...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 white man...
Words: 631 - Pages: 3
...Essay of “The White Man’s Burden” (1980), Jan Needle. This is a short story by Jan Needle. We follow the teenager Tony Robertson, who really wants to be friends with immigrants and thinks very positive of the multi-cultural society. It is pretty ironic that although his amiable behavior, two Paki-stanis eventually end up beating him up. Tony is liberal, he thinks that everyone should have the same chances, and he doesn’t prejudice anyone. “He’d brought Tony up to be liberal, to reckon on everybody being equal, having the same rights an so on.” (p. 42, top) “You could get robbed and kicked up by a white gang just as easy as a black” (p. 43 top) Tony is truly clearly thinking same about all ethnics group in the multicultural society. He is definitely setting a better example than some of the other boys at his school by being extremely tolerant. Tony has a very different attitude on immigrants than his father. This is showed in several of arguments and rows. “Every time they talked about something happening in the paper, even a strike by some poor starving hospital workers or something, he took the wrong side. It made Tony see red, get absolutely fuming” (p. 42, l. 11). “But what had gone wrong with Dad? …Defended them against all-comers. Then it had changed” (p. 42, bottom) These two quotes clearly state how upset Tony is with the way his father has changed to the other side. When Tony is questioning himself, “but what had gone wrong with Dad?”, it is very...
Words: 967 - Pages: 4
...“’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
...To me “The White Man’s Burden” refers to the idea of colonization and the need and desire to do so. That it was white man’s destiny and responsibility to colonize. The “White Man’s Burden” by Kipling was his artistic take on the Americans attempting to colonize the Philippines. The thought was that the white man was put on earth to make the rest of the world that same as them and it was a “burden” to bear. Europeans justified racist policies in their imperial ventures by having the mindset that they were benefiting the colonized land. The imperialist people were very ethnocentric and thought that their ideas and way of life was the better way of life and by forcing it upon the other nations they were giving them a better life. In “The Gold Watch” by Mulk Raj Anand portrays roles that are similar to the ideas of imperialism. He relates the social hierarchy of Indian to the relationship of colonized people to the people colonizing. The story depicts the idea that even if you are on the lower end and feel less meaningful (colonized) you still respect what you do and desire to keep doing it. Reading the excerpt from “Heart of Darkness” by Joseph Conrad you get the idea that he did not agree with what most Europeans believed about colonization and taking over another nation. He felt it was brutal and unnecessary. The short story (A Drink in the Passage) by Alan Paton to me also is a negative reaction to the ideology of Europe at the time thinking that they have the right...
Words: 305 - Pages: 2
...“Take up the White Man's burden— / Ye dare not stoop to less—/ Nor call too loud on Freedom / To cloak your weariness. / By all ye will or whisper, / By all ye leave or do, / The silent sullen peoples/ Shall weigh your God and you.” reads Ruyard Kipling’s poem, “The White Man’s Burden.” Rudyard Kipling, who was a well-known author around the turn of the century. He was a prestigious college graduate who had won many awards, including the Nobel Prize for writing. This tells us, the readers, that he is a very credible writer. Now, academically, there is much discourse and disagreement in regards to weather the poem is satirical. Many scholars believe that Kipling’s sentiment expressed about Imperialism as genuine, especially considering some of his other work. However, some do believe the poem is satire, and that Kipling is mocking the concept of “The White Man’s Burden.” Regardless of whether or not the poem is satirical, and while disregarding that the poem is directly about the Philippine-American War, “The White Man’s Burden” still shows what pro-Imperialists believed. “The White Man’s Burden” shows modern readers the thought process that lead many Western forces to go to lands they had never been before and systematically destroy a people’s way of life....
Words: 1025 - Pages: 5
...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
...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
...Heart of Darkness Imperialism has always had certain negative effects. Not only are the victims of imperialism exploited economically but they are often bound to experience racism. The natives are forced to abandon their political and spiritual views to learn the ways of the imperialists. In Joseph Conrad's novel Heart of Darkness, Conrad describes the negative consequences affiliated with imperialism for not only the indigenous people, but also the imperialists themselves. In the beginning of the novel Heart of Darkness, Conrad shows that the British believed their imperialism had a positive influence on the Congolese by introducing them to civilization and the British way of life. "Hunters for gold or pursuers of fame, they all had gone out on that stream, bearing the sword, and often the torch, messengers of the might within the land, bearers of a spark from the sacred fire. What greatness had not floated on the ebb of that river into the mystery of an unknown earth! … The dreams of men, the seed of commonwealths, the germs of empires." (pp. 2-3 ll. 29-2). This is an optimistic statement describing the British mentality. They assume that they are imperializing for helpful reasons when they are truthfully just attempting to obtain Congo's resources. Marlow undermines the good intentions of the explorers. In the quote, "Mind, none of us would feel [...] at the back of it; not a sentimental pretence but an idea; and an unselfish belief in the idea." (pp. 4-5 ll. 26-5), Marlow...
Words: 1111 - Pages: 5
...Causes of Imperialism Due to a need/want for raw materials, political power, and a greater expanse of industrially civil societies, imperialism was prominent in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Imperialism was a direct result of industrialization. Industrialized countries had a greater political power (military), more money, and a high standard of living for it's people, and with this came an influential power over other weaker, underdeveloped countries. In document 6, Rudyard Kipling (in his poem, “The White Man's Burden”) described imperialism from a social standpoint, saying that it was the duty of the white race to send their best men (“send forth the best ye breed”) to teach the weak countries/people to become a better society (“to serve your captives' need”). This idea of a stronger country helping a weaker one is shown again in document 7, where president McKinley explained that the US took over the Philippines because they were not fit to govern themselves, and that by taking them over, they would ultimately become a better civilization. Document 8 shows a political reason for imperialism, showing that the french were able to acquire more land through powerful military force. They had much more advanced weapons than those they intended to overpower, and thus could do as they pleased without great difficulty. Document 3 goes along with this idea of power, saying that imperialism originated in a country's political ambitions, such as the nation's...
Words: 364 - Pages: 2
...tools and farming methods, which helped, increase food production. These changes meant less death to smaller colonies, and overall improve the state of living. They now could live longer and have better sanitation compared to the earlier imperialism. A negative effect is seen document two-called "Colonization." In the picture you can see that the colonies doing the mother countrys hard work did not civilize the smaller colonies. They were put to work as cheap labor. They had no freedom, had to do what the mother country said since it has so much towering power over them, they were exploited and were taken advantage of. Another negative effect is seen in document four called "Missionaries." In this quote you can see that when the white people came to the Africans they had nothing but power over...
Words: 767 - Pages: 4
...themselves, exploited their then still undeveloped resources, and enslaved the African people, thus furthering their own commercial interests and expanding their kingdoms. Even after the de-colonization of Africa, the boundaries of the newly born states drawn with no regard to tribal lands and the European and American companies that own the majority of Africa's most resourceful land, are reminders that a form of imperialism still exists. Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness and Rudyard Kipling's "The White Man's Burden" depict the 19th century belief that it is the white man's destiny through God to colonize Africa and other under-developed nations. It is up to the reader to decide how each of these works are to be taken, and whether or not they will see the horror of it all. These two publications along with a 20th century African charter demonstrate that the imperialism existing in 19th century Africa still exists to some extent today. Rudyard Kipling's " The White Man's Burden" was published in McClure's Magazine in February of 1899, just three years before Heart of Darkness was released in Great Britain. Upon reading Kipling's piece, it is difficult to decipher his exact intentions. It is doubtful that Kipling meant his poem to be taken seriously as a whole. He addresses some very important issues of the time, but they can be read in a sarcastic, satirical manner. In the first stanza, Kipling says, "Send forth the best ye breed “/ Go, bind your sons to exile/ to serve...
Words: 320 - Pages: 2
...The main protagonist of Ralph Ellison invisible man is not the only one who remains unseen as the novel unfolds. Another element also cloaked in invisibility follows our unknown character throughout the novel, changing both beat and tempo as the novel develops. Rather like the invisible man, the ongoing musical beat that runs through out the invisible man’ may not be visible yet it is very clearly felt and heard. It is the distinct incorporation of the inflowing musical beat that allows for an interloping of ideas based upon the visible, the invisible and the creative with the novel. The main theme within the ‘invisible man’ is that of the more obvious theme of invisibility. Ellison explores through the use of music such as in the form of jazz the moments or experiences where invisibility takes control. Such breaks in visibility signify a chance for the protagonist to escape and break the mould of the what can be called ‘constitutional visibility’ allowing for the exploration of ones own identity and individuality. An individuality and identity that is not in any way restricted to what is generally accepted as visible. Our Guarantee To You No Quibble Money Back Guarantee! We are so confident in our ability to produce top level academic work that we are prepared to back it with a "No Quibble, Money Back" guarantee! Such breaks that allow for such explorations to take place within the novel can be seen from the very beginning where in the prologue the protagonist recalls...
Words: 2836 - Pages: 12
...half the consonants and twice the apostrophes So my philosophy can’t be valid. Like I speak slave and you speak slave master This isn’t a plantation, it’s a classroom. White people think they run shit because they got money to buy a thesaurus You say, "gargantuan", I say, "big as shit" -----------pause------------ Still, big as shit, it don’t really matter I guess AP stands for "asshole pretentiousness" And if you don’t know what that means, look it up, find a synonym You like doing that shit. You also seem to like judging a book by the color of its author Because apparently Maya Angelou is inferior due to her grammatical errors, But white man Mark Twain can write a whole novel in nothing but grammatical errors And that shit is a literate masterpiece! Well, I can’t help but to pardon my people’s slang because real niggas ain’t real niggas If they don’t got a twang, I won’t apologize. I won’t apologize for mean muggin' from the back of the classroom. Talking about existentialism like a motherfucking boss! It’s not your fault you can't vibe with me! Niggas ---Pause---- can’t vibe with me Either because as soon as I raise my hand for anything other than a bathroom break I become a weirdo. And God forbid I excel. A 4.0 means I’m four shades lighter because apparently Intelligence is a white trait. At least that’s what I’ve gathered. This one girl asked me: “Why would I use big words, so I can sound like you?” You know what I sound like? Like I’ve read a book...
Words: 546 - Pages: 3
...What's the White Man's Burden? "The blame of those ye better, the hate of those ye guard." The Europeans thought that they were helping an unknown territory colonize but they destroyed a continent could've been so different to how it is today. They tore up Africa and divided it like there wasn't tribes and communities that were different than each other. They care for themselves and just wanted land and resources. The Africans never wanted the New Imperialism to happen since it changed a lot for their people and territory. The Imperialism brought many people and changes to Africa, one change is the Scramble for Africa. The Scramble for Africa was when the Europeans powers divided Africa, they took all of Africa besides Ethiopia and Liberia in 1880. European powers did not care about the religions or tribes of the Africans....
Words: 757 - Pages: 4
...A country takes over another country, tricking the citizens, taking their resources, land, and even people. Things Fall Apart and White Man’s Burden are strong examples of this. Imperialism. The Africans are taken over by the Europeans. Things Fall Apart is a book written from an African’s perspective, this African is Chinua Achebe who was actually from Nigeria. White Man’s Burden is a poem written from a European’s point of view. Rudyard Kipling wrote White Man’s Burden, he was a European. The authors of each of these texts clearly convey their opinions on imperialism. In White Man’s Burden, Kipling shows that imperialism is something to be proud of, a community is establishing their power. However, in Things Fall Apart, Achebe demonstrates that imperialism is not all glorious, it is humiliating to the imperialized country....
Words: 600 - Pages: 3
