Shooting an Elephant

Throughout the essay Orwell explicitly discusses the nature of British imperialism, specifically the way that he, as a police officer, both represents and internalizes the imperial project. He opens by revealing the brutality of British colonialism in Burma, with images of tortured prisoners, and he discusses his distaste for the empire's impact in Burma. He says that he's on the side of the "Burman," yet he also resents Burmese people for the way they perceive him. Orwell's self-consciousness as the face of British imperialism is central to his internal conflict as he tries to uphold the image of the impenetrable empire while going against his personal inclination, and killing an elephant that he doesn't want to kill.

In a job like that you see the dirty work of Empire at close quarters. The wretched prisoners huddling in the stinking cages of the lock-ups, the gray, cowed faces of the long-term convicts, the scarred buttocks of the men who had been flogged with bamboos—all these oppressed me with an intolerable sense of guilt.

All I knew was that I was stuck between my hatred of the empire I served and my rage against the evil-spirited little beasts who tried to make my job impossible.

"..... I thought that the greatest joy in the world would be to drive a bayonet into a Buddhist priest’s guts. Feelings like these are the normal by-products of imperialism; ask any Anglo-Indian official, if you can catch him off duty.