The essay "Shooting An Elephant" begins with the author, George Orwell, a British Police officer in Burma, describing his experiences with the local Burmese people who hate the British and find various ways by which to put the English fraternity to shame and ridicule. In order not to lose face and be jeered by the Burmese people, Orwell has to shoot down an elephant which had gotten out of control and was stampeding around destroying everything that came its way and even killing a man, an Indian Dravidian coolie. He did not wait to see the elephant die, but was later informed about the gory details of the elephants death and of the people who stripped the elephant to the bones. Orwell is a sub-divisional police officer in Myanmar, Lower Burma. He goes through inner conflicts and feels sorry for the poor and exploited people. The people hate the British and their rule and find ways to ridicule and jeer them from a safe distance and in ways not are punished for their actions. Orwell himself is against the British imperialism and has strong feelings against the rule. In his job as a policeman he had seen the duty work of the Empire at close Quarters and hated it bitterly. In doing his duty by the empire, he came in for a lot of ridicule, jeering, and insults from the Burmese people. These insults were not done openly, but subtly. He understood the situation in no uncertain terms. He also understood the position of the British, of how to save their face by unknowingly doing what the population was making them do.

One day Orwell is informed about an elephant going wild, in the bazaar. The elephant had broken its chain and went on a rampage destroying whatever came its way. The elephant also killed an Indian Dravidian coolie. As the people see Orwell armed with a gun, they supposedly expect him to shoot the mad elephant. He goes, looking for the elephant and his act of destruction and killing, armed with a gun and a rifle only for his own protection and not for shooting down the massive elephant. In his eyes, the elephant is worth more alive, than dead. The people, seeing him armed with a gun, follow him and the mob goes on increasing by the time he locates the elephant. The elephant has got over his "must", and is now peacefully pulling stalks from the field and putting them in his mouth with his trunk. Orwell has no intention of killing the elephant, but the will of over two thousand natives, seems to imprint on his mind. He is the holder of the magic weapon, which will give them their fun, and meat off the elephant. Orwell is driven to kill the elephant, inspite of his unwillingness. Says Orwell "that when a white man turns tyrant, it is his own freedom that he destroys. He becomes a sort of hollow, posing dummy, that conventionalized figure of Sahib". The whites had self imposed certain conditions and rules for impressing the natives. When any crisis happened, the natives looked up to them for the solution and to keep that image they inadvertently, had to do what the natives wanted. The white man wore a mask and his face had grown to fit it. To impress and please the people, he is forced to shoot the now peaceful elephant. He has to shoot the massive elephant several times with his rifle and gun. The elephant suffers acute agony and a very painful death. Orwell walks away from the tortured gasps of the elephant, which he finds unbearable. He is later informed about the details of the elephant's death, and the people who ripped the meat off it to the bones. He was perfectly justified in killing the mad elephant. That was the right thing to do as the elephant had killed a human being and brought about a lot of destruction. It could not be trusted to remain sane even though it then looked peaceful. Orwell however feels in his heart that what he did was to save his face and not having to look a fool in the eyes of the natives.