How a Person's Employment Affects a Person's Identity - Essay Example

It shows how students find familiar cultural identity with other Hispanic students of the same group. External factors such as policies, roles and regulations of an employment influence the identity and position of an individual in the society, and are discussed aptly in this unit. Orwell’s Shooting an Elephant is an outstanding example that shows how individual’s identity is affected by the kind of work they do. The Orwell’s Shooting an Elephant creates a central idea about identity and position in society.

The core idea it depicts is that an identity of person is profoundly determined by external factors an individual experiences daily. Orwell tells how he struggled to make a choice when imposed to kill an elephant by the public. He did not wish to kill the elephant, since he perceived the act as evil. This proves how employment plays a huge task in influencing the individual’s identity. The position of Orwell is perceived as to be that of slay mainly because of his role as a security man. Thus, it is affirmed that Orwell’s literary work shows that external factors remarkably determine the identity and position of an individual.

Orwell was justified in shooting the elephant since it had killed an individual who was had goals and targets to achieve. The elephant had destroyed properties that cost the populace money to have them. His action was corresponded to the British laws at the moment and a security officer; it was his duty to maintain peace. Killing the elephant also provided food for the society. It is true that Orwell’s confusion and indecision affect his behavior as a person of authority in a number of ways.

Confusion and indecisiveness causes him to make a regrettable decision because of the pressure exerted on him at the time the crowd had surrounded. If he could have made up his mind earlier, he could have made a principled decision despite pressure from the Burmese populace. “The people expected it of me and I had got to do it…an absurd puppet pushed to and fro by the will of those yellow faces behind” (Orwell, 7). As a person of authority, he had the role to guide the populace on making the right decision in society instead of being influenced by the illiterate populace.

There are consequences Orwell and society face when he shoots the elephant that dies a dawdling and excruciating demise in front of them. The consequence Orwell face is guilt because of the decision he claims was forced on him. Orwell feels apologetic as he watches the elephant die a relentless death vulnerably. He laments and regrets stating that it was against his will since he did not fancy to be seen as a fool. “Was all for the Burmese and all against their oppressors, the British” (Orwell, 2) The society faces the consequence of demolishing wildlife in their country, which is a lucrative foreign earner for the country.

The killing of the elephant reduces and limits the number of wildlife animals in the community, hence reducing the chances thriving in the sector of tourism. The time that elapsed from the moment Orwell got the gun until the elephant was shot was about more than an hour since he had to look for it manually. Time affects Orwell’s decision of shooting the elephant, which makes him a wrong decision that torments after shooting. There was a short time for him to think openly in a relaxed manner on whether to shoot the elephant.

The limited time did not offer him a chance to reflect on the preeminent approach in