Symbolism and Irony

The rampaging elephant is easy to read as a symbol of Burmese society: unwieldy, untethered and ultimately impossible to subdue. Orwell shows the Burmese people as having a particular power over their colonizers that expresses itself in the form of ridicule. In the way that the elephant runs amok, and is impossible to contain without violence, the Burmese defiance of British rule is a constant, making itself known by jeers and humiliation. In the way that "the white man" or British officers in Burma must rely on force, and specifically on torture, to have the upper hand of the Burmese people, so Orwell must fall back on an unnatural use of force to demonstrate his power over the elephant. When we see him shooting the elephant, we are seeing the same demonstration of force the British imperialists use over the Burmese people.

Please ask about Irony in separate question.