Tapp1 Anthony Tapp INTL 3111 Mr.

Robert Arnold 11 February 2013 Microtheme #2 Shooting and Elephant, by George Orwell, is a short story that that focuses on a police officers struggles in lower Burma. This is a nameless man who feels as if he is constantly belittled and scrutinized just because of his position of power. His daily occurrences develop him in a bind because he realizes being a part of a British empire, but still agreeing to be against Burmese oppressors, brings him to an understanding of conflict that they are the same thing. His struggles outline his actions, which than pose the moral question of how far will one decide to go in fulfilling a role, such as an officer, despite the contradiction of what is personal and morally correct. The underlying meaning of this essay that really captures my interest is how position of power can influence an individual, despite the actions that would rather be taken. The initial notice of this observation simply began when the name of this officer was never stated. This story heavily focused on what an officer decides to do when called to duty, but never acknowledged for his actions by praise of his name. I felt that the reasoning behind is relating to how the officer feels about his position. He never showed a great effort in his purposes as an officer, therefore naming him is irrelevant because name resembles worth. Since his duty as an officer was never fully appreciated by the people, he never gave 100 percent effort. To me this

was interpreted to show how being nameless resembles unimportance, which is how he was shown appreciation and why he acted the way he did. Another example that relates to how the power of position relates to the persuasion of implementation on an action is the process gone about of killing the elephant. It seem that the officer was purposely trying to prolong the shooting of the elephant because for one, he knew he only did it to avoid looking foolish, and two to show his inadequacies as an officer. The vivid imagery of shooting the elephant and, than having to do it multiple times, focuses the attention of how what he is doing is not an action he wished to take. Every shot he took towards the elephant symbolizes his regret based on his personal values. His course of action would have been finding a way to release the elephant in a way to prevent harm. But his position of an officer made him step up to take action. His focus was more on what people thought of him verses the course of action he would originally take. The unanswered question of what is right to do in choosing to continue an action based on power or moral values. Understanding the interpretations aligned in this story allow me to understand that power is a choice that one is not permitted to accept. These nameless officer actions are inexcusable because he knew his duty would require one to be able step out of a personal comfort zone and leave behind the possibility of actions one would selfishly do. Being an officer takes quite courage, this is resembled by the choices one to make. His true intentions should have showed him that being an officer should have never been a position he would be involved in. This one instance with shooting an elephant was conquered due to quick decision based off perception of others, but I feel will only last so long until the ultimate situation will arise that will show how his opinions as individual and his calling of position will never be able to mold together to become a successful officer. If this story were to continue I think it would

focus on how his decision on shooting an elephant for the greater of himself would only create more havoc for him in the long run.