Preview

Analysis Of Kipling's Imperialism: Moral Burden Of The White Man

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
297 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Analysis Of Kipling's Imperialism: Moral Burden Of The White Man
In Kipling’s poem, Imperialism is portrayed as the moral burden of the white man. He is responsible for bringing civilization and culture to places sullen and wild. Kipling instructs the white man to be adroit, patient, humble, and brave, to not be a king to the natives, but a hard working servant. The white man’s work will go unappreciated, as it always has, he may be mocked by his peers, and hated by those he brings enlightenment to, but he does it for their good. He must not ask for an easy escape from what he is righteously compelled to do, for everyone looks to him, appraises him, and weighs him in a battle of morals. The burden of the white man is an honourable one, and imperialism is a noble struggle, accompanied by years of wisdom
Continue Reading
View Writing Issues

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Satisfactory Essays

    Perspectives of the European Imperialists in the Late 1800s
    • 422 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Perspectives of the European Imperialists in the Late 1800s

    In the late 1800s and early 1900s, imperialism was at its peak with innovation and expansion. In this essay, I will discuss the perspectives of the European imperialists and colonized people during the crucial time in history. The people in power during this era felt as though their efforts to develop and conquer certain lands granted in mutual benefit of the lands’ citizens. The colonized people, however, had different opinions.…

    • 422 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Summary Of King Leopold's Ghost
    • 493 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Summary Of King Leopold's Ghost

    Western Europe’s ecological assets are nowhere as wealthy as the diversity of Africa, thereby highlighting the irony in the expansion of Western Empires, considering they appropriated labor and land from the people of Africa to transform into a wealthy imperial vacuum. Western political forces ensure dictators remain in power, in order to continue the powerful legacy of exploiting land and labor, in a continent that has been labelled uncivilized and helpless. The systems of exploitation were extremely violent, whereas the imperial forces used the motives of “divide and conquer”, by turning indigenous workers against each other through various terrorist tactics. The military action of coercing labor psychologically branded the indigenous people, by imposing tactics to promote the ideology of divide and rule, in which the land and people become…

    • 493 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    White Privilege Pros And Cons
    • 192 Words
    • 1 Page

    White Privilege Pros And Cons

    As Howard Zinn states in A People’s History of the United States, white privilege has been part of this country’s history since Christopher Columbus days. He also analyzes in his work the reasons why whites do not acknowledge their long history of privilege. Howard Zinn points out the sense of guilt felt by whites when the atrocities of the past are accounted. It is human nature to find justification to our wrong doings,…

    • 192 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Christopher Columbus Research Paper
    • 492 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Christopher Columbus Research Paper

    If they had not competed with each other to colonize the world, the world would not be in the shambles of systematic oppression. If the white man did not set off to Asia for spices, china, perfume and the silk of Asia, if the white man did not seek to minister their religion onto others, if the white man did not seek free labor from Africa, if the white man did not rape the indigenous people of Southern America the world would not be run by the white man. The effect of the white man’s venture into another people’s home still lingers today. I hear it when my family yells at me for not being tall, skinny, or fair skinned. I see it in the school to prison pipeline of brown people. I smell it in the mixture of aromas from my motherland in the bustling city of Worcester, Massachusetts. I feel it with each step of concrete I take in the city. I taste it when I take a bite into immigrant mother’s attempt at…

    • 492 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Rhetorical analysis
    • 1191 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Rhetorical analysis

    In Dinesh D' Souza’s essay, "Two Cheers for Colonialism,” he attempts to convince the audience about several concerns regarding colonialism and Western civilization. He employs various methods to make the audience see his point of view. He uses a lot of emotional appeals, humor, ethos, logos, and anecdotes to argue that the West did not become influential through colonial oppression. He says, "By suggesting that the West became dominant because it is oppressive, they provide an explanation for Western global dominance without encouraging white racial arrogance. They relieve the Third World of blame for its wretchedness,"(1) and "The West did not become rich and powerful through colonial oppression. It makes no sense to claim that the West grew rich and strong by conquering other countries and taking their stuff"(2). He uses rhetorical strategies such as evidence-based arguments like the one above, to make a strong logical appeal to the audience.…

    • 1191 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    What was Rudyard Kipling
    • 490 Words
    • 2 Pages

    What was Rudyard Kipling

    Kipling was a loyal imperialist. The India he portrayed was British India. Oppressed India subject to Britain's colonial domination. He always thought that the British Empire had a right and responsibility to maintain India’s government. His attitude towards India was either condescending or oppressive. He also believed in “Noblesse Oblige,” a French expression which are the obligations of those belonging to the upper or noble class. If you have power, wealth, or status, you have a responsibility to people who are less fortunate. He thought English man were selfish and thought they were superior to anybody else. He conveys this belief through the characters in his novella: “The man who would be king”…

    • 490 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Imperialism: Western Justifications
    • 982 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Imperialism: Western Justifications

    In Ferry’s second attempt to justify imperialism he explains that superior races have a right and duty to civilize inferior races. Roosevelt does, in a sense, have this same view but doesn’t put it so bluntly. In an attempt to help Americans understand where he stands on this issue he explains,…

    • 982 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    American Imperialism In The Late 1800s
    • 481 Words
    • 2 Pages

    American Imperialism In The Late 1800s

    Supporting the idea that imperialism is superior is the “White Man's Burden” written by Rudyard Kipling his main purpose for “The White-Man’s Burden” was trying to gain the United States to support and to join Europe in imperial conquest. “White Man’s Burden” also helped motivate the imperialist movement it also helped motivate people to help uplift the non-whites of society. Imperialism is the only way to civilize the fugitives in countries that are not suitable for society. Christianity, a favored religion in the late 1800s and early 1900s. Many Christians believed that they had to help the weak and save the souls of non-Christians and Christianize them. Besides the belief of cultural superiority, expanding the economy was another big factor. Americans wanted overseas markets and wanted to trade so they could get the materials that were not produced in the United States. And also help the economy. Another major factor of the Imperialist…

    • 481 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Powerful Essays

    African American Imperialism Analysis
    • 1705 Words
    • 7 Pages

    African American Imperialism Analysis

    While they said they were fighting these “savage wars of peace” (Kipling) to allow the Africans to become civilized, in reality they were being the uncivilized ones, treating the Africans as less than human and murdering entire villages when things didn’t go their way. They were colonizing Africa in the name of progress, but demolishing entire villages and destroying innumerable forests doesn’t seem like a radical reform for the Congo. Kipling asked imperialists to “search their manhood” for a reason to let the Africans suffer in their uncivilized bubble, but which was worse: living in a low-tech world where everyone was generally happy and close with their family, or being forced to work through terrible conditions that encouraged fatal health problems to free the wives and mothers that white soldiers had taken hostage (Hochschild 161)? Is it really more shocking that the Africans found a way to survive in a world without industrialization than the fact that countless innocent lives were lost so Europe’s consumerism could continue to flourish? Hopefully the answer is clear: while the Europeans argued otherwise, they were the real barbarians, both directly and indirectly murdering Africans for mere consumer goods and the money it would…

    • 1705 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Colonialism and Aggressive European Imperialism
    • 459 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Colonialism and Aggressive European Imperialism

    Another driving force behind European imperialism was cultural beliefs. Europeans believed their culture was superior to the African’s. In the poem the White Man’s Burden, Kipling shows that Europeans believed they were culturally superior to the African’s by describing it as the white man’s “burden”. (Doc F.) The Europeans believed…

    • 459 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    American Imperialism And Race
    • 330 Words
    • 2 Pages

    American Imperialism And Race

    Imperialism is the process of extending the rule of government beyond the boundaries of its original state. History shows a high state of civilization has been produced, the struggle of race with race, and the survival of the physically and mentally fitter race. To know if whether the lower races of man can evolve a higher type, the only course is to leave them to fight it out among themselves and even then there will be struggle for the existence between individual and individual. The struggle of race against race and also nation against nation are very similar. In the early days many were blinded and unconscious struggle of barbaric tribes. At the present day, in the case of the civilized white man, it has become more and more the conscious,…

    • 330 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    White Man's Burden
    • 631 Words
    • 3 Pages

    White Man's Burden

    What arguments did Kipling make to justify European expansion in Africa and Asia? How does the selection by Edward Morel challenge or undermine Kipling's beliefs? The dialogue “White Man’s Burden” is a condescending and patronizing text.…

    • 631 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    The White Man's Burden
    • 1282 Words
    • 6 Pages

    The White Man's Burden

    This goes on to prove that he realizes that the whites are not all that just and have a very bad side. According to Kipling, imperialists will be judged on the treatment of the non-whites by other nations and future generations. Terming acts like celebration of their victory and basking in gory as ‘childish’, he urges the imperialists to not indulge in such acts. They should focus more on how their work would be judged by other imperialist powers in subsequent…

    • 1282 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Kipling's View Of Imperialism
    • 957 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Kipling's View Of Imperialism

    There is a clear negative connotation that Kipling attributes to the notion of imperialism in his novella, The Man Who Would Be King. There is a lot of controversy around Kipling's feelings towards imperialism and the British Empire as a whole, which can be mainly attributed to his possibly satirical poem, “The White Man's Burden.” It seems, however, that Kipling's side on the subject of these arguments though is much more clearly presented when evaluating the novella that he wrote, as it paints some clear, one-sided messages on the topic of imperialism and the British Empire. In-depth analysis of the themes provided by the novella will give insight into his views of the British Empire. More information on his views of the British Empire can…

    • 957 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    The Hollow Men Imperialism Essay
    • 859 Words
    • 4 Pages

    The Hollow Men Imperialism Essay

    Moreover, the above quote also infers the popularity and the rapid growth of Imperialism among European Nations, indicating that Imperialism was widely accepted and practiced by the majority of the Europeans during this period. When Marlow came to the First Station, the abandoned machinery illustrates the ghastly practices of Imperialism and signifies the way the Europeans enslaved the African natives with huge chains. Similarly, the chaotic appearance signifies the negativity in that area and the loss of thousands of people, and the suffering of the slaves indicates Europeans’ harsh attitudes. The “devil of rapacious and pitiless folly” indicates the negative effects of imperialism such as selfishness and greediness. Likewise, Kipling’s statements such as “Your new-caught, sullen peoples/ Half-devil and half-child” also indicate the superiority of White Imperialists among other ethnicities, and the significance of White Imperialists in civilizing other dark places of the world by teaching European customs, morals, culture values, economy and government types to backward societies.…

    • 859 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More

Related Topics