Shooting an Elephant In life we, as human beings, often make decisions that we would not have made on our own if we had not been influenced by someone else. As human beings, the opinions of others mean a lot to us, and in "Shooting an Elephant", Orwell shows how true this idea is through the tone of the story. “Shooting an Elephant” is the story of a British policeman in Moulmein, a town in Burma, who is torn between shooting or not shooting an elephant that has gone rampaging. The natives didn't like it much, but when the elephant went into a rage they quickly called out to him. What seemed like it should have been an easy task for the officer to perform was more difficult than he could have ever imagined when he was able to face it face to face. When the elephant was going on a rampage, the officer wanted to shoot it but once it stopped he couldn't do so. However, when he looked around and saw all the natives looking at him and waiting expectantly for him to kill the elephant, he realized that he ultimately had no other way out than to kill the elephant. This story deals with the internal conflict between his personal feelings, morals and his duty to his country but, more importantly, his duty to uphold the white man's reputation in a foreign land. Orwell's decision to kill the elephant is a direct result of imperialism. Imperialism goes much further than the average person could ever imagine, because it can take over a person's life and no matter how much they want to do something on their own, imperialism is always there in the back of their mind. The officer struggles to live by his personal morals while trying to uphold the laws of imperialism. The tone of this story is very important because it initially captures the audience and... middle of paper... him wearing a mask again to avoid looking like a fool. He decides that shooting the elephant will help prevent any humiliation, because he cannot allow anyone to laugh at him since "the life of every white man in the East, was a long struggle not to be laughed at." The officer shot the elephant in his own words, "just to avoid looking like a fool." Ultimately we see how a person can make a decision against their better judgment to satisfy a stereotype. The officer had to make the decision to shoot the elephant because if he did not do so the reputation of every white man would be ruined. The power of imperialism would be obsolete and the fear that the natives had of white men would also disappear. Trying to fit into a mold or "mask" that doesn't fit you only leads to more problems than you would have if you were your true self.