Blog 2 Topic 1

          In “A Rose for Emily” by William Faulkner and in “Shooting an Elephant” by George Orwell both narrators highlight the influences of Southern whites through their context inspired by the historical era of the setting. The authors were able to create this effect by including a male dominant who identifies as a Southern white in which he holds the superior power of the story. Although both stories can correlate through their demonstration of patriarchy, they differ in the way they portray it.

          In “Shooting an Elephant” the author George Orwell creates a narrator who is superior due to him a being a colonial police officer in British Burma. In Burma, through historical facts, the reader knows that it was conquered by the British and administered as a province of India. Due to the conflict and wars that took place, the British were seen of higher power. In the story, we can detect this by the language used by the narrator to describe the actions of the town residents. After shooting the elephant which can be argued to be the villain or victim of the story, the narrator states “The owner was furious, but he was only an Indian and could do nothing.… the younger men said it was a damn shame to shoot an elephant for killing a coolie, because an elephant was worth more than any damn Coringhee coolie” (Orwell 49). These lines state the power the colonial officer has and the prejudice against the ethnic groups of the story. The prejudice is encountered by the comparison of an animal to a human being and the statement of an animal having a higher value of life than a coolie. Likewise, the word “coolie” is viewed as a pejorative term. All these references can be compared to the discrimination seen in the United States during slavery. Connections and resemblances can be made between the characters. The colonial police officer resembles the southern white and the “coolie” bear resemblance to the African American slaves. During both these time periods, the non-whites were discriminated and labeled as non-superior against due to their native roots which lead to patriarchy.

          Unlike Orwell’s story, in Faulkner’s story there is a clear connection already created with southern whites due to the setting. The setting takes place after the Civil War which informs the reader that slavery has ended but discrimination is still in existence. It is seen that through diction dominance and patriarchy is seen in the story by the diction used by the narrator. The narrator states “Only a man of Colonel Sartoris’ generation and thought could have invented it, and only a woman could have believed it” (Faulkner 38). With this line the narrator highlights the patriarchy of the time by stating that woman are naïve to believe whatever a man says. Through the narrator’s diction discrimination is also seen as like with Orwell’s. The narrator states words that are seen to be pejorative like “niggers and mules” (Faulkner 40) to describe a non-white race. Due to the setting and the context, one can argue that the narrator is a white southern male of the time era.

          Furthermore, it is obvious that there is a racial system in both stories that contain patriarchy within them. Whether the patriarchy is a system of society in which the male dominates the woman or an oppressive system where the white society holds superior power over the non-white there is evidence that both stories were influenced by southern whites. The stories compare in the use of patriarchy but differ in how it is portrayed and in time era.