...Despite the necessity of different states working together in order to make the modern world function, there have been many instances where one country has had almost a totalitarian power over the rest of the world. Wallerstein describes this as a hegemon, and states that these nations, specifically the United States for a period of time, “[dominated] the world economy” and were able to “get their way politically.” Colonialism definitely explains the ways in which hegemony, and the “white race’s superiority” was a prevalent issue at the time, and a great example to show this is the idea of the ‘White Man’s Burden.’ The United States, that was defined as a hegemon, colonized indigenous land and saw it as the white man’s burden to civilize the...
Words: 1996 - Pages: 8
...“’The White Man’s Burden,’ published in 1899 in McClure’s magazine, is one of Kipling’s most infamous poems” (Gradesaver.com). This seven-stanza poem was originally composed for Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee, which was a celebration held to mark her 60-year reign. As the time approached, he presented an entirely different poem and used this poem, The White Man’s Burden, to send to Theodore Roosevelt, who was governor of New York at the time. He sent this poem after spotting many different events across the Atlantic in the Spanish-American War. Kipling thought that sending this poem would help Roosevelt become aware of maybe losing power and an empire. All seven stanzas of this poem start with the same line “Take up the White Man’s burden—“ that goes into the second line that explains a different aspect of what should be done to help different uncivilized places by ending hunger, disease, and more for the natives, who are described as “half devil and half child.” It helped create an idea of the different responsibilities a white man should take care of with the education and possessions they have. With all this help, it was thought that it would help the Americans to develop and advance to a superior state of civilization. Generally meaning that white people have...
Words: 817 - Pages: 4
...Analysis: The white man’s burden The white man’s burden is a poem written by Rudyard Kipling, a British author and poet with ori- gins in the British India. The poem was written in 1899 when Rudyard Kipling was 34 years old – it was posted in the magazine McClure’s with the subtitle “United States and the Philippine Islands”. “Take up the white man’s burden Send forth the best ye breed. Go bind your sons to exile To serve your captives need.” (Kipling; The white man’s burden; 1st stanza pt. 1) The poem is a quite long description of the burden mentioned in the title and refers to a bur- den, which the “white man” has put on his own shoulders. It is rather satirical when read, as the poem indirectly can be interpreted as a discrimination of the white mans (British) imperialistic in- spirations and perhaps even megalomania – as one might have expected from the author. The mean- ing of the title is interpreted as following: The burden of the white man is to “serve his captives need” as written in the first stanza. By this, Kipling refers to how the white man, with a perhaps imperialistic ideology, is to rule the people suppressed by the British colonies, later described as “new-caught, sullen peoples, half-devil and half-child” (Kipling; TWMB, 1st stanza pt. 2). This description of the captives is a caricatured pic- ture of what Kipling believes the white man saw his captives as, while implying the satiric element of the poem. Kipling presents the imperialistic view of the...
Words: 631 - Pages: 3
...Analysis of The White Man’s Burden (1899) The poem The White Man’s Burden is about imperialism and how the powerful countries seized foreign land to become a power with colonies. The text talks about how the inhabitants of the lands acted differently due to culture difference, and how it was the white man’s burden to lecture them in their own values and culture. The title of the poem is The White Man’s Burden. This tells us what the poem is about, so it fits well to the text. The structure of the text is build up by 7 stanzas, which contains 4 lines each. In every stanza there is the end rime pattern: a, a, b, b. Every stanza starts with the sentence “Take up the White Man’s burden”, which is a typical thing for poems to do. A lot of poems repeat the same sentence over and over again. The poem has a normal rhythm, which is helped by the split in the middle of every sentence, which separates the line in 2. This helps give the poem a natural flow. The first part of the line is sort of an exclamation in all instances throughout the poem. The exclamation gets elaborated on in the second part of line, which functions as an explanation. Throughout the poem there is also a lot of metaphors, which helps color the poem, and activates the mind. The most common metaphor is of course the lead sentence in every stanza. The sentence “Take up the white man’s burden” is a symbol on the pressure the white men thought were being put on to their shoulders at the time. Also the part “Take...
Words: 491 - Pages: 2
...Analysis * A symbol of France * Showed that France is generous, they came to Morocco not to colonize and enslave the Africans but to give them valuable gifts including * Culture, Knowledge, Medicine, Machines. * Showed that any French is greater and more achieved than Africans; the uncivilized * Showed that the French are generous, they are liking people. They are willing to accept and teach the the uncivilized Africans. Yet, because the Africans are uncivilized, it is logical for the French to be superior. * Idea of Racism, White Man’s Burden. * Showed that the French understand the greatness of Greek knowledge * Ancient Greeks believe contrapsata to be idealized human figures * Belief that the French are idealized figures can be in the pose of contraspasta France is like god and angels that have halo. They are powerful and * what the uncivilized Africans should look up to. * France is full of wealth and have highly developed technologies that support them to produce beautiful textiles * Spread idea that France is not interested in Morroc’s wealth, its is already rich enough. * Showed that the French knows and conquers the environment. They are now a part of nature, something that is unstoppable * White is more superior than other colors * France, like other nations of Europe, have well developed sciences that allows them to interpret the world. * Symbol of France * Showed that...
Words: 396 - Pages: 2
...White Man’s Burden (Handout) Summary & Annotation: A straightforward analysis of the poem may conclude that Kipling presents a"Euro-centric" view of the world, in which people view society from only a European cultures point of view. This view proposes that white people consequently have an obligation to rule over, and encourage the cultural development of people from other ethnic and cultural backgrounds until they can take their place in the world by fully adopting Western ways. The term "the white man's burden" can be interpreted simply as racist, or taken as a metaphor for a condescending view of non-Western national culture and economic traditions, identified as a sense of European ascendancy which has been called "cultural imperialism". A parallel can also be drawn with the charitable view, common in Kipling's formative years, that the rich have a moral duty and obligation to help the poor "better" themselves whether the poor want the help or not until according to Europeans, "they can take their place in the world socially and economically." The term "white man's burden" is a phrase that became current in the controversy about the United States acquisition of the Philippines after the Spanish-American war of 1898. It was a concept that was the responsibility of white Europeans to bring "proper" European civilization to the nations (mostly brown, black, red or yellow) that did not have it. The underlying thought was that Europeans were correct in their beliefs and...
Words: 5749 - Pages: 23
...sentences becomes much smaller to show the change iu pace and how rapidly these events unfolded. This builds a sense of suspense until he reaches the climax by writing, “They took the tearful woman to Sparrow Hospital, where Earl Little lay dead (Myers, Walter Dean 20).” The tone in this passage begins very quick but comes to a sudden but depressing crash when you hear the news that Earl, Malcolm's father, was lying dead in a hospital. Myers uses words like “Tearful” and “Screaming” to show just how much this situation affected Malcolm’s mother (Myers, Walter Dean 20). Myers intricately writes the these experiences so that the reader themselves appreciates the obstacles Malcolm overcomes, causing the reader to respect Malcolm and the Black man’s...
Words: 771 - Pages: 4
...You Ken Tan Christopher Hennessy LI 208 U.S. Multicultural Literature 26 Feb 2013 Passing: An Analysis and Close reading Nella Larsen’s Passing is a story about the tragedy of an African American woman, Clare Kendry, who tried to “pass” in the white American community. However, while she passes as white, she constantly seeks comfort from her friend Irene Redfield who is a representation of the African American community. Gradually, Clare has become the double image of Irene, due to the similarities of their ethnicity and the contrasting lives they lead. At the end of the story, Clare’s death is a result of the extreme burden on Irene’s shoulder due to the presence of Clare in her life. The death of Clare is very much Irene’s responsibility based upon her suspicious acts at the end of the story. The ending of Passing, and of the life of Clare Kendry, begins on the sixth floor of an apartment complex at a party in the home of Felise and Dave Freeland. During the party, Irene says that, “It seems dreadfully warm in here. Mind if I open this window?” (Larsen 110) However, when Irene opens the window, “It had stopped snowing some two or three hours back” (Larsen 110). This means that the weather is still rather cold and despite the freezing temperature, Irene still sits beside the window. Another reason why Irene would want to open the window is because she wants to smoke her cigar. She politely uses the warm temperature in the room as her excuse to open the window. Although...
Words: 1292 - Pages: 6
...Marriam Harrissa Mulonya BAH/P/77/07 Miss Asante Mtenje American Novel 26th June 2012 Analysis of major characters in Ralph Ellison’s Invisible Man: Brother Jack Brother Jack is our main contact with the Brotherhood and he is a mysterious character. He is a white man and he easily enters the narrator's life and offers him a ton of opportunities like money, a job, and the chance to represent his community. There are many strings attached to the benefits that the narrator accrues through working for the Brotherhood. Brother Jack demands that the narrator renounce his past, focus on the collective, and use abstract jargon and ideology in his speeches. Although he professes to be in favor of racial equality, when the Brotherhood shifts its aims, Brother Jack willingly sacrifices the Harlem community without thinking twice. His literal blindness is a metaphor for the flawed nature of his vision. Ellison uses Brother Jack to point out the failure of abstract ideologies to address the real plight of African Americans and other victims of oppression. At first, Jack seems kind, compassionate, intelligent, and helpful, a real boon to the struggling narrator, to whom he gives money, a job, and seemingly a way to help his people fight against prejudice. But as the story progresses, it becomes clear that the narrator is just as invisible to Jack as he is to everyone else. Jack sees him not as a person but as a tool for the advancement of the Brotherhood’s goals. It eventually becomes clear...
Words: 1382 - Pages: 6
...Song of Solomon Analysis: Gender Roles and Freedom Racism divides communities, but sexism deserts individuals. American history is ridded with oppression on the basis of race and gender that have left individuals and communities alike subjugated and isolated. Toni Morrison, through her fictional novel Song of Solomon, tackles the desire for belonging that so many faced during the oppressive 1960s. Appeals to equal rights for African Americans were met with hateful discrimination and bloody discourse—ultimately dividing people from within groups. But Morrison pushes her discussion beyond just the confines of racism to the treatment of black women in society; the tyrannical repression they faced. Throughout Song of Solomon, a reoccurring theme of dependence and abandonment of women presides. Toni Morrison exploits women’s belonging to men and yet, also, their burdens for men’s freedom. In order to conquer the quest of the novel, the main character must recognize and overcome such female injustices. Foundational to the their societal repression, black women suffered not only from racial segregation but the social obligations to men, children, and their community. Women were the guardian of the family in the 1960s, and lacked the free-will retained by men. The man they married, the structure he created, defined a woman. Song of Solomon directly touches on the heavy racism circling the times. Milkman and Guitar actively talk about racism and the cruelty of the white “nonhumans.”...
Words: 1788 - Pages: 8
...The systematic institution of racism constitutes a systematic accumulation of effort that goes unnoticed behind the façade presented to the audience. Hidden agendas surreptitiously make the effort to facilitate subordination of the disenfranchised and powerless amidst the easily perceived promising future of equality. In the following response, I will argue the integration of humanist ethical ideologies that illicitly and surreptitiously generate racist ideologies that subjugate the colonized non-Western “other”. Social Darwinism, eugenics, imperialism, nationalism, cultural relativity, and multiculturalism are the main ideas that support my argument which will be subsequently elaborated on. For centuries, the doctrine of white male hegemonic enslavement has dominated, degraded, and dehumanized the disenfranchised and powerless from the privileged. The beliefs, values, culture, and ideology that all these different number of systems of thinking would create the knowledge of humanitarian effort to intervene in trying to justify and clarify racism without question. Universalism helped to fuel the binary opposition of the colonizers versus the colonized. The binary system is far from valiantly subverting stereotypes, such manufactured ideologies are deeply invested in upholding stereotypes, which in turn generates the idea of “difference” and this difference plays a role in sustaining racism. In other words, if words like “progressive” and “civilized” are tied to the group “colonizers”...
Words: 1800 - Pages: 8
...Essay - Great Britain Between the late 16th and early 18th centuries Great Britain was the world's biggest empire to date, and controlled almost a fourth of the known world. This massive empire was achieved through bloody conquest and suppression of the native population in every country, which Great Britain got into contact with. In the time of the empire, artists created paintings of this great nation, they painted its great fights and conquests of the new worlds that were discovered. Britain was portrayed as a fair and just ruler of the savages, but this was far from the truth, because Britain just exploited the countries and brought along with its rule enslavement of entire populations, which was maintained by ruling with an iron fist. Many in Britain today still believe that imperial times were a glorious period that the inhabitants of the Britain should be admiring and looking up to. But imperial Britain wrought so much pain to the populations that was suppressed and forced into slave like conditions for the good of the empire, even though the British Empire helped create infrastructure in their occupied land and laid the foundation for new democracies. In the two following articles and the documentary “Seven Ages of Britain -Episode 6 Age of Empire” will the topic of whether or not Britons should be apologetic for their time as an empire be analysed and discussed. The article: “British Empire: Students should be taught colonialism ‘not all good’, say historians”...
Words: 1131 - Pages: 5
...Analysis This is, without a doubt, Kipling's most beloved poem, and, along with "The White Man's Burden", his most famous. Although T.S. Eliot would deem it only "great verse" and others "jingoistic nonsense," it is consistently ranked among the highest, if not the highest itself, of Britons' favorite poems. It was first published in the "Brother Square-Toes" chapter of Rewards and Fairies, a 1910 collection of verse and short stories. While the poem is addressed to Kipling's son John, it was inspired by a great friend of his, Leander Starr Jameson, the Scots-born colonial politician and adventurer responsible for what has been deemed the Jameson raid that led to the Second Boer War. The raid was intended to start an uprising among the British expatriate workers in the South African Republic, but there were complications and it was a failure. Jameson was arrested and tried, but he was already being hailed a hero by London, which was filled with anti-Boer sentiment. He served only fifteen months in prison and later became Prime Minister of Cape Colony back in South Africa. It appears that Kipling had met Jameson and befriended him through Cecil Rhodes, the Prime Minister of Cape Colony at the time of the raid. In his autobiography Something of Myself, Kipling wrote of Jameson and "If-": "Among the verses in Rewards was one set called `If-', which escaped from the book, and for a while ran about the world. They were drawn from Jameson's character, and contained counsels of...
Words: 1122 - Pages: 5
...that both individuals and society are defined not just by themselves, but also in relation to each other. Therefore they must both continually redefine themselves in reaction to others and to new information Lecture 2: Is There a Global Culture? • • • Power relations: having the ‘right’ to define what things are (Giddes, lecture 1) ‘Us – them’ distinctions The power relations of four groups in society: Majorities and elites are dominant groups (privileged access to the resources of a society); ‘mass subjects’ and minority groups are subordinate groups (less access to the resources of a society) Culture contact with globalization takes place in contexts with power relations • • • E.g. colonialism: 'civilizing mission’ or ‘White Man’s Burden’ to profit from subordinate groups ‘Colonial subjects’ often hybridized...
Words: 1342 - Pages: 6
...the Second Empire was indeed characterized by its interest for nude and erotic painting, what encouraged Courbet to revitalize in his realistic manner this kind of practicing art. Considered as scandalous, the picture has remained hidden during almost one century until its being given to the Orsay Museum, which the piece of art enters on the 26th June 1995. Turning to a more precise analysis of the painting, the essay then emphasizes its ambiguity: although the aim of the painter was to represent the reality of a woman body, trying to reach objectiveness, there is also a will to make the audience react, mind about his relation to nudity. Therefore, the paper leans upon the taxonomy of nudity vs. nakedness in order to understand the peculiar subject of this painting. The last issue the paper deals with is the question of genders in L’Origine du monde. Lots of artists have included Courbet’s painting in their artwork. A case in point of this broad reinterpretation is Orlan’s photograph entitled War’s Origin: Orlan took the same disposition up for its picture as Courbet’s one but represented a man’s genitals instead. By the play on words between both titles, she makes L’Origine du monde enter the gender debate, using nudity as a weapon and genitals as witnesses....
Words: 2301 - Pages: 10
