6 - Summary of "Shooting an Elephant": In the essay "Shooting an Elephant," George Orwell recounts his experience as a colonial police officer in Burma, where he is pressured to shoot an elephant that has caused damage in a local village. Despite his personal beliefs that shooting the elephant is unnecessary, he succumbs to the pressure of the crowd and his role as a symbol of British authority. This incident leads Orwell to reflect on the dehumanizing impact of imperialism, the conflicts between personal conscience and societal expectations, and the oppressive nature of the British imperialist mission in Burma.