Colonialism as Depicted in The Ugly Tourist and Shooting an Elephant - Coursework Example

Colonialism as depicted by Jamaica Kincaid’s ‘The Ugly Tourist’ and George Orwell’s ‘Shooting an elephant’ The novel, shooting an Elephant and The ugly tourist by Jamaica Kincaid are written in the same context and depict colonial rule as their main theme. The authors illustrate various aspects in which colonialism is conducted and reactions by the locals as well as the colonialists themselves. In addition to being formulated in different historical contexts, the two authors used different approaches to bring about the theme. Kincaid addressed the audience directly by being the tourist and expressed her hatred on tourism based on its ugliness that was majorly instigated by the oppression to the poor. On the other hand, Orwell narrated a story of elephant, that symbolized the oppressed and enlightened about the advance effects of oppression to both the oppressed and oppressors. Historical Context The article, Shooting an elephant is based in Burma whose colonialist where the British. The colonial rule lasted 124 years (1824-1948) from creation of Burma to its independence as a province in British India. The British had to ensure control of the Burmese people, thus they “trained the neighboring Indians to take over as civil servants. They also imposed British traditions on the Burmese and encouraged both Chinese and Indians to migrate to Burmese cities so as to profit from the new business opportunities” The British also colonized the Antiguans in the Caribbean whose inhabitants where mostly of African lineage, descendants of slaves brought to work in the sugarcane farms which were established by an Englishman, Codrington in 1684. Compare and Contrast In George Orwell’s article, he expresses the feeling of been unwanted by the natives and deemed them to be hostile or rather unfriendly, “as a police officer I was an obvious target and was baited whenever it seemed safe to do so” (Cohen 299). This is a clear indication that the locals despised him and his work and further shows that the colonialists’ were unwanted in the region. Baits were put in place to intimidate the colonialists in an effort to push them away. Orwell further shows the hostility when he says that the referee looked the other way when he was tripped in the football field by another Burman (Cohen 297). The theme of Racism is also emphasized in both works. Orwell refers to the natives as yellow men who always insulted their master while at a distance. The fact that there were insults, from a different skin colored individuals embraced racial discrimination, which ought to be two way. He also shows how the Buddhist stood at street corners jeering at the Europeans. As much as it shows acts of cowardice to the side of the Burmese, it all sent a message that the colonialist’s were not welcome in Burma. He continues to show how the colonialists are feared by the locals as expressed when he obtains to a rifle to kill the elephant which is ravaging property at the bazaar. The elephant is the colonialist in this context and he fears that if he missed a shot or if anything went wrong he would be trampled on by the colonialist. As matter of fact, the author acknowledges the characters fear of humiliation comparing his situation with an Indian and emphasizing that the two thousand Barmans would crash him making him a corpse. All the above mentioned vices are evidenced in Jamaica Kincaid’s article. She comes out to mention the primitive lifestyle of her people, “And you look at the things they can do…” ensuring that he mentions mere norms ensured by the community. This incident shows how “backward” the natives are in the event in which they are against the same colonialist who are supposedly trying to help them out of the primitive culture to a more civilized one. She also portrays an aspect of paranoia when she thinks of the multicolored, snout-mouthed fish which she thinks could be an aphrodisiac or it would cause her to fall asleep permanently once she ate it. This shows that the colonialist are also in fear of their lives from the natives living in the area and that they would feel safer on returning home. As much as she sympathizes with their poverty the locals don’t seem to get the point in which the colonialists are trying to help them and at the same time exploiting the resources available to their advantage which causes the tension and warfare between the latter. Jamaica Kincaid admits differences between natives and tourist, “for every native of every place is a potential tourist, and every tourist is a native of somewhere.” (Cohen 205). In contrast George Orwell seems to like the place he works and takes sides secretly with the people or Burma, he his despised by the same people. As much as he tries to help them against the oppressors, the Burmans don’t work with him. On the other hand, Kincaid despises the tourist when she says, “But the banality of your own life is very real to you; it drove you to this extreme” as if that is not enough, he describes the environment as unfair for the tourist, making him look like a fool for choosing to stay there (Cohen 210). Notably, the natives despised the tourist, while on the other hand the tourist hated them and could not even stand the natives existence as neighbors, yet he moved to stay with them. In the article Shooting an Elephant, Orwell is seen to be ill-educated and despite the fact that he sees what the oppressors do to the natives, he cannot do anything about it and he can only express his feelings in his own thoughts. Elsewhere in Jamaica Kincaid’s article she views the tourist as well educated and civilized, something that is totally different in Antigua where life is primitive. According to Kincaid the natives lack traits to modernize their culture as well as co-exist with other people. Moreover, given that the natives land is rich, then the natives are misplaced for they are very poor and it’s for this reason that the well-educated tourist moves there. Kincaid notes that the tourist is envied for not only discovering the new region, but for leaving his origin, full of boredom and banality to a more cheerful region. Conclusion In both aspects, colonialism had a positive and negative impact on the locals and the colonialists themselves. In order to gain independence and civilization there was going to be the oppressed and the oppressors and both would benefit in either way. The colonialists carried the abundant raw materials to their countries while the natives where left to struggle for a better life using the little they obtained from the colonialists. Works cited Cohen, Samuel S. 50 Essays: A Portable Anthology. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2007. 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