<P> The essay describes the experience of the English narrator , possibly Orwell himself , called upon to shoot an aggressive elephant while working as a police officer in Burma . Because the locals expect him to do the job , he does so against his better judgment , his anguish increased by the elephant 's slow and painful death . The story is regarded as a metaphor for British imperialism , and for Orwell 's view that `` when the white man turns tyrant it is his own freedom that he destroys . '' </P>
who is the speaker in shooting an elephant
the English narrator , possibly Orwell himself