Moral Authority and the Ultimate Fate of Imperialism The 1800s staged the universal spread and peak of British imperialism, destroying and rebuilding thus the world in a new order. It is common to describe the English as overindulgent consumerists and the natives as magnanimous servants of the Empire, although history suggests that imperialism was not a mere black and white issue. It is certain that imperialism has unjustly exhausted global resources and therefore deserves its condemnation. However, real experiences of the time, as told by British men, push the reader to reevaluate the role of British moral authority during the colonial period. Rudyard Kipling's The Man Who Would Be King (1888) and George Orwell's Shooting An Elephant (1936) are two such commentaries on imperialism in British India. The first is a short novel, narrated by a journalist and chronicles the journey of two determined Englishmen (Carnehan and Dravot) from newly flashy "loafers" in India to divine kings in Kafiristan. The latter tells the story of a young British officer (Orwell), who served as a policeman with the Indian Imperial Police in Lower Burma. Kipling and Orwell recount similar overarching themes such as the injustice of British imperialism and the misery inflicted on both the vanquished and the conquerors. Their motivations and reactions to imperialism, however, are very varied as their external conflicts with the Empire and with the natives also vary. These stories by Orwell and Kipling end as symbolic mockeries of imperialism and its ultimate failure, thus depicting the contrasting elements of British nationalism during imperialism. The Man Who Would Be King and Shooting an Elephant clearly illustrate the injustice and oppro...... middle of paper...will be solved.ReferencesOrwell, George. "Shooting an elephant." London: new writing. 1936. Print.Kipling, Rudyard. The man who would become king. New York: Melville House Publishing, Print.Havel, Václav and Paul Wilson. “How Europe Could Fail.” The New York Review of Books: 1993. Print.Zdenek, Mlynar, and Paul Wilson. Night frost in Prague: the end of humanitarian socialism. New York: Karz Publishers, 1968. Print. Spielvogel, Jackson. Western Civilization: A Brief History Since 1500. Fifth Edition. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, 2008. Print. Frederick the Great. "An essay on the forms of government and the duties of the sovereign". Network. Documents of the Prussian monarchy: Lukasiewicz, Julius. Explosion of Ignorance: Understanding Industrial Civilization. Canada: McGill-Queen's Press, 1994. Print.