A Theme Of Imperialism In Shooting An Elephant By George Orwell, And The White Man’s Burden By Rudyard Kipling

“A situation where a country has considerable power or influence on others, particularly in matters of politics and economy. The Cambridge Dictionary defines imperialism as “a situation in which one country has a lot of power or influence over others, especially in political and economic matters. Colonialism, which is closely associated with imperialism, can be defined as “the belief or support in the system that one country controls another”. The British Empire is often described using these terms. Great Britain colonized about a quarter world. In order to adapt and fit into the western lifestyle of the colonized societies, they were required to acclimatize and adapt. This caused tensions to arise between natives as well as colonists. The works of George Orwell “Shooting an Elephant”, and Rudyard Kipling “The White Man’s Burden”, both portray the pressure of imperialism on the indigenous peoples and their strain as Europeans force their ideals onto them.

Rudyard’s Kipling’s poem “The Burden of the White Man” was published in 1899. The poem is also entitled “The United States and Philippines” and is intended to encourage America to seize control over the Philippines from Spain. The poem encourages everyone to accept “the White Man’s Burden”, a phrase that is translated as sending all your best men to the Philippines and exiling your sons in order to serve those who are captives. This is because these people, whom Kipling calls the “newly found” ones, are immature, devilish, and uninhabited. Kipling’s poetry has seven verses. Each one begins with “Take on the White Man’s Burden”, then goes on to describe what that burden is. The poem is a masterpiece of cultural colonialism. The Englishmen have imposed their civilizing habits and institutions onto the “sullen”, brutish people of India. The racism in “The White Man’s Burden”, is quite evident. In the opening stanza we read that Indians, “captives”, are “sullens”, referred to as “Half Child and Half Devil”. It is said that they are taught the “good things” but then act offended or unappreciative to those who try to improve them. Today, we find this approach logical, as it is impossible to imagine native peoples adopting the imperialist, violent ways of a foreign nation. Kipling seems to wonder why the natives did not thank their “enlightening conquerors” and express gratitude.

George Orwell’s “Shooting An Elephant” was written in 1936. It describes a difficult period in his life when he worked as a colonial Burma policeman, and served the British Empire. This novel explores the internal conflict Orwell experiences as a British Empire officer and his struggle to remain truthful. He gets a message on his phone that an ‘elephant is terrorizing the bazaar. He takes his hunting gun and descends to the area where he believes the animal hides. After the news of the fatality has been reported, he orders an Elephant rifle and tracks down the now calm elephant. At first he does not want to kill the beautiful elephant. It seems wrong. When he looks at the crowds of Burmese, he is in a quandary. The crowd wants a show and expects him as an officer to demonstrate the power that he is supposed to. In the novel, he shoots an elephant despite his moral code. He fires the rifle a few shots before the animal falls. It was still alive when he shot it. But he did not stop its suffering.

Orwell talks about the imperialism that affects both oppressed people and oppressors. He says in the book that “the crowd will laugh at me.” My whole life was a long battle to not be laughed at. The narrator was thinking this way when he was deciding whether to kill an elephant. This excerpt shows the difference between the imperialist view and what it is like to live in the East for English people. According to imperialist ideologies, colonizers do the Burmese favors by changing their social and cultural way of living, forcing them to adhere to British standards. In reality, this does not happen in Burma or at least in this case. In this novel, it is clear that Burmese cultural norms still dominate. The narrator seems to understand this, because he fears embarrassment before the Burmese. The narrator wouldn’t hesitate to care about the crowd’s opinions if it were the other way round, with imperial rhetoric being applicable.

The narrator’s voice is a metaphor for those over whom he exercises authority, much like the colonial policeman. It is a picture of the citizens of a foreign and arbitrarily imposed rule. This is what they resent. What about an elephant? An elephant who is confined to a cage and, in an animal-like manner, feels subjugated, breaks free. He exercises his freedom. Then, he tramples on one of the tormentors. Finally, he parks himself in a peaceful field. He must die because rebellion is punished. The narrator’s description of the elephant’s death takes on a pathos. The narrator personifies the elephant, whose death description takes on pathos. ”