Shooting An Elephant

“Shooting an Elephant” by George Orwell is an essay surrounding the difficulties of doing what you are supposed to do versus what others want you to do. For Orwell the problem boiled down to whether he should leave an elephant ,that went on a rampage but was now calm, alone or to shoot it because that was what the locals wanted him to do. Orwell didn't feel like it was necessary to do it but the pressure from the mob made it seem like the only choice he had. So he chose the words of others over his own morals. Orwell’s essay conveys a theme of whether one should follow their morals or the people that surround them. It can be compared to the peer pressure and parental pressure that I have endured in my life. I can either go with my own morals and what I believe in or give in to the ideas of other.
The type of peer pressure I have encountered isn't as dramatic as the ones shown on tv. An example would be when
I got to school earlier than usual and had some extra time on my hands and was hungry. So the logical thing to do according to my friends was to go across the street to a Tim Horton’s and get breakfast. Leaving school grounds was always half and half. The teachers new the older students left school grounds especially with seeing them with the food but as long as they didn't see you leave they wouldn't care. So my friends urged me to leave that it wasn't far and we had plenty of time before school started. I was still very much reluctant. But eventually I gave in and it wasn't as big of a deal as my mind made it out to be. Parental pressure was different because what they want me to do doesn't really harm me but it's not something I want to do or necessarily have to.
All of the courses I am taking next semester and when I officially start College will surround their goal of me becoming a doctor or a pharmacist. They didn't really ask me what I wanted to become it was a given that I would be a doctor because they wanted me to be and “it's the best choice”. So I had to go with it because although it wasn't my first thought for how my future would be it is what they want from me and what they expect from me and to please them I have to do it.
Situations regarding things you want to do and what is expected from you aren't all the same. They can range from Orwell’s experience of Shooting an elephant, my experiences of leaving school grounds to go get food and what one wants to pursue as a career, as well as the famous drugs peer pressure. In the end you can refuse to conform out of fear, resilience or your own morals or you can decide to give in and do what others want you to
do.