Introduction
This paper is a discussion of obedience to the society and the fear of the authorities. In the paper, there is the study of George Orwell’s article “Shooting the Elephant”. Many writers have been discussing the issue of society and obedience and Peter cave in his book, does state that many in world’s population act more like a sheep and less like a man. Cave wonders whether people should obey their government or disobey them. Contained herein is a study of obeying the authorities due to fear rather than conscience and beliefs. The case of shooting the elephant is an interesting one; George Orwell presents a police officer’s case contending on whether to shoot an elephant. This paper disseminates the situation of the officer and his inability to make the rightful choices due to pressure.
Orwell’s decision
A police officer was working in Moulmein, Burma during the times of colonial rule by the British when he finds himself in a difficult situation requiring him to make a decision under pressure (Cave, 2003). Police officers were not popular in the region and subsequently the young officer found hate in considerable amounts. As a result, the sub-divisional officer attracts many enemies on to self. His actions contained herein are reflected by Cave in his article “Man or sheep”. In his argument, he did state that there are people who do not agree with the authority but obey due to fear. George Orwell is a perfect example of the ongoing within the society. When a tamed elephant goes on rampage, the authorities summon the young officer to handle the situation (Tyner, 2005). He is not able to make his own decisions upon cornering the elephant due to urges from onlookers to kill the elephant. Hence, he is not able to make his own decision as he aims to shoot the elephant. Orwell kills the elephant although his conscience did state otherwise. Making him obey the society rather than acting on his own decision.
Fear of authority
Orwell’s situation portrays how people are afraid to face the authority (Cave, 2003). According to Cave, people act in the way the act because they are afraid of the consequences. Hence, even when individuals make their own decisions they are unable to exercise them due to the fear of authority. Such is the case of the police officer. He is afraid that the society will laugh at him and being a white in a foreign country, he believes it would be the worst situation. When he sees the elephant, he notes that must period was over and he should not kill the elephant. However, he could not stand other people laughing at him so he finally, against his wishes, does shoot the elephant. The young man’s fear of authorities is more evident when contemplating leaving his job. He is afraid of leaving the job due to consequences he might suffer though he is against the system hence assisting it. He unfairly benefits from the system since he does not believe in the values that the system upholds. The young officer supports Burmese people instead of the government he works for, making him a hypocrite and a sheep.
A man or a sheep
In his book, Peter Cave discusses the issue of the government obedience by the citizens. There is no agreement between the authorities and its citizen abiding them to obey the government. However, the citizens use states facilities such as roads and healthcare. Some argue that this means that citizens have to obey the government, a position opposed by the author (Tyner, 2005). According to him, if a person did buy another a drink it does not obligate the first person to return that favor. Orwell is immoral if there was adoption of the Cave’s theory. Allowing the elephant to live was the rational thing to do but he did fear authority. Furthermore, the rules have a provision allowing the killing of an elephant endangering lives. In this, Orwell did act as a sheep since he is afraid to make his own decisions. Instead of going up to the elephant to check whether it was calm, he shoots it. His actions characterize him with a sheep since all he does is follow what others pressure him to do. Orwell’s immorality is evident when he shots the elephant to save himself from ridicule, which is selfish. Hence, he is both a sheep and immoral shown by his actions.
Conclusion
Orwell fears the authority and is not able to act according to his wishes. If the actions were because of self-motivation then the conclusion would be that he did act like a man (Rand, 1999). However, he does not believe in the actions that he did carry out making him a sheep. Individuals should learn to decide on their own rather than follow the prescription from the society. Learning from the actions of the police officer, persons should not succumb to pressure from other people. They should make their own decision depending on their conscience regardless of the consequences of such actions. Consequently, no one will have to make decisions due to pressure from the society or authorities (Rand, 1999).
