"how to Shoot an Elephant" and "empty Seat" Caparisons

"How to shoot an elephant" and "Empty Seat" caparisons

In "Shooting an Elephant" The main characters biggest conflict was to shoot an elephant. This was something he did not and typically under the circumstances would not have done, but felt compelled and pressured to do so. If it weren't for the watching Indians this story may have turned out differently. He felt as if he had to do it, cause by not doing it would have been like him demonstrating his and his native country weakness. Being in a county that his native land had a lot of imperial influence, he could not let this happen.

The "Empty Seat" Tells of a man who gets on a bus and unknowingly sits next to a sobbing lady. As the story progresses the lady begins to cry louder and louder, until it gets the attention of the entire bus. People start to look at the man as if he is the one making the lady cry. Out of desperation he tries to point out that he is not making this lady cry. So he eventually decides to get up from the seat next to the lady and stand in the isles. As he is standing, he notices that there was an empty seat on this a crowded bus. He then realizes that people weren't staring at him because they thought he made this lady cry, but because they had been in that same seat before he had come on.

These two stories are alike, in that both main characters are concerned with what people think of them. Both characters are willing to go out of there way, or do something they do not agree with in order to change what people think of them.