Shooting an Elephant

1. Was he even liked after shooting the elephant?

2. Why do people do things they know is wrong just to fit in?

3. Did he feel as though he did the right thing or felt guilty about it?

2) I'm going to be touching on the question two. I've always wondered why people make certain decisions in life based on how others would perceive them. In certain cases it usually a good thing because if you act as a good person, the way you would be seen is as a good person. But why do people do things that they know are wrong just because they are expected to. In the essay "Shooting an Elephant by George Orwell, he does that exact thing. The only reason he had asked for the gun was just in case the elephant got rowdy and he had to do something. But as soon as the gun was in the picture, the natives around him thought that he was going to kill the elephant just because he had a gun. When he got there he knew that the elephant meant no harm at that point but he felt the "want" from the crowd. He knew they wanted him to shoot the elephant and the pressure is what got to him. Why? Why couldn't he just wait and just watch the elephant until the owner came? Why did he even give in to the pressure of those "lower than him"? We all have had times that we wanted to be accepted by those around us but is going against what we believe really worth it? I can't imagine what his conscious went through from that day forward. Would he doubt his decision everyday or would he stand beside it.