(This is terribly rude but i'll say it). It seems as if George Orwell was meant to shoot that elephant. Why him? Why George Orwell, the author of political Animal Farm and utopic 1984? First of all he is a writer, which already means he will write about this. Second, he writes about controversial topics and uses analogies. He was meant to shoot that elephant.
Now, I suppose/hope you know that Shooting an Elephant was actually a true story and he used it as an analogy as well.
I think this whole story is a big fallacy. A hasty generalization to be precise. He thinks (almost) everything evolves around him the whole time. He generalizes. The things he does are a result of his need to cause certain image. Orwell doesn't want to be seen as an idiot. This is clear as he is constantly saying things like "I was hated by large numbers of people" or "I often wondered whether any of the others grasped that I had done it solely to avoid looking a fool."
"I looked at the sea of yellow faces above the garish clothes-faces all happy and excited over this bit of fun, all certain that the elephant was going to be shot." We do have to recognise that this was his time to shine, but all of them?
This was an all or none moment. He could lose it all at the most slightest incorrect move he made, even with a correct one too. He didn't want to lose it all. That is why he acted in a way that permitted him to please the "yellow faces." Did he get what he wanted?
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