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British Colonialism In Andrea Levy's Back To My Own Country

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British colonialism is regarded as a crucial period in world history due to having had a significant and long-lasting impact on how the world looked today. The colonial activities of the British Empire, which spanned several centuries, had a lasting impression on places all over the world. This essay gives a thorough history of British colonialism, emphasizing its causes, significant epochs, significant colonies, effects, and lasting legacies. Through a reading of George Orwell's "Shooting an Elephant" and Andrea Levy's "Back to My Own Country: An Essay," this thesis argues that British colonialism carefully and profoundly complicated the concept of home by examining the experiences of both the colonized and the colonizers. These narratives …show more content…

The enormous disparity between her parents' employment possibilities may be seen in Levy's story. While her mother had substantial challenges in pursuing her career in England despite possessing a Jamaican teaching certificate, her father had little trouble finding employment at the Post Office. “My dad did not have trouble finding work. He was employed by the Post Office. But my mom was not allowed to use her Jamaican teaching qualification to teach in England” (Levy 693). This difference is a prime example of the prejudice and unfair treatment that Caribbean immigrants endured, which undermined their sense of identity and exacerbated their relocation. Levy also examines the historical background of British colonialism, emphasizing the economic importance of the sugar business, which was highly dependent on the horrific exploitation of black Africans held as slaves. “Sugar was the main crop, as important to Britain then as oil is today. It was planted, harvested, and processed by the slave labor of black Africans” (Levy 696). By calling attention to this exploitation, Levy highlights the tremendous effect that England's colonial policies had on the Caribbean and the long-lasting effects they had on Caribbean immigrants' conceptions of

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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.

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Orwell conveniences the reader that imperialism has not only a negative impact on those run by imperialist, but also degrades those holding the power of an imperialist. Like other works Orwell has written they too have expressed his opinion on social and political aspects. In “Shooting an Elephant,” readers can recognize his opinions on imperialism through the narrator’s display of pathos. Orwell over and over expresses his hatred, fear, doubt, and distress for authority of imperialist. The narrator states “As for the job [he] was doing, [he] hated it more bitterly than [he] perhaps make clear.”

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In George Orwell’s, “Shooting an Elephant,” a story about his experiences as a police officer in imperialist Burma, he utilizes his narrative to depict the effects of the skewed role of the imperialists and the subjects in order to undermine the benefits of Imperialism. He also and establishes the idea that by taking away the freedom of others, he takes away his own because he is forced to conform to what the natives want in order to maintain his authority. The British imperialists are encouraged to see these flaws in the Imperialist system and to try and fix these problems at their source. This argument is solidified when he writes, “The people expected it of me and I had got to go and do it; I could feel their two thousand wills pressing

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