Many people may misinterpret George Orwell's tone in the essay "Shooting an Elephant." People often construe that the story is about Orwell's decision to either shoot the elephant, or to just peacefully observe it until the mahout came to tame the animal. The story is actually about the struggles Orwell faces because of his position "in between" the Burmese and the imperialistic system. Orwell portrays a distinctive amount of irony in this piece of writing because after he reviewed the situation and started this essay, he spotted a lot of irony in the actions between himself, the people of Burma, and the British Empire.

Orwell stood against the totalitarian and imperialistic form of government. He believed going into another country and taking over was wrong in every way possible. Although Orwell hates the imperialistic system, he is a police officer for the British Empire, hired to work in...