Blog Post #2 option #1

Many individuals often find themselves hopelessly trapped within the roles that oblige them to act upon the established norms and behaviors present within society. Education, wealth, and occupation are all driving forces that hold the power to shape a person's behavior in an effort to correctly correlate their actions with a fixed social status. The underlying element, however, that often times prevents individuals from reaching wealth or a prestigious education is often in regards to race. In both, William Faulkner's, A Rose for Emily, and George Orwell’s, Shooting an Elephant, the driving factor that compels the characters to behave against their desires stems from the obligations both protagonists feel they must fulfill. Race, therefore, acts as a barrier between the characters and their individual yearnings by keeping them in line with the customs they are expected to hold.

The racial tension that are depicted in Faulkner's, A Rose for Emily, are based on the 1930’s Jim Crow era and the atmosphere created. The principles that were held at the time all stem from the South’s history of slavery that later turned into much more subtle acts of discrimination. States where no longer permitted to own slaves nor were they allowed to create laws that deprive any individual of their rights; consequently acts of oppression took on much more inconspicuous forms. The subtlety behind these forms of oppression can be sensed in the fictional city of Jefferson, Mississippi. Jefferson displays the unspoken understandings everyone follows without ever really questioning the reason behind the sustained traditions.

Emily herself is a tradition the city seems to fixate on, and thus her life is the sensation of the town. One could presume that Emily, being a Southern white women of title, benefits from all the praise that is created from the traits that classify her as “superior”. Although Emily does favor from some of her white privilege, she is more often depicted as trapped within her burdenous title. Her title, therefore, highlights the racism that is conveyed through the people of Jefferson when she is mocked for dating a “yankee” which was detrimental to her title to the point where the townspeople believed that if “she will kill herself... that will be the best thing.” (41) The racism that is so deeply embedded within the ideals the town holds ultimately hinders anyone who is not willing to conform with the life they are expected to have.

Similarly the narrator of, Shooting an Elephant, finds himself trapped within the socially constructed role his position as a police officer in a “uncivilized” area has created for him. The job he obtains does not fulfil any of his aspirations and he loathes the very rules he is set to implement. Racism, however, is much more evident in this text since the process of colonization is fueled by the idea that the native inhabitants do not compare in stature of those colonizing them. This idea is conveyed when the narrator finds himself forced to shoot an elephant only to prove not only his dominance, but that of his nation's.

Race and the expectations that come with it, creates internal conflicts for the individuals that feel forced to act upon those actions. It is through involuntary acts such as shooting an elephant, or sustaining from pursuing someone below a social status that creates the idea of having to do things out of one’s choosing in order to keep the accepted dynamic. By shooting the elephant and not marrying below status, the idea of superiority is conserved, and those who do not posses such power are forced to stay within their own low set of expectation. In reality, race however, hinders the both the “superior” and “inferior”, since no one is truly allowed to act based off their own aspirations.