Shooting an Elephant

work by Orwell

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July 13, 2026

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"Shooting an Elephant" is an autobiographical essay by George Orwell, first published in 1936. It recounts his experiences as a British police officer in Burma and critiques imperialism. The essay details an incident where Orwell is compelled to shoot an elephant, highlighting the moral and psychological burdens of colonial rule. Orwell uses this event to illustrate the dehumanizing effects of imperialism on both the colonizer and the colonized, exposing the "dirty work of Empire at close quarters". The work is considered a classic of expository prose and a powerful indictment of oppression.1

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George Orwell
Early life: From colonial India to England and Burma
…“A Hanging” (1931) and “Shooting an Elephant” (1936), classics of expository prose in which Orwell describes what he saw of “the dirty work of Empire at close quarters” and the dehumanizing effects of imperialism on colonizer and colonized alike.
Read More
…“A Hanging” (1931) and “Shooting an Elephant” (1936), classics of expository prose in which Orwell describes what he saw of “the dirty work of Empire at close quarters” and the dehumanizing effects of imperialism on colonizer and colonized alike.
Read More