"Shooting an Elephant" is one of the most popular of George Orwell's essays. Like his essays "A hanging" and "How the Poor Die", it is chiefly autobiographical. It deals with his experience as a police-officer in Burma. After having completed his education, Orwell joined the Indian Imperial Police, and served in Burma, from 1922 to 1927, as an Assistant Superintendent of Police. His experiences as an officer in Burma were bitter. He was often a victim of the hostility and injustices at the hands of his colleagues and officers. Peter Stansky and William Abrahams in their book The Unknown Orwell write "He was friendless and inexperienced, not certain of what to expect and fearful of proving to be inadequate, a predictable failure."

Orwell could not grow a liking for the oppressive British colonial rule in Burma, and felt ashamed of being a part of it. He was disturbed by the...