George Orwell British Imperialism

George Orwell and Thomas Jefferson explicitly express their dislike with British imperialism in their respective works Shooting an Elephant and The Declaration of Independence, yet Orwell and Jefferson have contrasting tactics and opinions in their writing. In Orwell’s autobiographical essay, he typically focuses on himself, but in Jefferson’s condemning piece, he focuses on the American people. The persuasive devices that they utilize give their writing a distinct emotion, and the persuasive devices are applied in their writings differently. Orwell’s and Jefferson’s salient rhetorical usage is employed to convey their personal thoughts and main point. Even though Orwell and Jefferson share the same topic of condemning the British rule, the

Since Orwell’s writing is in first person, the audience is handed the chance to analyze Orwell’s character and his experience in Burma. When following Orwell’s story, the audience is immediately given his opinion on British imperialism declaring that British imperialism is evil. The audience is able to tell that the British Empire has embittered Orwell with the way he feels around the Burma people. He is well known due to his status as a police man, but the Burma people constantly belittle his, making him like an outcast. Under the rule of the British, he feels that he has to keep up a persona of a police man with tact when he is really just unsure of himself and does not want to be seen as a fool or coward. “I often wondered whether any of the others grasped that I had done it solely to avoid looking a fool,” he concluded. He has become a man under the British rule that cares too much about how others view him. Conversely, Jefferson is writing for the people of American, except his personal opinions invade his excerpt. He vociferously opposes the British Crown in the name of the people. He firmly states the American ideals, “… life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” Jefferson’s position on the matter is to condemn the British, but it also conveys his support for the