How Is Caliban Dehumanized In The Tempest

Some scholars speculating that the island in The Tempest represented the New World and classified Caliban as one of the native people there is totally appropriate for this theme. Throughout The Tempest Caliban was identified as the "core" or "ground" of the play and he carried a strange representative of a "uncivilized" man. This prompted the play's reexamination of "civilized" human nature. America has always been a place that desired to have "civilized" individuals and if one did not fit that "humanized" image then they weren't good enough and didn't belong. This ideology has showed up many times throughout America's history, for example, Native Americans have always been pinpointed as a untamed and dehumanized group of people. As a result of this characterization of them, they have always been treated as if they are less of than human.
In The Tempest Caliban was treated just like a Native American, he was constantly treated like he was a creature rather than a person.
Other characters within the story even resulted in calling him names such as "puppy headed monster", "drunken monster" or "An abominable monster. Act two of The Tempest specifies in Caliban's start in being dehumanized by Trinculo and Stephano. The two managed to convince Caliban that they were spirits rather than humans. Once the two had captured Caliban's mind, they then in a sense oppressed him. The two oppressed him by convincing Caliban that he was less than them, and he was just a worthless monster whose fate was to serve and satisfy the two
"spirits".

Shakespeare's purpose of writing The Tempest could have been for many reasons, but one that sticks out and which also ties back to our post-colonial theory is to emphasize on human rights. Making Caliban the oppressed character in this story allowed the audience to be more open minded and think about how the theme relates to their reality. These themes have been planted not only in America's history but all over the world, with racism, religion, culture, politics and more. Caliban is just like one of the millions who has been colonized and viewed as dehumanized creature because they look, act, or do things differently. Act 5 of The Tempest can be seen as the mind set of many of the oppressed around the world. In line 145 Caliban says, "Be not afread; the isle is full of noises, Sounds and sweet airs that give delight and hurt not. Sometimes a thousand twangling instruments Will hum about mine ears; and sometime voices That, if I then had waked after long sleep, Will make me sleep again; and then in dreaming, Ready to drop upon me, that, when I waked, I cried to dream again." This quote can be seen as Caliban dreaming of a life that was yet joyful and enlightened by having his own freedom but when he wakes up from his dream he is faced with his nightmare reality of being oppressed. He cries to dream again so that he may experienced being free once again in his dreams.