Shooting an Elephant

Enemy means a hostile force, a person in opposition.
The British and the Burmese were enemies of each other.
The British were a ‘hostile’ force for the Burmese people as the British invaded their land, forced everyone to follow their system of law and treated all the natives as slaves. From Orwell’s point of view, the British and the Burmese people were his enemies. The natives often insulted him whenever they got an opportunity even when the author mentioned that he sympathized with the Burmese. Even though Orwell was part of the British police he was against imperialism and understood why the Burmese disrespected their rulers.
In the story Orwell describes how he was ‘oppressed’ by the rulers and subsequently by the Burmese when the author had to kill the elephant even when he did not want to carry out the act. Orwell made a point that he did not want to come out looking like a fool and therefore had to shoot the elephant. Orwell said “when a white man turns tyrant it is his own freedom that he destroys”. The Burmese wanted so as well because that was what everyone expected him to do. In the story the elephant depicts the role of the British rule in Burma. It was uncontrollable, killed people and destroyed their land. Orwell saw that for all great things there is an end and it can come anytime. Just like the elephant died painfully the British might suffer the same fate. The writer was stuck with his decision and with the expectations of the people and the rulers.