"Shooting an Elephant" George Orwell

The subject of George Orwell's Shooting an Elephant is that a man avoids looking like a fool to the people who ridiculed him by shooting an elephant who may or may not have hurt them. This lust for at least a little respect was conveyed by the fact that the speaker did not wish to hurt the elephant, but did so because he felt the pressure. He specifically wrote, "It seemed to me that it would be murder to shoot him. I had never shot an elephant and never wanted to."


Shooting an Elephant was written several years after the shooting of the elephant (in the 1930's). The essay's time of creation is illustrated by the regret and remorse showed by the speaker. It is clear that the speaker has thought a lot about this incident and has wondered time and again whether it was the right thing to do. The probable place of the essay's creation is the writer's home-presumably in Britain as opposed to Burma.  The time and place of the essay's creation influence the essay by giving Orwell opportunities to consider his feelings for the incident. He wrote, "And afterwards I often wondered whether anyone understood that I had done it solely to avoid looking a fool."

Orwell's specific audience for Shooting an Elephant was people who are prone to pressure, particularly by peers. This is communicated by showing that, because Orwell highly regarded his reputation, even if he was already "hated," he killed an elephant that might not have done so very much harm. In retrospect, he seems to feel that it was not worth it to take the life of the elephant, even if his reputation was as stake. It seems that he wants to convey to the audience that such a reputation is not worth what he went through.

Orwell's purpose in Shooting an Elephant is to show that one's reputation is often not worth drastic measures taken to protect it. This idea that being viewed and regarded highly is less important than, in this case, a life, is shown by Orwell displaying regret at his past actions and indecision at the time. He wrote, "it was a bit of fun to [the villagers]; besides they wanted the meat. It made me vaguely uneasy." He states quite clearly that the villagers wanted the elephant dead, while he did not; despite his values, he later killed the elephant.


George Orwell believes that he should not have been so influenced by the villagers and regrets his decision to kill the elephant, especially in a way so that it died slowly and painfully. This is illustrated by his regret and remorse later in life, and possibly soon after he killed the animal. He feels that he should not have let people for whom he cared very little influence this decision in his life.


Orwell exhibits a remorseful attitude about killing the elephant. This attitude is expressed through his flashback on the event; he states that he did it because he didn't want to look a fool, not because he cared particularly about the village or what the elephant did to it. He felt that he should have let the animal lived or at least killed it more humanely than he did; the thought that he had done this simply because the people pressured him into it was unbearable for him.