work/essays/elephant.html>.

"Shooting an Elephant"