The question I'd like to discuss is why Orwell devoted so much attention to the elephants misery. What I took out of it was that those were his own feelings of in the situation he was in. Meaning he was left struggling in a predicament with only one out come, but not the same as the elephants fate. Throughout the story Orwell speaks of being displaced in land that brings him nothing but turmoil. He receives little to no respect from the locals and was mocked profusely in his daily routine. In the story he states the elephant was breathing rhythmically with long rattling gasps after the first initial shots. Orwell endured his routine even though he was a European in a anti-European setting, which probably left him gasping for air as well. Orwell said he waited a long time for the elephant to die , but its' breathing never weaken. So he decides to shoot the elephant with the two remaining rounds in the heart. With little political power the locals could do nothing but taunt and torture Orwell on the football fields and in the streets. They did this to try and rid him, much like Orwell did with the remaining two bullets for the elephant.
The story states the elephant did not even jerk and its gasping breaths continued with out a pause. In the same respect Orwell continues his post knowing he is locked into a ever repeating cycle of taunts and ridicule. After the shoots the elephant lays in agony, but in a far off mental state so the bullets were not even felt. Orwell felt the same agony for his situation, but could do nothing at all to help it. After a while he felt enlightened because he understood the locals strife with the imperialist power. In that aspect it was much the same as the elephants mental state because he knew why the insults and football field incident had to happen. As the elephant lay there slowly dying Orwell sends for his second gun. He shoots the elephant twice more but to no avail. Even though Orwell endured everything he had, it still was not enough to kill him, much like the elephant. The elephant never stopped breathing so Orwell decides to leave. The elephant finally dies, but Orwell was not around at the time to witness it. In the same sense, Orwell left India before the imperialist rule was over as well. My only guess for that would be he wanted to leave alive, and not perish like the elephant.