A simple look at George Orwell's writing style is enough to understand a lot. He first begins the essay by discussing how the narrator was treated poorly in Lower Burma when he served as a police officer. More specifically the narrator states, "I was hated by a great number of people" and "the anti-European feeling was very bitter." From there it could be interpreted that although he was a British soldier with a lot of power, he was "baited whenever it seemed safe to do so". She then goes into great detail and paints scenes in the reader's mind, such as how a European woman could not walk through the market without someone "spitting betel juice on her dress", to create a sense of remorse for Europeans being treated brutally. Additionally, Orwell creates detailed imagery throughout his text to show how badly Europeans were treated in Burma. He uses connotative words in the scenes he creates to show a certain feeling. For example, in the football scene where someone trips he uses the word "horrible laugh" to show the audience's support for the poor treatment of Europeans and their cruelty. Soon after managing to gain the reader's sympathy by expressing the narrator's feelings as an Anglo-Indian in Burma, Orwell shifts his attention to criticizing imperialism. In his second paragraph, the narrator openly expresses his criticism of imperialism when he says "I had already thought that imperialism was an evil thing... I was all for the Burmese and all against their oppressors, the English." At this point, the reader can interpret that the narrator has sympathy for the Burmese; however, he finds himself in the circumstance where he has no choice but to obey the oppressor, the English, due to his position. It is here that the reader can tell them... in the middle of the page... with the irony of his essay, to reach the goal of putting an end to imperialism; which in the essay is symbolized as the "Elephant". There are many parts of the essay where irony can be found. For example, when the narrator was treated badly by the Burmese, and later, the narrator sympathized that the Burmese were part of the British rule. The other type of irony that Orwell implies is when the narrator, a Burmese leader, follows Burmese expectations and shoots the elephant to avoid looking like a madman and being part of the "imperialist leaders". The irony here is that at the end of the essay he states: "I was very glad that the coolie had been killed; it proved me legally right and gave me a sufficient pretext to shoot the elephant." because he was happy that someone had been killed, so that he could help the Burmese by killing him too.