Reaction to "Shooting an Elephant"

Having read something that was written a long time ago with themes that are still apt in the present makes me understand how each of our lives differ to such great extent yet commonalities still exist regardless of what era, continent or culture we are from. With this, I would like to focus on the essay’s discussion of peer pressure in the persona’s narration of his experiences. Given the details the essay contained, the persona was a middle-aged European man. I, on the other hand, am a teenage Asian girl. Yet, we still encounter the same types of problems. The persona was faced with the dilemma of doing something he thought was immoral so that he would gain respect, and maybe popularity, over the Burman community that surrounded and already hated him. He shot an elephant because it was what the status quo wanted.

In the essay, the persona weighed the pros and cons of what he was about to accomplish. He thought of what would happen if he shot the elephant or not. He consulted his conscience and used his logic to contemplate on what to do. He sought information from bystanders who could give him valuable information regarding the necessity of his killing this elephant. From all the deliberation he did, he was willing to somehow test the elephant’s state, whether it was still going rogue or back to its calm demeanor. However, his mind made a shift in judgment, thinking it would be too much of a risk to test the elephant and that his killing it will make everyone else happy and possibly decrease their hatred towards him.

In the process of killing the elephant, the persona describes its slow death with such detail and emphasis. I believe that this was due to his guilt. Though he did not admit this in the essay, it can be deducted from the way he focused on every little element of its death, a circumstance he did not necessarily want to happen. Also, the persona accentuated on people’s different reactions to the incident. This was a clear sign that he truly cares about what other people think. Towards the end, he justifies his actions to himself, acting as his own antagonist.

I, myself, have gone through something similar to this. I have done things I did not truly want to do or consented things I disapproved of so that I could fit in and be liked, and would not be judged. Sometimes, when your opinion or actions do not agree with everyone else’s, you suddenly become a target of criticism and judgment. This is why I can relate with the actions of the essay’s persona, however, that does not justify acting against one’s beliefs because in the end, one will have to live by the actions he or she committed.