George Orwell Shooting An Elephant Summary

In Shooting an Elephant, I think that Orwell may have been cowardice. He knew that shooting that elephant was wrong, but he didn’t anyway. He wanted to impress the large crowd that had gathered around him. He wanted to show that white men are powerful and more important. He thought that by shooting the elephant, he would prove that he wasn’t a fool. He was taught, and everyone around him was taught, that white men should be in control of situations. He was supposed to know what to do; he was supposed to know the answers. However; Orwell did know what to do in that situation; he knew that he should test to see if the animal was still dangerous before he shot him. Orwell knew that the elephant could be just fine now. The elephant was a very valuable animal and a majestic creature, and Orwell knew that it was wrong to kill him without out knowing for certain that he was still a danger. But, he did it anyway because he didn’t want to seem foolish or scared. He wanted to show the audience that he could or would do it.
Although, I don’t think it was all his fault, nor do I think he did it on purpose. He saw white people and Indian people differently. He saw himself in a place above them. He grew up in a way that encouraged that way of thinking. Being racist and demeaning was just a way of life. That was just the way things were. Many people didn’t even see that as wrong, but I think Orwell did. He saw that it was wrong to have that divide simply because of where someone lives or what their skin looked like. Even if Orwell knew that the separation was wrong, he still saw the Indians and Englishmen differently. He knew that it was wrong, but he still played the role of the ‘white man.’ He still did things thinking of himself as “the white man and his rifle” surrounded by “yellow faces.” He performed for the “yellow faces.” Orwell shot the elephant because he thought he had to because he was a white