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One of the features that makes narrative writing distinct from other modes of writing is that it often includes some type of reflection, or a summary of the value of the experience that the writer wants to pass on to the reader. In less sophisticated narratives, this might take the form of a concluding statement such as, “What I learned from this was . . . ,” but in more complex narratives, the reflection, which may or may not even be placed at the end of the story, is closer to a statement of the theme the writer wants to communicate. It is entirely possible that this reflection will be not explicitly stated, but rather implied indirectly. What’s essential is that the reader ought to be able discern from your narrative some significant point you are hoping to communicate.

Look back at this section from the middle of “Shooting an Elephant.” While he does not directly state it, what is George Orwell hoping the reader can infer about what caused him to shoot the elephant despite his reluctance to do so?

Here was I, the white man with his gun, standing in front of the unarmed native crowd—seemingly the leading actor of the piece; but in reality I was only an absurd puppet pushed to and fro by the will of those yellow faces behind. I perceived in this moment that when the white man turns tyrant it is his own freedom that he destroys. He becomes a sort of hollow, posing dummy, the conventionalized figure of a sahib. For it is the condition of his rule that he shall spend his life in trying to impress the “natives,” and so in every crisis he has got to do what the “natives” expect of him. He wears a mask, and his face grows to fit it. (par. 7)