Author Bio:
Rudyard Kipling was a British pet who authored many renowned works during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. In addition to poetry, he was well known to author works including: short stories, children's literature, science fiction, and novels. In 1907, at the age of 41, he earned the Noble Prize of Literature. This is clear evidence that his works were renowned and were to be taken completely seriously. With this in mind, he was called "a prophet of British imperialism", by George Orwell, who noticed his undeniable biases. Most prominently, people have claimed that his political works tend to be more Eurocentric via the support the conquering of people's that aren't of European descent. In essence, his view of imperialism is favorable and seems to have a "racist" point of view on non-white cultures. Nonetheless, his mastery of literature and composition allows his works to be analyzed in many different perspectives, thus leaving this particular poem up for interpretation.
Date/Context:
The poem was originally published in 1899, during the height of the era of Imperialism. In retrospect, the era of imperialism constituted of western countries partaking in a "land-grab" with the rest of the world. In particular, Southeast Asia was split up between the Dutch, British, French, German, Portuguese, and perhaps, arguably the Americans. Justifications for imperialism, for the most part, included the reform to turn all uncivilized countries into models of western countries, which were all civilized according to themselves. Yet, during this era, the imperialists just believed that they were simply genetically superior to their counterparts in Asia, Latin America, and Africa. It was thought to be most undeniable when Southeastern Asia and Oceania was considered, as these areas were some of the most isolated in human history. Furthermore, it wasn't too uncommon for everyone in the west to believe in the justifications for imperialism. Therefore, it was arguably inevitable. In retrospect, this poem certainly describes the mood of westerners best at the time, as it continuously uses extremely biased and racist rhetoric to describe "better" civilization being brought to the inferiors.
Summary:
The poem is broken down into seven stanzas, where each stanza contains four lines. Hence, the poem contains a mere twenty eight-lines, and readers are limited content wise. Nevertheless, every single lines has a tangible meaning which could in addition interpreted in various different ways. Moreover, repetition of the phrase "The white mans burden," is used in every single stanza. The first few stanzas in essence describe that the white man is responsible in making those who aren't white civilized, and to do so in a swift manner via the means of conquering the native peoples. Racism is extremely manifest and evident throughout the poem. For instance, Kipling calls those who are being taken over "ungrateful" for not appreciating how manifest civilization is being brought over to them by the white man. Yet, besides the evident racism and Eurocentrism, Kipling does offer warnings to those who partake in the actions of imperialism. In retrospect, he reiterates that without any patience, the people will not acquiesce to the imperialists. In essence, besides the evident racism and repetition of phrases throughout the poem, it is vividly clear that Kipling was on the side of the imperialists with the publication of this poem.
Key Quote:
"Your new-caught, sullen peoples, Half-devil and half-child." This quotation from the poem truly exemplifies the xenophobia and racism that was evident throughout the poem.
Defining Characteristics: There are three main points that need to be addressed about Kipling’s poem. In Kipling’s poem, it is evident that he supports imperialism. He originally created this poem for Queen Victoria’s jubilee in 1897, but he didn’t publish it until 1899, right after America had colonized the Philippines at the end of the Spanish- American War. It is important to note that when Kipling was five years old he moved to Britain and lived the rest of his life in a country that was a world power at the time. “Burden” was written during a time where imperialism was at it’s height. Spain, France, Germany, Netherlands, Portugal, America, and Britain were all on the hunt to imperialize smaller countries and gain as much land as possible. The second point is that he views imperialism as “helping” the smaller nations. He states, “In patience to abide, to veil the threat of terror”, which means that he thinks the imperializing country is protecting them from outside threats. The third and final point is to understand how racism and eurocentricity plays a role in his writing. The statement, “Your new-caught sullen peoples, half devil and half child”, implies that the people on the country being imperialized are lesser than the Europeans. While he is clearly in favor of imperialism, he also warms the reader that if the imperializing country is not patient, the smaller country will become angered.
ReplyDeleteFeedback: Overall, it is clear that Sam was able to interpret the the meaning of Kipling’s poem. An important point Sam mentioned was that “Take up the white man’s burden” was repeated at the beginning of every stanza. Another important point Sam made was that racism was extremely important when it came to western imperialization over the Polynesian islands, and he did a great job explaining why it was important. One important piece of information that wasn’t in the the analysis was that he grew up in Britain but he was born in India. In essence, he was born in a country being imperialized, then later moved to the country that was imperializing his home country. This could be a major influence in his views about imperialism. To conclude, Sam did a great job examining Kipling’s poem.