ipl-logo

Essay On Slavery In Shooting An Elephant And Middle Passage

877 Words4 Pages

At the beginning of Americas history, we saw the use of slaves and the oppression of a people. This was a huge part of what made America what it is today. Slavery was a terrible thing but that did not stop people from using it or continuing it on. Even today we see the oppression of people through human trafficking which is modern day slavery. We even see this in the poem Middle Passage written by Robert Hayden. The poem depicts the inhuman acts on a people that are being transported as property to be sold in the trans-Atlantic slave trade. Hayden shows us the oppression that the Africans received throughout their long voyage. Along with Middle Passage we also are looking into a short story called Shooting An Elephant written by George Orwell. Shooting An Elephants outlines the story of an officer who is deciding whether or not he can go against his superiors or follow the majority, or even his own path. Orwell uses his writing to show how in Shooting An Elephant oppression is something that you see symbolized indirectly through elephant. In both Middle Passage and Shooting An Elephant we are shown how a higher power is able to oppress a people through symbols and strong imagery.

In the poem Middle Passage, Robert Hayden shows the oppression of the African slaves. He uses many visual images and symbols …show more content…

In Middle Passage we see how the African slaves on the boat suffered terrible condition and weren’t given a choice. They did not care for them, only viewed them as property or as an item. In Shooting An Elephant George Orwell uses the relationship between the officer and the elephant to symbolize something greater. The elephant which symbolizes the British and the officer who is representing the British opposition to how they treat the Burmese people. Each of these pieces of literature help show how a higher power oppresses a

Show More
Related

  • Examples Of Dialectical Journal For Huckleberry Finn

    1410 Words  | 6 Pages

    Yamini Adusumelli Ms. Schuet Ap English Literature, Block 4 26 August 2017 Huckleberry Finn Reading Log Title and Author: The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain (pen name for Samuel Clemens)

    Read More

  • Summary Of Slavery By Howard Zinn

    579 Words  | 3 Pages

    Slavery Howard Zinn Ch. 2 Paper Slavery can be traced all the way back to 1619. This is when one of the first ships came over to Jamestown, Virginia, which is one of the first established colonies. Twenty slaves were boarded on a ship, in horrible conditions, just to land in the Americas where they would become slaves. Enslaving people and treating them like things because of their race or religion is unjust to the human person.

    Read More

  • Ap Euro Dbq Essay On Slavery

    1016 Words  | 5 Pages

    There is still such a false concept floating around about slavery, even in the twenty-first century. I enjoy reading articles and documents, like the ones provided for this essay, to properly give me an idea of what slavery was like when our ancestors were around. Slavery, even today in schools, is not taught how it should be. Many people, especially in the South, try to ignore slavery as if it never existed, when it is definitely a part of our history. I think there is a falseness, on both ends of slavery, that many people do not talk about; these documents showed me just that.

    Read More

  • Shooting An Elephant Ethos Pathos Logos

    1021 Words  | 5 Pages

    Zachary Conners SUNY – Eng. 12 Mrs. O’Malley December 15, 2014 “Shooting an Elephant” is a persuasive rhetorical piece written by George Orwell used to describe Orwell’s feelings about imperialism. Orwell uses pathos, logos, and ethos to convey his feelings towards imperialism and how destructive it can be. Born 1903, George Orwell, novelist, essayist, and critic, was best known for his novels Animal Farm and Nineteen Eighty- Four. Son of a British servant, Orwell spent most of his days in India, where his father had been stationed.

    Read More

  • Slavery In Colonial America Essay

    637 Words  | 3 Pages

    Slavery began long before the colonization of North America. This was an issue in ancient Egypt, as well as other times and places throughout history. In discussing the evolution of African slavery from its origins, the resistance and abolitionist efforts through the start of the Civil War, it is found to have resulted in many conflicts within our nation. In 1619, the first Africans in America arrived in Jamestown on a Dutch ship.

    Read More

  • Narrative Of The Life Of Frederick Douglass Rhetorical Analysis Essay

    854 Words  | 4 Pages

    The idiosyncratic style Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave by Frederick Douglass depicts the discriminatory actions of postcolonial slave owners in the southern United States, which reflects their greed for unpaid labor on their plantations. He employs the metaphor of the book that their masters prohibited them from owning by law throughout the memoir to demonstrate the avarice that drives white slave owners to turn a darker-skinned, intelligent being into a machine for personal benefit for centuries after the colonization of America. Also, the irony further displays the power of greed by expressing the slaveholder’s uncivilized method of forcing another human out of civilization. Furthermore, his use of a paradox of the use of pure religious beliefs to justify a slaveholder’s inhumane treatment reveals their rapacious actions that contradict the teachings of the church.

    Read More

  • Comparing Letter From Birmingham Jail And My Dungeon

    801 Words  | 4 Pages

    Oppression is a continuous issue in societies globally. In United States history African Americans are a prime example of people that have been oppressed. During the 1800s and 1900s many reforms took place that was to help advance the lives of African Americans. Although the reforms were put into place African Americans continued to live in a society which they were oppressed, degraded, and seen as inferior. From this period of U.S. history many works of literature were created that expressed their views on how to approach and resolve the issue of oppression.

    Read More

  • Imagery And Figurative Language In George Orwell's Shooting An Elephant

    849 Words  | 4 Pages

    Well known author and journalist, George Orwell, in his essay, Shooting an Elephant, describes his experiences as a Policeman in Moulmein, Burma during European Imperialism. Orwell’s purpose is to convey the ideal that what is right and what is accepted don’t always align. He adopts a remorseful tone in order to convey to the reader the weight of his actions. By looking at George Orwell’s use of imagery and figurative language, one can see his strongly conflicting opinions on Imperialism. Orwell begins his essay, Shooting an Elephant, by explaining the actions of the Burmese people and by expressing his contempt for imperialism.

    Read More

  • Rhetorical Devices In Shooting An Elephant

    716 Words  | 3 Pages

    A Critical Analysis of the Rhetorical Strategies Used in Orwell’s “Shooting an Elephant”. In George Orwell’s “Shooting an Elephant”, the author begins with a definite statement about his views toward British Imperialism. Orwell uses pathos to appeal to the readers emotions about his situation and also uses logos when trying to decide on shooting the elephant. His powerful technique of illustrating the message, “Imperialism was an evil thing” and that it affects both the oppressor and the oppressed is effective with the use of description, classical appeals, extended metaphors, and rhetorical devices.

    Read More

  • Rhetorical Analysis Of Shooting An Elephant

    836 Words  | 4 Pages

    Hannah Edmiston Boudreau AP Language Friday 25 September, 2015 Shooting an Elephant Analyzing Rhetorical Devices Shooting an Elephant, written by George Orwell in 1936, describes his experience working as a British officer located in Moulmein, Burma. He writes his essay to reveal the cruelty and disastrous outcome of imperialism he witnesses. Orwell uses strong resource of language such as symbolism, metaphors and imagery to express his disdain for British imperialism. Orwell uses symbolism to connect the character of the elephant to the effects of imperialism.

    Read More

  • Internal And External Conflict In George Orwell's Shooting An Elephant

    1926 Words  | 8 Pages

    Throughout “Shooting An Elephant” , Orwell’s narrative style brings out internal and external conflicts that are relatable in society today. The narrator faces multiple internal and external conflicts. One external conflict being the Burmese and how they mock him because he is a representative of the British Empire, but he will do what it takes to show them he is not a fool. "I often wondered whether any of the others grasped that I had done it solely to avoid looking a fool.

    Read More

  • The Power Of Peer Pressure In George Orwell's Shooting An Elephant

    1480 Words  | 6 Pages

    In George Orwell 's short story titled “Shooting an Elephant” presented an event that changed a countries civilization. George’s life in Burma, and the prejudice placed by the people he oppressed inspired his writing through the uses of setting, style, and theme. In George Orwell’s “Shooting an Elephant” Orwell no specific event influenced this piece rather it was an accumulation of many small events of prejudice and hate by an opposing group of

    Read More

  • Internal Conflict In George Orwell's Shooting An Elephant

    1260 Words  | 6 Pages

    George Orwell held a unique perspective on Britain’s involvement in Burma. Through his own experiences in Burma, he developed an inner struggle between following orders and opposing imperialism, that he expressed in the story Shooting an Elephant. Orwell was born under the name Eric Blair in colonial India. As an adult, he joined the Imperial Police stationed in Burma, where he soon discovered a conflict brewing within himself. He was naturally a reflective person, analyzing what he saw to be obvious disparities in the two sides of an Imperialistic relationship.

    Read More

  • Analysis Of George Orwell's Essay 'Shooting An Elephant'

    393 Words  | 2 Pages

    In his essay, “Shooting an Elephant” George Orwell describes his experience of killing an elephants when he was an officer in Burma. He explains how the local Burmese hated him and saw him as the authority of the repressive white British. He mentions that he also had the same feeling about the local Burmese. Even though he hated the Thyestean imperialism but he also hated what he called the yellow-faced and evil-spirted Burmese people. One day, he was told that an elephant was destroying the bazaar and killing people.

    Read More

  • Symbolism In George Orwell's Shooting An Elephant

    540 Words  | 3 Pages

    In George Orwell’s “Shooting an Elephant”, he encounters the pressure influenced by the Burmese and the way it affected his decision. Orwell uses symbols such as the police officer, the yellow faces, and the elephant to represent the evil of English imperialism. The Police officer symbolizes his weakness of authority, the executioner of the elephant, and guilt. Orwell explains “I was hated by large numbers of people.”

    Read More

More about Essay On Slavery In Shooting An Elephant And Middle Passage

Open Document