Throughout history the Europeans have taken over countries and new land to civilize people, expand their territory, convert people’s religion, above and most of all, in an effort to get resources. England, especially, has been a culprit of imperialism taking over parts of China, India, and Africa. In both the book Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe and the poem White Man’s Burden by Rudyard Kipling they speak of imperialism in a way that made it sound not convenient or the receiving side. Achebe writes about an Igbo village and how the white men write off the lives of the villagers as just cautionary tales, unimportant to the progression of their task. Kipling writes about imperialism in a disapproving way. Both writers can agree that they …show more content…
“When the egwugwu went away the red-earth church which Mr.Brown had built was a pile of earth and ashes.” (Achebe, 191). Achebe speaks about how the Europeans come to try and convert the Igbo tribes’ religion to Christianity, they even had built a church. The some of the Igbo people had not wanted to convert and retaliated against the white people. Next, Europeans also converted the people’s culture as well. Changing the daily life, government, religion, and other traits. Kipling does not agree with these actions. “Your new-caught, sullen peoples,/Half devil and half child” (Kipling, ⅞) What Kipling had meant by calling the people devil is that since their ways are different they are wrong. Child had meant that the white people will teach their ways to them like parents to children.
Also, converting is not the only reason for imperialism; the Europeans also want the resources of the land. Kipling disagrees with. “To seek another’s profit/And work another’s gain” (Kipling, 15/16) Kipling writes about how the white people let the people work while they take the resources such as gold, salt, oil, and