What Are George Orwell's Motives In Shooting An Elephant

George Orwell, is a very well know writer in the twentieth century, he began his writing career in 1934. Four years prior he had served five years as an imperial police officer, from these experiences he wrote on of his most famous essays, Shooting an Elephant. This essay is about him having to choose between shooting a “heated” elephant or leaving it be. He has the eyes of the Burma people watching him, and the crowd continues to grow. In the end he does end up shooting the elephant, but why? There was no reason to kill the elephant, he was no longer a threat to society. George Orwell in, Shooting an Elephant, has other motives to killing this innocent elephant. The first reason would be, wanting to feel accepted by the Burma people. In his essay he states, that the people would make fun of him, and bullying him. He had all those eyes watching him, and cheering him on as soon as he got the elephant rifle. George did not want to shoot the elephant he had only gotten the rifle for protection, but once the crowd started to grow he understood that he would now have to shoot the elephant. He did not want the Burma people laughing at him if he just walked away without doing anything to the elephant.

He reacted the way everyone wanted him too, this ties back with acceptance, he did what they wanted to do to feel acceptance. Peer pressure is defined as, “is influence on a peer group, observers or individual exerts that encourages others to change their attitudes, values, or behaviors to conform to groups.” The crowd of the Burma people encouraging him to shoot the elephant, although the elephant was doing nothing wrong, made him change his mind as to whether or not to shoot the elephant. It’s scary what one does when they are peer pressured into doing something, the poor elephant was doing absolutely nothing and George shot