The whole idea of racism and prejudice is completely perplexing to me. I personally cannot even begin to imagine what it must be like to have the type of mentality where I pre-judge a person and would feel that I have a right to treat them as if they are inferior to me. After reading the two essays, "Notes of a Native Son," by James Baldwin, and "Shooting an Elephant," by George Orwell I have listened to two accounts of racism and prejudice that are written by two different people, in two completely different enviornments, and have come to one conclusion. The conclusion is that irregardless to the fact of where you feel prejudice, the stories will always sound the same. It almost seems as if it is the same story with a new setting and different characters. The people involved go through the same stages and the same feelings of confusion, frustration, anger, and finally to terms with their situation. Baldwin and Orwell both give accounts of prejudice that they have felt, one in Harlem and the other in Burma, and they both tell of going through the same feelings.
I have analytically thought of the two different stories and divided the twin feelings into five different stages, each with their own characteristics. The first stage is the Infant Stage. The characteristics of the Infant Stage are that it is a time of feeling these feelings of prejudice for the first time and learning what those feelings are through dazed eyes. The second stage is the Adolescent Stage. In this stage both men realize that they are experiencing feelings of hatred due to the color of their skin. It is in this stage where both men start to become angered by the positions that they have been put in and by the fact that it is something tat is beyond their control. This is where they also start to have thoughts of rebellion due to their uncontrollable circumstances and feelings of frustration. The third stage is the Teenage Stage. In this stage, both men describe feeling very angry at the way that they are being treated. The fourth stage is the Late Teenage Stage. This stage is characterized by both men starting to give in to the pressure that they feel surrounding them. The fifth and final stage is the Adult Stage. It is in this stage that both men finally realize that it is only themselves that can stop doing exactly what their oppressors are trying to get them to do. This is a stage of maturation for both of the men.
In the Infant Stage the characteristics that are similar in both Baldwin and Orwell's experiences, the men do not yet know exactly what racism is and what its effects are, mainly due to the fact that they haven't yet fully felt hatred against them, due to the color to their skin. Baldwin describes his experience of having a white teacher take a liking to him and he recalls that his father tried to discourage him from liking the teacher back. Baldwin remembers his father telling him that although some white people may seem nice, they really weren't. His father said that in the end, a white person would do anything to keep a black person down. Orwell describes himself as young and ill-educated, and not really understanding what it means to be a white policeman in Burma. He says that if a Eurpoean woman were to walk through the bazaars alone, a Burman would probably spit betel juice on her. After these experiences, both begin to feel and understand racism.
The next stage is the Adolescent Stage. In this stage both men describe feeling the effects of racism and they both begin to become angered by it. Baldwin describes moving to his job in New Jersey and he experiences the Jim Crow laws. He is told over and over, Negroes are not served, in public places. Orwell describes playing soccer with Burmese and being tripped up in front of the referee. He says that the referees would always look away and the crowd would jeer. The feelings the men have, due to these experiences, are feelings of anger and frustration.
The next stage is the Teenage Stage. In the Teenage Stage, both of the men report that they start to feel angry, frustrated, and hurt by the way they are being treated. Baldwin explains that he has a moment of temporary insanity, when after so long of being told he was not allowed to eat at certain places, he loses himself. He goes to a restaurant and when the waitress denies him service, he throws a pitcher of water in her face. He tells us that as he is walking through the crowds on the streets, on that very same night, all of the faces look white and he would like to kill one of them. He explains how he is very frightened later on when he realizes that he was completely capable of taking another human life away. Orwell describes being so infused by anger at one pint, that when he sees these burmese monks jeering at him, he becomes very angry and would like nothing more than to seriously injure them.
The next stage is the Late Teenage Stage. In this stage, both men experience themselves beginning to five in to the pressures that the society is putting upon them. Baldwin describes the scene with the waitress and later, when he looks back on the incident, he realizes that he is portraying the stereotype that the white oppressors have put upon the Blacks. Orwell describes the incident of shooting the elephant. Orwell says that he did not want to kill the elephant but he does it any how because he knows that to kill the elephant is expected of him. He says that he knows that is simply playing the part of being a puppet that is having his strings pulled by the Burmese crowds.
The final stage is the Adult Stage. In this stage, both men realize that they have to grow up and they have to stop doing exactly what their oppressors are trying to get them to do. Baldwin explains that he realizes what he had almost done and learns that he does not want to be a bitter person, as his father was when he died. Orwell realizes that he must get out of Burma because he can no longer be a slave to the Burmese people. He knows that he doesn't want to give in to pressure that he feels.
Both of these authors described different situations that were very much the same, so I easily divided the similar characteristics into five stages. In doing this, the similarities of the two stories are easily seen to the reader and the feelings of racism that the two authors felt are more easily understandable.
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