In "Shooting an Elephant," Orwell devotes lots of time to describing the elephant's misery for two reasons. Firstly, because he wants the reader to experience this event from his perspective. He does this by depicting the elephant as an elderly and vulnerable creature:
"An enormous senility seemed to have settled upon him. One could have imagined him thousands of years old."
By doing this, Orwell suggests that the elephant is a misunderstood creature which poses no real security threat. Shooting the elephant is, therefore, a political act which he was loathe to carry out.
Secondly, Orwell uses heavy description as a means of reinforcing his point that imperialism is evil and exploitative. He suggests, therefore, that imperialism targets the weak (an ageing elephant) and makes other people behave in a manner which goes against their nature. In this case, Orwell is forced to shoot the elephant to maintain his authority among the native population, even though he has no real desire to do so.
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