Because he was hated by many people, he was also often targeted. One day he was called by a sub-inspector in another police station regarding an elephant, he needed him to go and do something. The elephant was destructive and killed a man by trampling him to the ground. Before arriving where the elephant was Orwell made the decision: "I had no intention of shooting the elephant, I had simply sent for the rifle to defend myself if necessary." He got to where the elephant was and once again, “I knew for sure that I shouldn't have shot him.” he had already made a decision: he knew that killing the elephant could have been avoided. He later noticed the crowd following him and suddenly realized that he should shoot the elephant because that was what “people expected” from him. He was torn between letting the elephant live, that was his choice, or killing the elephant which he thought would earn him the respect he wanted outside the city. He didn't want to be laughed at so he went ahead and shot the elephant going against what he believed was the right thing to do