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Shooting An Elephant Imperialism Essay

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Recommended: The implication of conformity on society and the individual

By looking at “Shooting an Elephant,” by George Orwell, one can see that there are people all over the world that try to fit in with other social groups, which is important because people should be themselves no matter who they are with or what kind of people surround them. Although individuals argue that they do not attempt to fit into social groups, closer examination shows that the majority of people try to impress others by performing irregular actions and adapting character qualities. People from all sorts of ages try to impress other individuals, from children to teenagers to adults. Sometimes all they want is to fit in or to be better than someone else. In the story “Shooting an Elephant”, Orwell talks about his point of view of imperialism. …show more content…

Several people may act a certain way towards someone or something because they know the ‘popular crowd’ is watching their every move. Sometimes, individuals disrespect someone just because they feel the need to impress someone else. Maybe someone will play a sport just because they want to show another individual that they are better. One pretends to be someone who is not who they truly are. Impressing others or trying to fit in is what Orwell did when he was going to shoot the elephant. There have been times where children show off in front of others. It may be having a candy bar or maybe even a brand new Hot Wheels car or a new Barbie doll. Having something that someone else doesn’t have tend to make people feel like they are better than the rest. People are usually more frightened at the thought of what others will think of them than being themselves. Orwell did not want to be seen as a foolish police officer in front of the thousand of people that were there to watch him. Even though people are afraid of not being accepted in society, they would be better off being the person they truly are. Adults don’t like to be made a fool, but who does? Nobody, that’s who. People from all over the world, all different ages try to fit in. Every soul was made differently for a reason and every individual should be themselves instead of being someone they are

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