Analyzing Stanley Milgram's 'Shooting An Elephant'

459 Words1 Page
bulb-icon

Recommended: Theory of motivation

Stanley Milgram, a psychologist at Yale University, conducted an experiment exploring the reason behind the determination of the Germans to take part in the genocide during World War II. The experiment involved members of the audience questioning a man (a hired actor) connected to an electric-shock generator. Each time he answered a question wrong, the person in charge of the query would electrocute the man. The results revealed that although the man displayed agonizing pain (even though it was fake), the subjects continued to execute their victim. Similar to the despotic behaviour of the colonizer, the subjects demonstrated an indifference to their actions when they were faced with the conflict of obeying authority versus personal conscience. …show more content…

He employs the possibility that the colonizers can easily forget that the colonizedthe Burmeseare human. The callous effect that colonization has on the natives is evident in the imprisonment of the Burmese. The narrator states, “the wretched prisoners huddling in the stinking cages of the lockups, the grey, cowed faces of the long-term convicts, the scarred buttocks of the men who had been bogged with bamboos” (Orwell 276). The narrator learns to play the role of a stereotypical colonizer which results in the line between his role and his personal identity being blurred. Powerless to resist the commands of colonialism, the police officer obeys what the British tells him to do leading to a shift in his sense of reality. This shift allows the imprisonment of the Burmese to become a normalized situation ultimately portraying the colonizer as callous and indifferent. He continues, “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.” (276). The British created an overwhelmingly powerful situation limiting the narrator’s power to intervene in the ways the Empire treats the Burmese. The lack of influence or rather his obedience to authority further encourages the overall dehumanization of the natives reducing them

Show More
Related

  • Review of Stanley Milgram’s Experiments on Obedience, by Diana Baumrind and Obedience, by Ian Parker

    890 Words  | 2 Pages

    Upon analyzing his experiment, Stanley Milgram, a Yale psychologist, concludes that people will drive to great lengths to obey orders given by a higher authority. The experiment, which included ordinary people delivering “shocks” to an unknown subject, has raised many questions in the psychological world. Diana Baumrind, a psychologist at the University of California and one of Milgram’s colleagues, attacks Milgram’s ethics after he completes his experiment in her review. She deems Milgram as being unethical towards the subjects he uses for testing and claims that his experiment is irrelevant to obedience. In contrast, Ian Parker, a writer for New Yorker and Human Sciences, asserts Milgram’s experiments hold validity in the psychological world. While Baumrind focuses on Milgram’s ethics, Parker concentrates more on the reactions, both immediate and long-term, to his experiments.

    Read More

  • Analyzing Stanley Milgram's Obedience Experiment

    1077 Words  | 3 Pages

    A former Yale psychologist, Stanley Milgram, administered an experiment to test the obedience of "ordinary" people as explained in his article, "The Perils of Obedience". An unexpected outcome came from this experiment by watching the teacher administer shocks to the learner for not remembering sets of words. By executing greater shocks for every wrong answer created tremendous stress and a low comfort levels within the "teacher", the one being observed unknowingly, uncomfortable and feel the need to stop. However, with Milgram having the experimenter insisting that they must continue for the experiments purpose, many continued to shock the learner with much higher voltages.The participants were unaware of many objects of the experiment until

    Read More

  • The Perils of Obedience, by Stanley Milgram

    1490 Words  | 3 Pages

    He observes that most people go against their natural instinct to never harm innocent humans and obey the extreme and dangerous instructions of authority figures. Milgram is well aware of his audience and organization throughout his article, uses quotes directly from his experiment and connects his research with real world examples to make his article as effective as possible. Stanley Milgram selected 40 college participants, aged 20-50, to take part in the experiment at Yale University. Milgram says, “The point of the experiment is to see how far a person will proceed in a concrete and measureable situation in which he is ordered to inflict increasing pain on a protesting victim” (632). Although the 40 men or women thought that they were in a drawing to see who would be the “teacher” and the “learner,” the drawing was fixed.

    Read More

  • Milgram Obedience Analysis

    738 Words  | 2 Pages

    In “ Review of Stanley Milgram’s Experiments On Obedience” by Diana Baumrind, and in “Obedience” by Ian Parker, the writers claim that Milgram’s Obedience is ethically wrong and work of evil because of the potential harm that the subjects of the experiment had. While Baumrind’s article focused only on the Subjects of the experiment, Parker’s article talked about both immediate and long term response to experiment along with the reaction of both the general public and Milgram’s colleagues, he also talks about the effect of the experiment on Milgram himself. Both articles discuss has similar points, they also uses Milgram’s words against him and while Baumrind attacks Milgram, Parker shows the reader that experiment

    Read More

  • Stanley Milgram Experiment Summary

    533 Words  | 2 Pages

    Dr. Stanley Milgram conducted a study at Yale University in 1962, in an attempt to understand how individuals will obey directions or commands. This study become known as the Milgram Obedience Study. Stanley Milgram wanted to understand how normal people could become inhumane, cruel, and severely hurt other people when told to carry out an order, in a blind obedience to authority. This curiosity stemmed from the Nazi soldiers in Germany, and how their soldiers could do horrible acts to the Jews. To carry out his study, Dr. Milgram created a machine with an ascending row of switches that were marked with an increasing level of voltage that could be inflicted on another person. Then, he gathered forty random males between the ages of 20 and 50 that lived in the local area. He then told them that this experiment was to see how people learned through pain or punishment rather than without. The teacher volunteer would see the other volunteer or victim put on electronic straps and would not be able to see the person being shocked but could hear them. This setup was fake and the person being shocked had pre-recorded answers and reactions to the ascending row of buttons. The teacher volunteer would ask questions through a headset to the victim volunteer, and whenever a question was answered incorrectly, the teacher would increase the level of

    Read More

  • Milgram and Zimbardo: Overpowering Situations

    1031 Words  | 3 Pages

    Milgram’s experiment started shortly after the trial of Adolf Eichmann began. Adolf Eichmann was a Nazi who tortured many Jews during the Holocaust, and had others under his hand do whatever he told them to do. Milgram decided to plan a study to merely see if the followers of E...

    Read More

  • The Milgram Experiment: The Stanford Prison Experiment

    2182 Words  | 5 Pages

    One of the most famous studies in psychology was carried out by Stanley Milgram (1963), a psychologist at Yale University, conducted an experiment focusing on the conflict between obedience to authority and personal conscience. Milgram started his experiments in 1961, shortly after the trial of the World War II criminal Adolph Eichmann had begun. Eichmann’s defense that he was merely following instructions when he ordered the deaths of millions of Jews roused Milgram’s interest. Milgram posed the question, "Could it be that Eichmann and his million accomplices in the Holocaust were just following orders? Could we call them all accomplices?"

    Read More

  • Shooting An Elephant Cultural Analysis

    633 Words  | 2 Pages

    George Orwell’s “Shooting an Elephant” is a short story that not only shows cultural divides and how they affect our actions, but also how that cultural prejudice may also affect other parties, even if, in this story, that other party may only be an elephant. Orwell shows the play for power between the Burmese and the narrator, a white British police-officer. It shows the severe prejudice between the British who had claimed Burma, and the Burmese who held a deep resentment of the British occupation. Three messages, or three themes, from Orwell’s “Shooting an Elephant” are prejudice, cultural divide, and power.

    Read More

  • Analysis of Article If Hitler Asked You To Electrocute A Stranger, Would You? Probably

    1026 Words  | 3 Pages

    At first Milgram believed that the idea of obedience under Hitler during the Third Reich was appalling. He was not satisfied believing that all humans were like this. Instead, he sought to prove that the obedience was in the German gene pool, not the human one. To test this, Milgram staged an artificial laboratory "dungeon" in which ordinary citizens, whom he hired at $4.50 for the experiment, would come down and be required to deliver an electric shock of increasing intensity to another individual for failing to answer a preset list of questions. Meyer describes the object of the experiment "is to find the shock level at which you disobey the experimenter and refuse to pull the switch" (Meyer 241). Here, the author is paving the way into your mind by introducing the idea of reluctance and doubt within the reader. By this point in the essay, one is probably thinking to themselves, "Not me. I wouldn't pull the switch even once." In actuality, the results of the experiment contradict this forerunning belief.

    Read More

  • Analysis Of The Perils Of Obedience Stanley Milgram

    1107 Words  | 3 Pages

    ...g factors such as fear of consequences for not obeying, human nature’s willingness to conform, perceived stature of authority and geographical locations. I also believe that due to most individual’s upbringings they will trust and obey anyone in an authoritative position even at the expense of their own moral judgment. I strongly believe that Stanley Milgram’s experiments were a turning point for the field of social psychology and they remind us that “ordinary people, simply doing their jobs, and without any particular hostility on their part, can become agents in a terrible destructive process”. Despite these findings it is important to point out it is human nature to be empathetic, kind and good to our fellow human beings. The shock experiments reveal not blind obedience but rather contradictory ethical inclinations that lie deep inside human beings.

    Read More

  • Analyzing Lauren Slater's 'Obscura'

    354 Words  | 1 Pages

    In 1961, Stanley Milgram, an assistant professor of psychology at Yale University wanted to study and observe how people would react to authority if asked to continue on a task even if it meant hurting another human being. The experiment first began at night in a small shadowy room. For the experiment, it required three people, there was first the volunteer which was a random person from the street who was considered the teacher in the experiment. Then their was the two actors who Milgram had payed them to be in the experiment, one of the two actors was the leaner who was strapped to the electric

    Read More

  • Shooting An Elephant Imperialism Essay

    609 Words  | 2 Pages

    Because of his official duties, the officer understands upfront the difference between real and fictional moralities of the British colonization history. The British believe that they colonized Burma because they are racially and culturally superior to them. They argue that imperialism is moral because they have saved the locals from their moral and cultural ignorance. Racial prejudice is clear from how the British see the locals, for instance, after the protagonist kills the elephant, the “younger men said it was a damn shame to shoot an elephant for killing a coolie, because an elephant was worth more than any damn Coringhee coolie” (Orwell).

    Read More

  • Conflict In Shooting An Elephant

    784 Words  | 2 Pages

    The character, himself, is part of the British rule and is supposed to have all of the power. The Burmese, though, dangle the power in front of him. He is weak and unsure of himself, stating that he “wears a mask, and his face grows to fit it” (60). The character is not able to stand up for what he believes in -- that is, not shooting the elephant. There is a back and forth struggle in his mind about whether or not the elephant needs to be killed. Orwell’s character is fully aware that it is wrong and immoral to shoot an innocent creature, but eventually secedes to the demands of the Burmese, attempting to prove his cooperation and loyalty to those watching. In a way, the Burmese represent the pressures of society. Because of this, the audience can sympathize with the main character. There are always times when we, the readers, are unsure of ourselves, but we eventually make a decision. Whether we make the decision for ourselves or are assisted by others, in the end, we must take responsibility for our own actions. In a broader sense, Orwell’s character represents the internal conflict that everyone faces: should we conform to society or should we be our own

    Read More

  • Stanley Milgram's 1963 Summary

    1845 Words  | 4 Pages

    Milgram was most “interested in obedience and humans’ response to authority” (Ref B. p. 5). Through his research, Milgram wanted to find the link between authority and the horrid events that unfolded during the Nazi regime’s quest for domination. In addition to addressing obedience, Milgram’s research set off a firestorm of debate surrounding the ethics of research studies and their participants. It became one of “the most famous, or infamous, study[s] in the annals of scientific psychology” (Benjamin Jr. & Simpson, 2009, p. 12) both for the conclusions Milgram drew from his research but also for the ethics behind how Milgram designed the

    Read More

  • Critical Analysis of Shooting an Elephant by George Orwell

    848 Words  | 2 Pages

    "Shooting an Elephant" is perhaps one of the most anthologized essays in the English language. It is a splendid essay and a terrific model for a theme of narration. The point of the story happens very much in our normal life, in fact everyday. People do crazy and sometimes illegal moves to get a certain group or person to finally give them respect. George Orwell describes an internal conflict between his personal morals and his duty to his country to the white man's reputation. The author's purpose is to explain the audience (who is both English and Burmese) about the kind of life he is living in Burma, about the conditions, circumstances he is facing and to tell the British Empire what he think about their imperialism and his growing displeasure for the imperial domination of British Empire.

    Read More

More about Analyzing Stanley Milgram's 'Shooting An Elephant'

Open Document