Reading Comparison

Though it may not seem so on the surface, Mirrors and Shooting an Elephant connect on a deeper level. They are both first-hand accounts of troubles that the author has experienced. Both struggle to psychoanalyze themselves and find that they act differently because they are concerned with what other people will think of them. Mirrors focuses on the author’s physical deformation and how she tries to hide it from the world so that she is not laughed at. Grealy finds that her physical appearance was controlling her life and determining how she acted around other people. After her surgery she knew that she had changed, even if her family wouldn’t admit it. It wasn’t until she had lot looked in the mirror for a long a time and forgot what she looked like when she finally began to act herself. When she forgot her fear of being laughed at, she returned to normal. In Shooting an Elephant, Orwell talks about how the view of the “natives” controls his actions. He too does not wish to be laughed at, and he lets this fear control his actions. The Indians expect him to prove his superiority and authority that he is supposed to have other them. He begins to make decisions by looking at what the crowds want. Both authors act differently because of their interest in other people’s opinion, but they don’t realize this until afterward.