The preconceived notions of using Westernization as a synonym for progression completely skews Lerner’s “The Grocer and the Chief”. He sees a movement towards entering into modernity as a positive thing for the village; it’s a victory that should be dedicated to the fat old Grocer. What Lerner chooses to ignore was Tosun’s accounts of the villagers being undoubtedly against living outside of Balgat. The new town is no longer Balgat. To me, the modernized version of Balgat lost the essence of tradition that the old villagers respected. Farming used to be the honored profession and money was never spoken about because it violated religious beliefs. By staying in the new city of Balgat, the villagers and Chief broke their promises to never leave their beloved village. Lerner’s article is not the successful tale of an ancient civilization seeking prosperity, but is about brainwashed citizens that lost essential values that shaped their entire lives.

The Chief is the embodiment of tradition throughout the whole article. Sadly, he is also one of the characters that also strays from steadfast truths that were proclaimed early in the article. For example, the Chief wanted his sons to “fight as bravely as we fought and [will] know how to die as my generation did.” It is one of his goals in life that was never accomplished. Now, his kin is soft and completely immersed in western culture. His sons has sought allegiance to the West and in my opinion, abandoned their father. They are more concerned with capitalism than with continuing family customs. With the death of the Chief, the death of old Balgat is soon to come. He is the last figure alive that still has some traditional values. With the bus came the end of tradition.

The idea that “Russians are dying of broken hearts” is a flawed statement that is built upon subjective analysis. It seemed as if both Parsons and Eberstadt tried to uncover why there is depopulation and higher death rates in Russia, but their task was fallible from the beginning. Globally, they sought to answer their questions in very different ways, but came to the same hazy conclusions. Parsons, the anthropologist, concluded that a lack of hope is the culprit for killing so many Russian citizens. She blamed the state for the new cultural perception, but I do not agree with that. Ultimately, the state did not change structurally so the lives of the general people was not altered either. When the state was still pushing propaganda, the entire population could have been physically supporting the state, but they could have been mentally aware of the lower class status they had. Just because the guise of a healthy state was taken away should not have such an extreme effect on the population’s health. As Gessen pointed out, Parsons overlooked many variables so she could present a “rational conclusion” to a global issue. This is a manipulation of what a social science should look like.

Eberstadt, on the other hand, looked at empirical data and statistics to try to piece the puzzle together. His analysis succeeds because he did not finish his research with a conclusion. Instead, he states “that a relationship does exist” but that more research is needed for it to be a proven fact. To me, this is a perfect marriage between using scientific methodology to investigate, but also understanding that there might never be a rational conclusion when it comes to the study of humans.

Once Orwell realizes “the hollowness, the futility of the white man’s dominion in the East” and continues to play his role designed by the British Empire, he gives power to the Empire (page 3). In the beginning of his essay, he states that his mind is detached from the work he does. In certain schools of thought, Orwell’s self realization can be interpreted as having the ultimate power. He understands the Imperial role that he has to play and feels guilty about how much power he owns in a land that is not truly his. What Orwell does not understand is that mentality of the establishment bleeds into one’s thoughts and feelings. This is because the public still sees Orwell as a part of the establishment and he feels compelled to play the part. Because of this, the power gets fed back into the larger image which is the British Empire.

The power comes from the Empire’s manipulation of Orwell’s desires. He is deathly afraid of looking weak in front of the natives. In Orwell’s mind, it is akin to survival: the natives can never see themselves as the superior people. When he thinks about death, it is not because he is scared to die, but it is because he is scared of the joy that the natives will get out of the image of his corpse. Everything Orwell does is revolving around his perceived power. In a larger scheme of things, Orwell is not unique to this issue as he states. This issue of perception and the image of the British Empire plagues “every white man’s life in the East” (page 3). Everyone has this internal struggle in their lives and they all choose to play their role in the imperialistic world.