"Shooting an Elephant"

1) How is this a story about two disparate major themes? How are these themes intertwined?

“Shooting an Elephant” is a story about a British officer in Mulmein, Lower Burma. It is a story regarding two disparate themes: hatred of imperialism and susceptibility to peer pressure. Both themes are intertwined through a British officer who is against British oppressors; however, had a job to do. The British officer was all for the Burmese people but the Burmese had labeled him as the enemy.
The intertwining of the themes is seen when the British officer is faced with a problem. An elephant stricken with must has gone loose and the officer is summoned to handle the situation. After watching the elephant, the officer believes that it is harmless and wants to leave it alone. However, if the officer does not kill the elephant, he is not doing what the people want of him which may result in more hatred of the British. The officer felt the will of the people urging him to kill the elephant. He eventually falls to peer pressure: “For it is the condition of his rule that he shall spend his life in trying to impress the ‘natives,’ and so in every crisis he has got to do what the ‘natives’ expect of him” (224). It could have possibly been the officer’s hatred of imperialism that caused him to do what the people wanted of him; to show that he was all for the Burmese. It could have also been the officer’s susceptibility to peer pressure playing a part in his act of shooting the elephant, because he felt that he had do what he could to erase the hatred that his title brought him.

2) What tactics does Orwell employ when revealing unflattering aspects of himself?

Orwell reveals unflattering aspects of himself by explaining how he would have liked to be seen compared to what he really was. In a sense, Orwell wanted to be seen as a well-liked hero among the Burmese for killing the elephant. He wanted to feel accepted, “but in reality I was only an absurd puppet pushed to and fro by the will of those yellow faces behind” (224). Orwell explains that he lets go of his thoughts, opinions, and who he is to conform to the will of the natives: “He wears a mask, and his face grows to fit it” (224-225).