Throughout Orwell's decision to shoot the elephant he is realizing how powerless he really is. By chaining up the elephant and make something that was supposed to be wild a pet, they drove the elephant into the madness that causes the attack of "must". Then he becomes trapped in the situation when he requests the gun for his own protection. He hadn't originally wanted to take down the elephant unless it posed a danger. However, the people believe that he intended to shoot the elephant even though it was peacefully grazing. The large audience of expectant people are waiting for him to act, so he does. The terrible image of the elephant continuing to die after multiple bullets are shot illustrate the awfulness of the situation.
