HUMAN NATURE IN "SHOOTING AN ELEPHANT"

In “Shooting an Elephant,” a sub-divisional police officer who was hated by many people had come to a final decision of whether to shoot the elephant or not. With his final decision, the elephant finally lay dying in front of thousands of people.
He said that in fact he was forced to shoot it so that he would not be laughed at. Certain acts impact others on a greater level than others. For example, throwing out an article of clothing that is not trendy may not have as severe consequences as perhaps a woman having sex with just any man so she will not be ridiculed by her peers for not having had sex in a while. The police officer’s acts are certainly understandable though not justifiable. Since the beginning of the essay, he shares his experiences of maltreatment from the Burmese, “As a police officer I was an obvious target…a nimble Burman tripped me up on the football field and the referee (another Burman) looked the other way, the crowd yelled with hideous laughter.”
Thinking back to my own experiences, I remember being teased numerous times about my poor spoken English when I had just left school and it made me to work extremely hard to overcome it. My hard work did not go to waste, as it is now not difficult for me to communicate in English. Orwell’s actions, though rooted from the teasing from the Burmese, caused him no physical or legal harm, however the trauma of having given into the pressure of the crowd is communicated clearly though his essay.