Native American Imperialism

Based on analysis of "Shooting an Elephant" by George Orwell and "Indian Education" by Sherman Alexie a theme shared by these two short stories is the effects of colonialism. "Shooting an Elephant" took place in Burma, a former colony of the British Empire during British colonial rule.George Orwell mentioned, “…the real nature of imperialism.” Also, “I was stuck between my hatred of the empire I served. During the time depicted in the short story the author only then began to understand the realities of oppression caused by colonialism. Considering how he was a police officer for the Imperial Police social injustice wasn’t something he considered before. The content of “Indian Education” also shared context relating to colonialism. The Europeans invaded the Americas and this resulted into the natives being treated like unwanted houseguests in their own home. A lasting effect of colonialism, in this case is the dehumanization of the native aboriginals, for example their image is commonly used as costumes and mascots. An example of this in context is, “The farm town high school I played for is nicknamed the “Indians,” and I’m probably the only actual Indian ever to play for a team with such a mascot.”
Racism relates to “Shooting an Elephant” because the British Empire colonizing Burma was means conveying their alleged superiority. Despite sympathizing with Burmese a little bit, George Orwell expressed his own perceived racial superiority by referring to the Burmese as, “sneering yellow faces…” and “evil spirited beasts”. One of the forms of racism displayed in “Indian Education” is internalized racism. The native aboriginal boys that bullied the author disrespected their own culture by turning a custom into a cruel joke when they called Sherman Alexie names such as “Bloody Nose” and “Junior Falls