Shooting an Elephant and Letter from Birmingham Jail

In the stories â€Å"Shooting an Elephant† and â€Å"Letter from Birmingham Jail† there is oppression from two separate groups. In â€Å"Shooting an Elephant† it is the British Empire trying to control the Burmese people, and in â€Å"Letter from Birmingham Jail† it is the local government in Birmingham, Alabama denying the African American people their civil rights as people. Throughout history when any form of government tries to control a group of people or deny them their rights there has been various issues. The oppression of people, no matter what their race or creed, is wrong and it breeds hatred and sorrow in many forms. This essay will be comparing and contrasting the differences and similarities between how the Burmese and African American people were treated by white oppression. In â€Å"Letter from Birmingham Jail† Dr. King gives us many examples of how African Americans were treated in Birmingham, Alabama. Some examples are lynchi ng, beating people to death in the streets, and bombing of African Americans’ homes. George Orwell has similar examples of mistreatment in his story as well, â€Å"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 573), and â€Å"I thought the British Raj as an unbreakable tyranny, as something clamped down, in saecula saeculorum, upon the will of prostrate peoples; with another part I thought that the greatest joy would be to drive a bayonetShow MoreRelatedGrade 10 English - King vs Orwell Essay1633 Words   |  7 PagesColours, One World , One Approach to Injustice The essays â€Å"Shooting an Elephant† by George Orwell and the Letter From Birmingham Jail† by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. share several similarities, particularly in terms of the authors recognition of injustice in their respective communities. There are striking similarities between their causes despite Orwell being of British descent and part of the caucasian majority while Dr. King was from the United States of America and was part of the colouredRead MoreSwift, Orwell, and King: Standing against the Injustices of Their Times1795 Words   |  7 PagesKing faced death many times, and was almost assassinated in Birmingham in 1963, and also went to jail many times for his principles. In the end, he led the civil rights movement to victory in the United States, accomplishing more than any black leader before or since. His Letter from a Birmingham Jail in 1963 was a classic exposition of equal rights and freedom for all human beings, just as Orwells short story Shootin g and Elephant was a principled denunciation of British imperialism. Swift