1. What will people be pushed to do when their reputation is on the line?
2. Should we always do what others expect of us?
3. Are we more apt to do things when others are watching?
In "Shooting and Elephant" the author, George Orwell, is a police officer in a country where he is the minority. He lived or still does live in public scrutiny. One day an normally tame elephant gets loose and causes chaos which ends up with a man being killed. Now Orwell had to deal with the elephant by either killing it or having it's owner go capture it. As he was finding the elephant a crowd gathered, the same crowds of people that laugh and make fun of him and other Europeans, and waited for him to shoot the animal down. He states, "But I did not want to shoot the elephant" (5). In the end Orwell does shoot the animal down and the crowd is filled with joy, but he doesn't stay to watch the elephant die.
His incident with the elephant caused him to question why he actually did what he did. His reasons were simple: trying to impress the people who thought badly of him, the "natives," and to avoid looking like a fool. He didn't want to pull the trigger, but he did. Had there not been a crowd would the outcome be the same? I don't think so. When thinking of other situations, when people are watching we are more likely to do things we wouldn't normally do. The whole time Orwell kept thinking of the crowd and their reactions. It is almost human nature. Think of how peer pressure can cause one to drink or do drugs or behave in a way they know is wrong, but makes their "friends" like them more. Having people around also gives people the courage to do things. Orwell states, "I was not afraid in the ordinary sense, as I would have been if I had been alone" (6). When people are watching we find a sort of courage.
I would have to agree with what you said about peer pressure. There was a point in the article where I thought he wasn't going to shoot the elephant, but then he again talks about the people and their actions. Throughout the article, I could see him weighing the pros and cons. However, the pressure from the people caused him to lean one way on the fence and shoot the elephant. He had hoped that by showing that the elephant was no longer hostile that he would not have to shoot and just return to his normal life. Sadly, the people had greed burning in their eyes, hungry for the meat of the elephant. Peer pressure really is a strong thing.
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