‘Shooting an Elephant’ is an
autobiographical essay in which George Orwell describes in realistic and
graphic details his own experience in Burma during the British colonial rule as
sub-divisional police officer. In the essay the author very skillfully and
opt-fully delineates his inner conflict and psychological complexity.
There was anti-European feeling in the
town. He was so annoyed by the impertinent behavior of the Burmese that he came
to consider Imperialism an ‘evil’ thing. He was in conflict whether he would
punish the native or let them in their way.
He hated the “British Raj” and
regarded it as “an unbreakable tyranny”. On the contrary, he had a great
contempt for the foolish, jeering natives. Such contradictory feeling shows the
authors dilemma.
When he found the elephant, it
was as calm as a cow. He was indecisive whether he should kill the animal or
not because killing a working elephant was ‘comparable to destroy a huge and
costly piece of machinery’. Before a crowd of unarmed natives, he becomes a
sort of hollow, posing dummy, the conventionalized figure of a “Sahib”.
Consequently, he was caught in a
psychologically complex situation that he was automatically more concerned with
the satisfaction of the natives than his own. If he did not shoot the elephant,
the illiterate local people would laugh at him. They would consider him a
coward.
He was afraid if he did not shoot it,
the crowd would turn against him. His circumstances compelled him to shoot the
big animal.
The animal did not die instantly. So
he was in a conflict whether he would wait for the animal to die or leave the
place. Finally he left the place and was informed about the death of the animal
half an hour later. He was again in a conflict whether he did the right thing
or wrong.
Orwell could not grow a liking
for the oppressive British colonial rule in India and felt ashamed of being a
part of it. He was ever disturbed and vexed by the conflict that kept on going
in his mind. The conflict arose from the fact that on the one hand he opposed
the things of imperialism and considered it as ‘an evil thing’ and on the other
hand he himself belonged to that oppressing class.
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