Emasculated by an Elephant - a Look into "Shooting an Elephant"

Eric Blair, a British civil servant working in India, is tasked with the job of shooting a rogue elephant. While stalking the elephant, many civilians follow Blair in the excitement and anticipation of the shooting. As he is surrounded by so many people, he realizes that he has little control over his actions; Blair changes consciousness from calmed to stressed as displayed through his focus on the crowd and his focus on himself.

As Blair observes the crowd he becomes more stressed about his situation. At first Blair is seen to be at peace for he "[glances] around at the crowd that [has] followed [him]." He only glances around at the crowd because he has no reason to worry over them; only a quick look would bring him enough pleasure in knowing that he led the people to where he is. His diction also suggests that he believes himself to be in power; because the crowd "follows" him as though he has guided them to the elephant, Blair feels secure with his leadership. Later on Eric Blair begins to feel pressure from the crowd: "[he] could feel their two thousand wills [press him] forward." The crowd's anticipation was a strong force on Blair's conscience, for Blair would not be as aware of their presence if they have no power over his actions. It is with this pressure that Blair begins to feel a conscious stress. Not only is the number he provides representative of the massive force he is feeling, Blair also admits that the crowd "presses him forward" into an otherwise unwanted situation. In the end Blair explains that there are "two thousand people marching at [his] heels." His diction changes from when he claims they are merely "following him." When the crowd follows Blair, he is still leading according to his own consciousness; however, when the crowd marches at Blair's heels, his conscious is telling him that he is being stalked by a great number of people. This is stressful for Blair because he is so conscious his image; with so many breathing down his neck, watching him carefully, Blair is encumbered with the crowd's whim. Overall, Blair has a defined change in his conscious with respect to his view of the crowd.

Eric Blair also becomes more stressed as he analyzes his own situation. He has an epiphany that in "reality [he is] only an absurd puppet pushed to and fro by the will of [the crowd]." This point is where Blair becomes conscious of his absence of power. He is distressed at this realization. He even continues on to say that he "becomes a... hollow, posing dummy." Blair considers himself worthless without this power. His diction implies that he has no respect for those who are powerless by calling them "absurd" or "dummies." In essence he is also revealing his lost self-respect. In the beginning Blair states that he is "seemingly the leading actor;" however, by the end of the passage Blair already dismisses his importance: "the crowd would laugh at me." Instead of feeling respect from those watching him, Blair assumes that he will be humiliated if he does not abide by the crowd's expectations. Blair desires respect from the crowd, so his loss of self respect causes paranoia within his consciousness and prevents him from remaining calm.

Because Eric Blair reflects on the crowd and himself, his becomes more consciously stressed. His prospect of the crowd connects with his inward look at himself, for when the crowd appears to be more than Eric can handle, he notices just how little he can handle as a leader. A leader with a lot of power over many people is calm. A leader stripped of his power becomes frantic to regain it. Before Blair's epiphany he is comfortable with his power and has no reason to be stressed. After the epiphany though, Blair is worried over his own image and how without his power he has no purpose other than a figurehead.