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Shooting An Elephant By George Orwell

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We are constantly fighting an internal battle—a battle between our beliefs and what is expected of us. In the essay "Shooting an Elephant" by George Orwell, we follow the story of a man who must make a critical discussion between what he is expected to do and what he wants to do. This piece tells us the demanding situation he is put in and how he must fight internally for what he is expected to do and what he wants to do. George Orwell writes about how he was a police officer in lower Burma, a job he hated. The city's people were bitter towards him, disrespectful, and played jokes on him. He had made up his mind that British imperialism was nothing but evil.

Working for the police, he could see firsthand the mistreatment and abuse the people had to endure at law enforcement's hands, especially in the jail system, where the inmates were put in miserable conditions, overcrowded cells, and beatings by other officers. Orwell felt stuck in his job, as he hated it but also serving citizens that were so disrespectful to him. …show more content…

When he says, "In the end the sneering yellow faces of young men that met me everywhere, the insults hooted after me when I was at a safe distance, got badly on my nerves." (Orwell 97-98) Reading this, you can visualize all the people staring at him and feel how uncomfortable Orwell must have been. I am sure he also felt irritated because the citizens he repulsed were still expecting him to keep them

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