Throughout his life Orwell was critical of Imperialism - that was the reason he resigned from the Imperial Guard. This point of view is evident in his short story Shooting an Elephant. Orwell felt he just could not be supportive of a political and social system in which an entire people were put below another in the rankings; especially when they were living in their own country.

In Elephant Orwell poked fun at Imperial authoritative figures (the policeman), implying that they were not really in power at all and felt as if they had to show off to save face and create the illusion that they were really in control of the situation. This feeling relates to the real life situation in Burma which Orwell himself had experienced before writing the story - the British were not at home there, they were not accustomed to that way of...