"Shooting an Elephant"
The Europeans are presented as imperialists who think that they are in control not knowing that they have lost their will power to the natives, whom they think they dominate. The Europeans are described like masked people who have grown to resemble the masks they wear with ingrained habits and prejudices.
The Burmese are presented as idle, idiotic, and lacking the coercive power necessary to be in obvious control of their lives, especially since they have no physical weapons. Â However, what they lack in physical weapons, they possess in abundance with the power of the will. Â This implies that their lack of physical weapons does not make them powerless in the real sense. Â They have will. Â With it, they control the Europeans who weld physical power. Â
I empathize mostly with the Europeans. Â Their portrayal by George Orwell is very sympathetic. Â By trying to impose their authority on others, they limit their ability to even control their own lives. Â They must dance to the music of the crowd because of the expectations placed on them by the natives. Â The same is true of all rulers who have refused to embrace leadership principles, thinking that they are in charge of the people, not realizing that it is the people that control them with their crowd expectations.
Europeans are not accepted by others.  Europeans do not accept others.  Each tribe thinks highly of themselves and belittles the others.  But, we are all human beings, created in God’s image and likeness.  The moment we overcome our prejudices, it is the same moment that we are liberated to fulfil God’s mandate, “to exercise dominion over the earth.”  This dominion is not the domination of other people, but the dominion of the elements that make up the earth, the forces, and the evils that attempt to take over the earth that God has created for the welfare of human beings.  We must collaborate, cherish each other, and find joy in our diversity as humans.  We must act together in love.  Conclusively, George Orwell’s observation is true of all human beings, “when the white man (read, “any class of humanity”) turns tyrant, it is his own freedom that he destroys.”
Explanation:
George Orwell's 1936 short story titled: "Shooting an Elephant" describes his experiences as a police officer in Burma. Â In it, he denounces British imperialism as lacking common sense. Â Europeans are made a laughing stock of by the natives they try to rule. Â According to George Orwell, Imperialism and colonialism are evil as no good has come from the imposition of another's will on others.
