Shooting an ElephantIn life, as humans, we often make decisions that we would not have made ourselves if we had not been influenced by someone another one. As humans, 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 police officer in Moulmein, a town in Burma, torn between whether or not to shoot an elephant in full swing. The natives didn't like him very much, but when the elephant went wild, they didn't hesitate to call on him. What seemed like an easy task for the officer to accomplish was more difficult than he could have ever imagined when he could face it. As the elephant ran amok, the officer wanted to shoot it, but once he stopped, he couldn't bring himself to do it. However, when he looked around and saw all the natives watching him and waiting impatiently for him to kill the elephant, he realized that he ultimately had no other way out. than kill the elephant. This story deals with the internal conflict between its personal characters. his morals and his duty to his country, but more importantly, his duty to maintain 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 imagine because it can take over a person's life and no matter how much they want to do something for themselves, imperialism is still there in his 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 first captures the audience and...... middle of paper ...... him wearing he wears a mask again when he wants to avoid being seen as a imbecile. He decides that shooting the elephant will help avoid any humiliation, because he cannot let anyone make fun of him since "the life of every white man in the East has been a long struggle not to be made fun of." "The officer shot the elephant, in his own words, "only to avoid looking like a fool." Ultimately, we see how a person can make a decision against their own judgment to please a stereotype. The officer had to make the decision to shoot the elephant, because if he had not done so, every white man's reputation would have been ruined. The power of imperialism would be obsolete and the natives would fear it. had towards white men would also be gone. Trying to fit into a mold or "mask" that doesn't suit you only leads to more problems than if you were your true self...