In the essays, "Shooting an Elephant" and "Notes of a Native Son", both Orwell and Baldwin initially exhibit strong but naive convictions about racism and its world-wide range. As a result of their youthful and idealistic opinions, both authors eventually get hurt and bruised by life in the real world and by its inhabitants who can often be harsh and unforgiving. The experiences both men face are quite similar to those of teenagers breaking away from their parents' home. At first, they are rebellious and anxious to prove that they are capable of being independent and successful in the real world. Then, they experience for themselves what their parents had been warning them about and consequently feel much hurt, pain, and confused anger. After their original shock, they must reevaluate all of their previous opinions and convictions. Lastly, as they mature, they realize that their parents did in fact know a few things about life.

In the first stage, the rebellion stage, the two authors are like idealistic teenagers who think that they are invincible and always right. They both bear resemblance to teenagers who have high goals, great dreams, strong opinions, and absolutely refuse to listen to anything their parents have to say. Living in Burma, and seeing how the Burmese are treated by his country, Orwell’s mind is "made up that imperialism [is] an evil thing." He is repulsed by "the dirty work of Empire at close quarters." What he least wants is to be associated with the Empire. What makes Orwell's situation quite awkward is the fact that he is naive enough to think that perhaps one day he will be accepted by the Burmese because he is "all for the Burmese and all against their oppressors, the British." He strongly and innocently believes that he is different from the other British. Orwell doesn’t seem to realize how much the Burmese dislike him; although he is "tripped up" when he plays football and jeered at by the monks, Orwell maintains a blind determination to be integrated into the Burmese culture and continues participating in events he has not been welcomed to.

Like Orwell, Baldwin's mind is filled with much naivete and ingenuousness. He, too, truly believes that he is immune to racism and its effects. Moreover, although his father is continuously warning him about white people ("white people (..) do anything to keep a Negro down") and to stay as far away as possible from them, Baldwin shuts his father out completely. Actually, Baldwin's father, by hating and constantly suspecting white people, has turned the latter into objects of intrigue and fascination for Baldwin; they represent the unforbidden and the mysterious. In fact, because his father carries so much suspicion and distrust for white people, Baldwin seems to obtain a certain "cruel" satisfaction by not "find[ing] a way of discouraging" his white schoolteacher from taking him to the theater and picking him up at home. Baldwin knows that his act will make his father angry and frustrated, but also that, because his education is involved, his father will not be able to reproach him or punish him. To Baldwin, his father is simply paranoid, not modern, and has lost all touch with reality.

In the experience stage, like teenagers who set out to experience life on their own and prove their parents wrong, Baldwin and Orwell begin their journeys with optimism and faith. In both cases, however, the authors get hurt. Although Orwell is "hated by large numbers of people" and is "an obvious target", it seems that he believes that somehow, because he hates imperialism, he will someday be repaid with kindness and friendliness. However, as he is standing in front of the huge crowd of Burmese, it is then that he begins to "[grasp] the hollowness, the futility of the white man's dominion in the East." He realizes that in the Burmese's eyes he will never be seen as a heroic figure but more as an entertaining clown. Although Orwell is the European, and hence the one supposed to be in control, he is the one being controlled and dominated. He is as tied to the Burmese as they are tied to him. The oppression of one people has led to the oppression of two. They have become each other's prisoners.

Baldwin also experiences pain in the true world. In New Jersey, Baldwin explains that he acted "as [he] had always acted, that is as though [he] thought a great deal about [himself]". He even declares, "I knew about the south, of course, and about how southerners treated Negroes and how they expected them to behave, but it had never entered my mind that anyone would look at me and expect me to behave that way." It is in New Jersey that he confronts a very harsh reality--one he heretofore had not believed in. When Baldwin is not served at the self-service restaurant, it takes him a while to understand why he "was always the only Negro present." Later on, when he is told in a restaurant , "We don’t serve Negroes here", Baldwin is in a state of shock as he sees his previous perceptions crumble and replaced by horrific ones his father lived by. Baldwin realizes that "it was the same story all over New Jersey, in bars, bowling alleys, diners, places to live." Although, his father had warned him about these types of situations, he never imagined that he would one day be faced with such an experience.

In the next stage, the reevaluation stage, both authors must battle with new and overwhelming feelings. Moreover, they must reevaluate their previous convictions and opinions. Orwell originally believed that by being a supporter of the Burmese, he would be accepted by them. He soon learns that all of the tripping up, spitting, "hideous laughter" , and constant baiting were in fact aimed at him. This is "perplexing and upsetting" because he felt like he was closer to them than to the British. As a result, he must "think out [his] problems". He must decide whether or not his idea of being accepted by the Burmese is possible.

Similarly, after a waitress in a restaurant "did not ask [me] what I wanted, but repeated, as though she had learned it somewhere,'We don’t serve Negroes here', Baldwin is almost paralyzed by anger and must reevaluate the real position society has assigned to him. Once he gets home, after one of the most relevant turning points in his life, Baldwin "[lives] it over and over and over again(...)"; and he states that he "could not get over two facts, (...) and one was that I could have been murdered. But the other was that I had been ready to commit murder." Having been treated like an outcast and a complete nuisance to white society, Baldwin feels that his previous opinions and convictions were truly meaningless. Moreover, white people's hatred for him has consequently created within him hatred for them. This is what frightens him because they have created a potential, blood-thirsty, vengeful monster. No matter how many times his father had warned him about white people and society, Baldwin never thought nor believed that he would one day feel so much hatred and pain.

After having rebelled against set structures in society, experienced for themselves the reality of racism, reevaluated their true positions, both authors find themselves in the realization stage. They are very much like young adults who, after having had to get a job, pay rent, buy a car, and pay taxes, realize that many of the numerous warnings and lectures their parents had given them as teenagers were correct. After having killed the elephant, Orwell realizes that he has not won the respect of the Burmese nor has his act changed the situation in Burma. He is still, and will forever be, but one of the many white intruders in their land. Racism and hatred between the Burmese and British will not miraculously disappear simply because he has shot an elephant in front of a crowd of two thousand people. Although, for a moment he felt "their two thousand wills pressing [him] forward", that experience would be the closest he would ever get to being a part of them. Baldwin also comes to an important realization. He realizes that his life is "in danger, and not from anything other people might do but from the hatred [he] carried in [his] own heart." Baldwin at first believed that everything his father had told him was utterly wrong and that his father was simply a cynical and sick man. At the end, however, Baldwin realizes that his father suffered from what many suffered: disillusioning hate. And, in the end, Baldwin concludes that his charge is to "keep [his] own heart free of hatred and despair." Baldwin's task, then, is simultaneously to make sure that he is not transformed into a violent criminal--something he isn't-- by racist white people, and also that he doesn't become another copy of his hopeless and hate- infested father. He must instead fight for a better future and a better life.

Both men finally see the true colors of their worlds. They are no longer the teenager-like men they once were. They have experienced life and have gone through its difficult initiation rites. And, now, both men have become adults. They realize that one reason why people become adults is because racism forces people to lose their child-like innocence.

Return to Mr. Sheftman's EWRT 1-A Page

updated 9/99