Not everyone else shared these opinions, though, and this caused him problems and grief because he did not understand what he could do to make his lot in life better. He wanted to be accepted by the people of the village instead of being ridiculed, and he had social issues with this, but he was still somewhat optimistic that he would eventually be accepted. Therefore, social and ideological factors came into play in shooting the elephant.

             These same social and ideological factors come into play in so many of the interactions that are seen in human beings. For Orwell, the essay showed how much people want to be accepted by others, and how much it bothers them if they are not accepted simply for who they are and what they do. This seems strange, because what other people think of one really does not matter in the grand scheme of things, but human nature does not allow most human beings to ignore what others think of them. This is also seen in the work of Mary Midgely who, at the age of 50, wrote a book regarding the nature of human beings, and how close it was to the nature of animals (Midgely, 2002). It was believed at the time that there was no specific thing as human nature of instinct, but Midgely saw how wrong this was and attempted to show that the human 'animal' has a very distinct and important nature when it comes to how he or she responds to others. Midgely (2002) does not say, however, that animals and man are the same, but only that some of the very basic instincts that are seen in both of them are amazingly similar, despite the fact that many say that there is no common ground there. .

             For Orwell and his elephant, there are also psychological issues. Most of these issues go on in Orwell's head as he contemplates shooting the elephant, and they have to deal not only with his feelings about the elephant, but his feelings about the villagers as well. He realizes, as he stands there with the rifle in his hands, that he is going to shoot the elephant even though he does not want to.