Shooting an elephant

Instead of doing the right thing, Orwell really doesn't want to kill the majestic Elephant, he puts the cartridges into the rifle, gets himself onto the ground and takes aim. The rifle has cross-hair sights. He aims for the head.

He pulls the trigger and the crowd erupts with glee as he hits his mark. The elephant stays standing, but it seems to age immensely. Orwell describes this chance that comes over it as a kind of “senility” (34). Slowly the elephant begins to sink down to the earth, onto its knees. He fires again and then the animal slowly rises. He describes every movement and shift of the elephant’s expression. He fires again and though the elephant seems to weaken, he also rises, up onto his hind legs, his trunk flinging up into the sky, before he goes down, trumpeting noisily, and thundering onto the earth.