Response to Shooting an Elephant

Orwell's brilliant narration and gift for story-telling are seen throughout "Shooting an Elephant." Having read his memoir, "Down and Out in Paris and London," I was accustomed to Orwell's no-nonsense style of non-fiction. In "Down and Out," Orwell recounts his experiences of poverty in the two cities to expand upon a greater theme of human suffering. In "Shooting an Elephant," Orwell uses his experience as an officer in Burma to critique imperialism and its effects on everyone involved. What was most climatic for me was when he was holding his gun and looking at the elephant, realizing that he was there against his will, feeling mainly like an 'absurd puppet.' His pressure did not come from his higher-ups but instead from the thousands of natives around him. He felt compelled to shoot the elephant because it was what the people expected him to do. The image of a single British officer surrounded by a crowd of Burmese citizens is very striking and potent. It symbolizes the absurdity of the British rule in the area. How so few people could rule over such a populous country is as amazing as it is perplexing. Perhaps in Burma the British were not so different from the mammoth elephant at which Orwell shot: a dwarfing power whose presence would soon be terminated.