and wasteful since the elephant is a valuable animal and no longer causes harm He also feels sympathy for the elephant Pressure of Imperialism On the other side the narrator feels pressured by the large crowd of Burmese people following him They expect him to kill the elephant and he is afraid of looking weak or foolish in front of them if he doesn t do it The crowd will laugh at him if he does not kill the elephant Orwell writes A sahib has got to act like a sahib This means that even though he dislikes the colonial system he is forced to act like a ruler to maintain the image of power Moral Struggle This conflict reflects Orwell s moral struggle He knows the right thing to do is to spare the elephant but he cannot avoid the expectations of the crowd Ultimately he shoots the elephant not out of necessity but to avoid humiliation This shows how colonialism traps even the colonizer To wrap up Orwell s hesitation reveals his guilt and the moral burden of being part of an unjust system