Shooting an Elephant

John Orwell's ''Shooting an Elephant'' is a self narrative where he reflects on his epiphany about imperialism. In the story, Orwell is a policeman serving for the British empire in India. He is a rather weak and spineless character in my opinion due to his lack of courage to speak up for himself. On one hand, he hates the British empire and on the other hand, he hates the people of India who give him a hard time. Although Orwell believes that imperialism is wrong, he still follows it by doing his job everyday. When the problem arises about the wild elephant, Orwell is forced to take action and that is when he reaches his epiphany on imperialism. As he passed through India in hunt of the elephant, hundreds of Indians follow him creating a mob with Orwell as the leader. ''They were watching me as they would watch a conjurer about to perform a trick. I suddenly realized that I had to shoot the elephant after all''.At first, he was hesitant about shooting the elephant because it would be so cruel to kill a ''working piece of machinery.'' However, as more people followed him, he realized that these people looked up to him, to know how to handle situations like this. The reality of imperialism is not that the leader wants to take control, but more of the leader being pushed by the people around him.

As a reader, this impacted me because it gave me a new perspective on how I look at things. Many times in case of imperialism, people are quick to assume that the imperialist is the one with all the power, and everything they do is to only benefit themselves. This is actually not the case. In Orwell's piece, he explains how things aren't always what they seem. Those who seem to be in power are actually powerless. He is only powerful if we give him power to rule. I saw lots of descriptive language that helped paint a picture in my head. He is also able to transition himself from what is happening in reality and the thoughts going through his mind. He puts in a chronological sense so the reader can feel the epiphany happen along with Orwell.

John Orwell shoots the elephant in the end, because he had no other choice. With the huge crowd supporting him and expecting him to solve a problem, there was no way he could disappoint. The people of India looked up to Orwell since he was an English policeman. At that point in time, he realized he could no longer make his own decision, and the people were deciding for him. He relates imperialism to shooting an elephant because it shows how the people in power are actually powerless without the support of others. I think it's also another way of saying that imperialism leads to suffering. In the end of the story when the elephant is shot, he is not immediately killed. Instead he is forced to experience a painful and agonizing death.