James Baldwin and George Orwell Comparison
The essay “Stranger in the village” by James Baldwin, and “Shooting an Elephant” by George Orwell, share a similarity in their experience in a new environments. Orwell a British officer he was not warmly welcome, the Burmese people hated. As for Baldwin it is more of racism than hated. Both essays happen in unfamiliar places where there were racism and discrimination. They do not fit in with the natives and is judged because of their nationalities. However, the themes of these writing differ.
Baldwin being visits an unfamiliar place that was mostly populated by white people; they were very interested in the color of his skin. The villagers had never seen a black person before, which makes the villager
…show more content…
His feels lonely toward the Swiss villager. After leaving the village during the summer, he returns in the winter to find out that he is still a stranger to the villagers, like Baldwin says, “I remain as much a stranger today as I was the first day I arrived, and the children shout Neger! Neger! as I walk along the streets” (1). The children who shout the word was disrespecting Baldwin but he knows that the children did not mean to be unkind to him. Some of the villagers were afraid of him as Baldwin describes “gingerly put his fingers on my hair, as though he were afraid of an electric shock, or put his hand on my hand, astonished that the color did not rub off “(2). The villagers thought he was not a human being or was just “simply a living wonder” as he describe how people look at him. He feels discriminated and racism, and feels that different from everyone else because of the color of his skin. The truth is everyone is the same the only difference, is our customs and …show more content…
When he finial find the elephant Orwell say “I knew with perfect certainty that I ought not to shoot him.” But when he lays his eyes on the crowd he changes his stance to “but I did not want to shoot the elephant.”(Orwell 199). He felt guilty for shooting the elephant when he describe that the elephant worth more alive than dead, but despite the many reason not to shoot the elephant, he took a shot. Orwell describes “when I pulled the trigger I did not hear the bang or feel the kick …I fired again into the same spot…I fired a third time. That was the shot that did it for him.”(199) the shooting of the elephant represent the Burma people trying to stay alive and over powering by the
In George Orwell’s story, “Shooting an Elephant,” he goes through numerous emotions. It is a very thought provoking work that takes the reader inside his mind. He goes through many emotions throughout the text, he experienced humiliation, evil, and confliction.
In paragraph three of James Baldwin's 'Stranger in the Village' (1955), he alludes to emotions that are significant, dealing with conflicts that arise in the Swiss village. Of these emotions are two, astonishment and outrage, which represent the relevant feelings of Baldwin, an American black man. These two emotions, for Baldwin's ancestors, create arguments about the 'Negro' and their rights to be considered 'human beings' (Baldwin 131). Baldwin, an American Negro, feels undeniable rage toward the village because of the misconception of his complexion, a misconception that denies Baldwin human credibility and allows him to be perceived as a 'living wonder' (129).
. By the type of language and the choice of words that the author used to write his essay, it is very likely that it was written for the British people, to make them aware of the injustice and cruelty of Imperialism in the colonies. The author’s aim is to make the reader feel disturbed and uneasy by describing in detail his negative experiences in India. This rhetorical analysis explores the success of the author in portraying the negative impact that Imperialism had on those being governed under it, but also on the impact on those in power. The way Orwell used the words for describing the scene of shooting the elephant, his aim was to get the reader’s mind to understand the injustice of Britain’s rule over the natives. While Shooting an Elephant explored Imperialism explicitly, it implicitly explores the strong power that social pressure can have over the decisions one makes.
George Orwell 's "Shooting an Elephant is a multifaceted essay that sheds light on the negative connotations that lie within Imperialism specifically in Burma, India. In Orwell 's writing he always finds a way to tackle prominent issues and mask them within stories that leave the reader thinking but without knowing, some examples of his works being his critically acclaimed novels Animal Farm and 1984. In “Shooting an Elephant”, he illustrates through a first person narration the actions of a British officer in Burma India and alludes that the title holds more than just “shooting an elephant.” Orwell shows the narrator and his inner turmoil in the face of the killing of an elephant in Burma and articulates the moral struggle that he goes through
Orwell speaks of how he is so against imperialism, but gives in to the natives by shooting the elephant to prove he is strong and to avoid humiliation. He implies that he does not want to be thought of as British, but he does not want to be thought the fool either. Orwell makes his decision to shoot the elephant appear to be reasonable but underneath it all he questions his actions just as he questions those of the British. He despised both the British Empire as well as the Burmese natives, making everything more complicated and complex. In his essy he shows us that the elephant represents imperialism; therefore, the slow destruction of the elephant must represent the slow demise of British Imperialism.
In “Shooting an Elephant” writer George Orwell illustrates the terrible episode that explains more than just the action of “shooting an elephant.” Orwell describes the scene of the killing of an elephant in Burma and reveals a number of emotions he experienced during the short, but traumatic event. Effectively, the writer uses many literary techniques to plant emotions and create tension in this scene, leading to an ironic presentation of imperialism. With each of the realistic descriptions of the observing multitude and the concrete appeal of the narrator’s pathos, Orwell thrives in persuading the audience that imperialism not only has a destructive impact on those being governed under the imperialists’ oppressive power, but also corrupts
In the essay, Shooting an Elephant, the author, George Orwell, uses simile, oxymoron, and metaphor to develop a regretful yet reflective tone regarding the shooting of the elephant to create a bigger picture of imperialism and the horrors of it and human nature.
In his essay 'Stranger in the Village' (1955), many of James Baldwin?s innermost feelings are exposed to the reader. One of the emotions I believe Baldwin feels most strongly is rage. He is angry at the fact that only whites are looked upon as humans, while the black man is looked upon as chattel. Baldwin mentions the word 'rage' several times in his essay and discusses the reasons why he is filled with such anger towards white people.
The author began the essay with his perspective on British domination. He stated that it is evil and alongside of that it is oppressive. He felt hatred and guilt toward himself and the Burma people. He used allegories to describe the experience of the British imperialism and his own view of the matter. The audience became more aware of Orwell’s mental state is drawn to his pathos appeal as the essay continue in the story. Orwell describes the scene of the killing of an elephant in the British controlled island in the Caribbean. The authors used multiple techniques to express the feeling and irony in the story. The story eventually leading to a satirical demonstration of British domination. Orwell convicted the audience that the British are controlling imperialism does not negative impact on Burma people. He is well-known authors and political satirist.
In Shooting an Elephant, George Orwell has to decide between killing an elephant who went on a rampage through the streets, or to let him continue roaming in a near by field since he is not threatening to harm anyone at the moment. George Orwell was a non-educated Burma police officer, and was an obvious target for many people in the town. He thought that imperialism, the expansion of a country’s power, was an evil concept. Orwell wanted to forgo his job as a police officer. Then one day he got a call about an escaped elephant that was wondering through the bazaar. Suddenly after hearing shrieks
The best course of action, Orwell decides, would be to approach the elephant and see how it responds, but to do this would be dangerous and might set Orwell up to be humiliated in front of the villagers. In order to avoid this unacceptable embarrassment, Orwell must kill the beast. He aims the gun where he thinks the elephant’s brain is. Orwell fires, and the crowd erupts in excitement. The elephant sinks to its knees and begins to drool. Orwell fires again, and the elephant’s appearance worsens, but it does not collapse. After a third shot, the elephant trumpets and falls, rattling the ground where it lands.
Despite, the numerous reservations do not shoot the elephant, for example, how it is worth more alive as opposed to dead, or how he is a "poor shot," he at last falls into the desires of the Burma individuals. Without wanting to and moral conviction he chooses to slaughter the elephant. Again, he states, “When I pulled the trigger I did not hear the bang or feel the kick…I fired again into the same spot…I fired a third time. That was the shot that did it for him." Three wars, three shots. The elephant is a symbol of Burma and it struggles to remain alive. The narrator is assumed to control by a feeling of guilt he mentions seeing the elephant laying there “powerless to move and yet powerless to die." As some Britains got to be far fetched of their entitlement to control others, both sides started to feel disdain and hatred toward the British Empire. Orwell made himself trust that he was correct and it was legitimate to slaughter the elephant, by making thoughts to legitimize what he had
George Orwell, born in India, now a British writer is known for his essays and novels. George Orwell wrote the essay “Shooting an Elephant” to express the time he went through in Burma as a British officer during the imperialism time period. Orwell represents the evil of imperialism, and the impact it had on the Burmese and the British Empire through symbolism such as the rifle, the elephant, and Orwell himself.
George Orwell was the most important novelist of his century. Orwell wrote about the future of the future world. He predicted that things were going to go ad for the British colony because of imperialism. Shooting an Elephant, a personal narrative, was set in a town called Burma. Orwell explains his intense situation where he had to make a choice on shooting a raging elephant or letting him live. In the story Shooting an Elephant, George Orwell expresses three major messages.
"Shooting an Elephant" is perhaps one of the most anthologized essays in the English language. It is a splendid essay and a terrific model for a theme of narration. The point of the story happens very much in our normal life, in fact everyday. People do crazy and sometimes illegal moves to get a certain group or person to finally give them respect. George Orwell describes an internal conflict between his personal morals and his duty to his country to the white man's reputation. The author's purpose is to explain the audience (who is both English and Burmese) about the kind of life he is living in Burma, about the conditions, circumstances he is facing and to tell the British Empire what he think about their imperialism and his growing displeasure for the imperial domination of British Empire.