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Mikaeala Mikka Dela Cruz

Ms. Lee

8th Grade English

11/12/17

Cultural Dominance in Minutes of Glory and Shooting an Elephant

Imagine if someone came into your home and acted as if they owned the place. All the

traditions and daily routines that your family had established just gone, remade into someone

elses traditions and daily routines. This is basically what imperialism is except when it comes to

imperialism, it refers to countries and other peoples cultures. Minutes of Glory is about a girl

named Beatrice who longs to be up to the beauty standards of Western European culture but is

too poor to buy any beauty products so she steals from a man to be able to buy herself new

clothes and makeup, which eventually leads to her arrest. Shooting an Elephant, the

protagonist is a male authority figure who is met with the conflict of whether or not he should

shoot a wild elephant because even though he doesnt want to, he has the pressure of the people

on him, so he eventually decides to shoot the elephant. In Minutes of Glory and Shooting an

Elephant, Thiongo and Orwell both express the idea that Western European culture is

smothering the culture of other countries, using the literary elements of symbolism,

characterization, paradox, and conflict.

Through the use of characterization, Thiongo is able to demonstrate in Minutes of

Glory how imperialism affects even the common person. Beatrice, a seemingly normal girl,

thinks so bad of herself because she isnt what is considered the normal standard of beauty is.

Thiongo writes They always went for a girl with Ambi-lightened skin and head covered with a
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wig made in imitation of European or Indian hair (Thiongo 73). Just because the men dont go

for her, she believes that she is ugly. Since prostitution is her only way of making money, she is

very competitive and doesnt have very many friends. Thiongo writes She saw in every girl a

rival and adopted a sullen attitude (Thiongo 72). Her unconventional occupation causes her to

develop a very defensive attitude against other women. This just goes to show how imperialism

can ruin the lives of even a common individual. Beatrices whole life went off the rails because

of her inability to have the usual workplace skills. And it only went further off the rails when she

wasnt able to get money as a prostitute as well since she wasnt what was considered beautiful

during that time.

Through the use of man vs. self conflict inShooting an Elephant, Orwell is able to show

how imperialism forces people into bad situations, and that it isnt just regular people who are

affected because of imperialism, but authority figures as well. The main character of this story is

forced into a job that he hates in order to still make money. Orwell writes All I knew was that I

was stuck between my hatred of the empire I served and my rage against the evil-spirited little

beasts who tried to make my job impossible (Orwell 1). In order to survive in a world of

imperialism, he has to deal with a country that he hates. Even though hes an authority figure, he

is still able to be pressured by the people since theyre the majority. The narrator states A white

man mustnt be frightened of natives; and so, in general, he isnt frightened (Orwell 3). This

shows that its not always the authority figures who hold the power. Orwell is able to express

how imperialism affects not just the general public, but even those who seem like theyre in a

position of power.
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With the use of character development, Thiongo and Orwell are both able to show in

Minutes of Glory and Shooting an Elephant how imperialism causes people to ignore their

own personal morals. In Minutes of Glory, Beatrice ends up stealing money from a man.

Thiongo writes She took out his money. She counted out five pink crisp notes, (Thiongo 81).

Beatrice had been a normal girl, but because of the pressure that society put on her to be

beautiful, she snapped. In Shooting an Elephant, the narrator is forced to shoot the elephant,

even though he really doesnt want to. The narrator writes It seemed to me that it would be

murder to shoot him (Orwell 3). Even though the narrator thinks that its wrong, he is forced to

shoot the elephant in order to keep his job. In both stories, both of the protagonists are forced to

compromise their morals as an effect of imperialism.

Using characterization, paradox, conflict, and symbolism in Shooting an Elephant and

Minutes of Glory, Orwell and Thiongo are both able to convey how the aspects of Western

Culture are eradicating the characteristics of other cultures. Imperialism affects all people, from

the common person to those who are considered to be in a position of power. It causes people to

sometimes go against their own personal morals, just to be able to fit in. Nowadays, people are

so caught up with trying to fit in among the crowd that they lose what makes them who they are

in the process.
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