the Burmese He reflects on the suffering of the prisoners describing the wretched prisoners huddling in the stinking cages and the scarred buttocks of men who had been flogged with bamboos These vivid images expose the inhumane practices of imperialism These rob the colonized of freedom and dignity while burdening the colonizers with guilt The Colonizer s Moral Conflict Orwell experiences a deep inner conflict as a British officer He resents his role as an oppressor But he feels trapped by the expectations of imperial authority He admits I had already made up my mind that imperialism was an evil thing However he cannot fully sympathize with the Burmese as their hostility fuels his frustration This duality shows the moral contradictions of imperialism Colonizers are forced into roles they hate losing both their freedom and humanity Mutual Hatred Between Colonizers and Natives Orwell vividly describes the animosity between the British rulers and the Burmese people He writes In Moulmein in lower Burma I was hated by large numbers of people He notes how the natives insult and mock him He recalls incidents like being tripped during football games or having insults hurled at him on the streets The young Buddhist priests particularly torment him the most This shows how colonialism creates resentment The natives hate their oppressors and the colonizers become increasingly bitter The Colonizer s Loss of Freedom Orwell shows how imperialism enslaves the colonizers as much as the colonized He notes When the white man turns tyrant it is his own freedom that he destroys As a colonial officer he must appear authoritative This is required even when he disagrees The pressure to shoot the elephant shows this conflict Imperialism forces colonizers to act against their conscience to maintain their image Symbolism of the Elephant The elephant in the story symbolizes the destructive power of imperialism Orwell likens the elephant s rampage to the chaos caused by colonial rule The elephant's captivity drives it to destruction Similarly oppression pushes the colonized to rebel Orwell's decision to kill the elephant shows the moral compromises of imperialism It traps colonizers in a cycle of violence and guilt In Termination George Orwell exposes the destructive effects of imperialism on both the colonizers and the colonized The author highlights the cruelty and moral corruption of the imperial system The mutual hatred between the British and the Burmese upholds the toxic environment created by colonialism