Why did George Orwell shoot the elephant? Account for the motives that led him to shoot, and then categorize them as personal motives, circumstantial motives, socail motives, or political motives. Is it easy to assign his motives to categories? Why or why not?
Orwell fears the humiliation if he doesn't shoot the elephant. He is the only man with a gun and he represents the strength of the British Empire. Orwell says that the bystanders would laugh at him if he were trampled to death by the elephant, and "that would never do" (34). In this way he is compelled to kill the (now peaceful) elephant. In the way that the elephant, in the essay, can represent the Burmese society, Orwell's fear of humiliation can represent the motive of the broader British colonial project. The imperial police officer is willing to sacrifice his sense of what is right, and to fulfill the role of oppressor and tyrant, in order to save face. The fear of humiliation is one of the most important motives in Orwell's essay.
