Blog Post #2 Topic #1

             In the text “A Rose for Emily,” Faulkner utilizes the supremacist thoughts of white men to show the evident racism of the post-Civil War era. Orwell’s “Shooting an Elephant,” contributes to the reality of power struggle between white and colored men in the 19^th and 20^th century. While Faulkner portrays white supremacy in the South, Orwell shows how this mindset can lead to countries to asserting their dominance over another based on the color of their skin as justification.

            The brutal clash of the North and South over the conflict of slavery led to a Civil War in the United States in the 1860s. The Southerners believed they had the right to assert authority over black people because having colored skin somehow made you less of a human. Faulkner writes in a time period after the war that shows that many Southern men still believed this, resulting in their refusal to consider blacks as equal. When Emily Grierson died, the whole town went to her funeral as she was considered a monument from the past. She exuded “good” Southern ideals- she was white and she was from a wealthy family that had a name in the town of Jefferson.  Emily was exempt from paying taxes and was allowed to buy a very lethal poison with the obvious intention of using it to kill someone, without question from the townspeople. While Emily was excused from her duty as a citizen, black women had to wear aprons on the street to adhere to the appearance of a slave. Black people were called “the Negro,” instead of being called by their name. Faulkner uses the protagonist to show that whites were free from the burden of their skin color as well as from their duty to the town.

            Throughout the 16^th to 19^th century, Britain began their voyages to the New World. They established the East India Trading Company to obtain the valuable resources and riches that India had to offer.  The British put up a façade that they were helping the Burmese people become a stronger nation when in reality they just wanted the resources. Orwell was unlike the other men; he was “all for the Burmese and all against the oppressors, the British.” His motives for shooting the elephant show that he wanted the affection of the Burmese people more than the affection of the British. He put his life in danger to shoot the elephant because of the “watchful yellow faces behind.” While Orwell does this to impress the Burmese, he still enforces imperialism and asserts the power of Britain over them. He believes imperialism isn’t right but an officer must uphold the appearance that their actions are justified. Ultimately, Orwell is in an obvious confliction between supporting his nations conquests and his own morality.

            The power dynamic is these two stories show that white supremacy was not limited to one country or one race. The Civil War and the quest for the New World led to whites asserting their power over others due to stubborn conceptions from the past and the lust for power.

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