What Are The Effects Of Imperialism

Imperialism is a perfect illustration of the easiness for humans to become corrupted by cravings of greed which in turn leads to malevolence and disdain for others. Attitudes of superiority and negligence of other’s beliefs synergize to create an oppressive and selfish force that devastates societies and civilizations. Historically, the problem of imperialism has been written and discussed in many famous pieces of literature such as Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness and Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart. Imperialism is a plague that imposes its presence and beliefs on the defenseless, infecting and wiping out indigenous culture with full knowledge of the destruction it causes.
From the perspective of the colonized, imperialism is a sign of
Jamaica Kincaid supports the idea of the imperialists attempt to delete indigenous native culture in “On Seeing England for the First Time” where she speaks about how the big breakfast that “no one [Kincaid] knew liked eating” was “Made in England” and therefore implemented into their culture. Instead of contributing to their culture, the English culture replaces and sets itself up as the superior ideology and disregards other beliefs and practices as wrong. The English worked extremely hard to flaunt their dominance, advertising and teaching the prominence of England and it’s culture at any opportunity available. In Things Fall Apart, Achebe takes a strong stance against imperialism, conveying just how dismissive Europeans are of African
Rudyard Kipling’s “The White Man’s Burden,” illuminates the true intention of imperialists which is “to seek another’s profit and work another’s gain.” The true goals of imperialists lie behind attempting to advance oneself and make profit, with little to no attention or effort towards assisting the natives in the regions colonized. Heart of Darkness portrays the presence of greed in Africa’s interior as “the word ‘ivory’ rang in the air, was whispered, was sighed. [One] would think they were praying to it” (92). Conrad paints an image on how coveted ivory, a luxury product, was and how it was talked about ubiquitously showing a strong desire for imperialists to achieve profit and wealth, while putting civilizing and guarding the Africans on the side. The most obvious case that demonstrates how guarding or protecting the African’s was not the purpose of imperialism is in Heart of Darkness where Kurtz, the renowned imperialist civilizing all the Africans, writes in his postscriptum of his pamphlet, “Exterminate all the brutes!” (92). This message displays a total lack of desire to aid Africans, instead showing a desire to actually detriment them by killing them. The use of the derogatory term ‘brutes’ displays a lack of acknowledgement of the