George Orwell’s essay “Shooting an Elephant” is effective because it gives the reader a reason to relate to or at least understand him and his situation as an officer of the occupying British imperial forces in Burma. The reader may be able to relate to being in a position they feel powerless to change or stuck in a job they hate.
Orwell effectively describes his disdain for the British Empire’s treatment of the Burmese people and his frustrations with their disdain for him as a representative of their oppressors. His metaphor for the British Empire is an elephant, an animal that is quite a useful machine when it is serving the people. This elephant, however has rampaged a village, killed a man and caused property damage in the village. Orwell decides to shoot the elephant because he believes he has no other choice. The elephant may be useful at times to its owner but its actions against the villagers sealed its fate. Orwell is in a tenuous position as a representative of the British Empire; he needs to show the villagers he takes seriously the damage caused by the elephant and is willing to endure the wrath of the elephant’s owner to wrest some respect from the villagers.
Orwell’s discomfort with his situation before, during and after the incident are also easy for a reader to relate to. How often do we continue to disect and re-examine events from the past; how often do we keep from others the real intent behind our actions?
