"Shooting an Elephant" by George Orwell

Related to the theme of the performance of power is a clear theme of "taming" that plays out in the scenario of a man controlling a wild beast. Orwell's self-imposed task of upholding the impenetrable image of the British empire is part of a larger goal: to control or "tame" Burmese society. If he falters in his performance, he'll make room for the colonized Burmese to see through imperial control and to subsequently cease to respond to that control.