Destructive colonization exposed during the shooting of an elephant and Heart of DarknessWhen a man is captured, his first instinct is to try to free himself from his shackles and shackles. Primal impulses like this often accompany humans when they are forced, as during capture, to rely on their most basic instincts to survive. In this way, native Africans acted on instinct when Europeans arrived to take their land and freedom. The short story Shooting an Elephant by George Orwell and the novel Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad revolve around the period when colonialism had a foothold in many parts of the world. This context is that of conflict with the native populations of these countries who fight and rebel against the colonizers. Building on this, both authors instill in the protagonists a sense of the wrongs that, as an extension of colonialism, they are doing. In Shooting an Elephant and the Heart of Darkness there is an ongoing struggle between society and the natives which leads the main character to realize the destructive nature of colonization. Each work is littered with destruction that comes in the form of: control over the native population; the need to maintain order in the colony; and a mental destruction resulting from holding opinions opposite to those of the government in power. That every book denounces colonization is no surprise; but each presents a conflict to make the protagonist's struggle clear. In Shooting an Elephant, the conflict is between George Orwell and the natives over a wayward elephant, while in Heart of Darkness the conflict is between Marlow and the events on the Congo River. Walking in such wild nature must have been excruciating even for the toughest. of individuals, however, with a g...... middle of paper ......aging such as those experienced by Orwell and Marlow serve as a reminder of the dangers of absolute power in the hands of any man. These works illustrate the need to allow cultures to thrive and be different from the most powerful and influential organisms on earth. Orwell and Marlow tell their stories to explain how they realized the truth about corrupt government as early as the nineteenth century. This should serve as a reminder now that a new era is dawning on humanity, where everything can be bought and sold. The basic message, however, is the same: we use power destructively “to avoid looking [like fools].” Works Cited Orwell, George, Shooting An Elephant. Ed. Messaggero, NOI, An anthology of the twentieth century. Scarborough: Prentice-Hall Canada Inc., 1984Conrad, Joseph, The Heart of Darkness. Toronto: Bantam Books, November 1987