Examples Of Paradox In The Gentleman Of The Jungle

In The Jungle, Upton Sinclair reveals the vicious and merciless characteristics of the system of Capitalism through Jurgis. At the beginning, he comes to America full of hopes and dreams to improve his life but then he helplessly falters because of the cruelty of Capitalism. The Jungle portrays two oppositional images of America, which is seen by newcomers like Jurgis as a free land of opportunities that would give them fortunes and make their dreams come true, but in reality is a world of slavery under Capitalism.

Upton Sinclair’s novel “The Jungle” is a classic story of greed, corruption, and misfortune following Jurgis Rudkis and his love interest/eventual wife, Ona Lukosazite, and their two families. The novel shows off the complexity of and fickle nature of life and all that within it that we all take for granted. The characters feel very human and their troubles are very sympathetic as well. One begins to feel delight as well as anguish at the author’s non-existent mercy.

Upton SInclair’s novel, The Jungle, is a novel based on the “Gilded Age” in american history. It is the life of a working man named Jurgis Rudkus and as the story progresses, it shows the corruption and dishonesty of the people during this time period, as well as their reasoning behind their actions. Also as the novel continued, it showed the author's inspiration for the title of this novel. Throughout the book, Upton Sinclair had scattered metaphors as to why Capitalism is corrupt and why Socialism is better. With subtle hints to social classes and how Jurgis progresses through them through corruption.

On a “Trip to Congo” Sir Richard F. Burton writes a story during his exploration to the Yellalla or Cataracts of the Congo leaving some detail insights of the customs and behavior of the African communities. He only gives his point of view from an imperialist position and sometimes denigrates and diminishes the people and their culture. Even though Burton had a translator throughout his trip the language barrier prohibits interaction with the communities and the ability to empathize with the natives. Interaction and understanding is the key to appreciate their behaviors, instead Burton

“The Jungle” truly is a touching story that depicts just how bad being an immigrant in America was. They often worked in worse conditions than anybody else while those in charge lived comfortably. The book also shows how hopeful some wear and how strictly they believed in the so-called American dream. Jurgis was a strong spirited man, which often helped his family. Ona, seeing her husband work as hard as he did, trusted his feelings that they would soon make it out of the hole they were stuck

The Jungle by Upton Sinclair details the life of a Lithuanian immigrant named Jurgis, in the late 1800’s. In the novel, Jurgis and his family immigrate to America in order to find prosperity and follow the “American Dream”. However, upon reaching reaching America, they face many trials and tribulations. Foremost, no one in the family is able to speak English, as well as being poor immigrants that are easily taken advantage of by society. Initially, Jurgis tries to keep his head up and tries through his own work to succeed, but as the events of the novel unfold, we see him tore down and corrupted. The moral corruption of Jurgis can be seen as a reflection of the environment in which he lived. In the end, Jurgis believed that the capitalistic society that he lived in was against the common man. The Jungle illustrates how greed and unchecked capitalism can have devastating effects on people.

The representation of anti-colonialist struggles and post-independence milieu stem from the creation of artificial Africas, that perpetuates prejudices, and stock narratives throughout dominate media and film. The Kitchen Toto follows the journey of Mwangi, the son of a preacher who is killed for opposing an independence movement. The film portrays African’s as malicious, corrupt, and in need of colonial saving by depicting the Mau Mau, the independence group who killed Mawangi’s father, in a negative light. They are shown in the night with machetes, forcing people to swear allegiance, and killing their countrymen without sufficient reasoning. A Good Man in Africa depicts Africans as malicious, corrupt, and in need of colonial help as well. During a presidential election, the favored candidate, Sam Adekunle is attempting to get the land back that Britain conned his father from. His tactics come off as corrupt, and malicious; in actuality, Britain is attempting to keep control the Kinjanja’s economy. This story is representative of neocolonialism, and reflects Nigeria’s struggle to profit from their oil reserves after they were declared free from Britain. Anti-colonialist struggles and post-independence milieu are presented as malicious, corrupt, and in need of colonial saving through narrative strategies in The Kitchen Toto, and A Good Man in Africa.

To begin, Walcott uses imagery to describe the prominent violence in the history between colonized Kenya and the British colonists. He quickly describes that Kenya’s Kikuyus are not the only ones to blame in this scenario when he says, “Corpses are scattered through a paradise. / Only the worm, colonel of carrion, cries: / “Waste no compassion on these separate dead!” (4-6). In these stanzas, it is easy to see that Walcott is unbiased in his opinion on colonialism. Even though he states that Africa is a paradise that is scattered with corpses (4), he also believes that the colonists are not the only ones to blame. This relates back to Fanon’s concept of complicity in which two nations with a violent, apocalyptic past come together to

“The Myth of Wild Africa” introduces one to the false, preconceived notion of Africa and Africa’s people that were around since the early 1900s. The book compares older, colonial methods of conservation that were coercive and based on the “myth”, and newer Afrocentric conservation efforts that are more objective and inclusive to the African people. The book emphasises that the inclusion of African people is what will make African conservation successful. In the past, Africa as considered an untouched paradise,

This chapter in Africans and Their History by Joseph Harris presents some of the roots of the stereotypes and myths about Africa in the past and for the most part are still held today. Harris discusses how the “greats” of history, geography, and literature starting a path of devaluation of Africans that writers after their time followed. Harris also denounced the language that these “greats” used to describe and talk about Africans. He asserts that this language inherently painted Africans as inferior and subhuman.

The British colonization of Kenya destroyed the culture and economy of the native people, but it established a democratic government and left Kenya a more modernized country.[1] During the 1880’s through 1914, the start of WWI, was an age of imperialism. One place that felt victim to this imperialism was Africa. At this time Africa was a wholly unmodernized continent. The reason the Europeans went after Africa was the introduction of the idea of social Darwinism and the “white man’s burden”. Social Darwinism is the belief that only the strongest and the most cunning can make it to the top of the social ladder, and it was the White Man’s Burden to step in for these undeveloped countries

The desire to conquer land that was previously unexplored has existed throughout history. This desire forced many indigenous societies, who were usually dominated technologically, to adapt to the teachings and overall system of the ‘superior’ conqueror nation with destruction as the only alternative. This causes a major impact on how a certain society functions, even after seeking independence from the foreigners. The rise and fall of indigenous societies can be analyzed through various media. Chinua Achebe is a novelist specializing in African literature, and this essay deals with the themes regarding colonialism in one of his many novels. In

In Chinua Achebe’s essay, “An Image of Africa: Racism in Conrad 's Heart of Darkness,” Achebe purports that Joseph Conrad’s short story, Heart of Darkness, should not be taught due to it’s racist caricature of Africa and African culture. In Conrad’s book, Marlow, a sea captain, is tasked with venturing into the center of the Congo, otherwise known as the Heart of Darkness, to retrieve a mentally unstable ivory trader named Kurtz. Marlow narrates his adventures with a tinge of apathy for the enslaved Congolese who are repressed beneath the foot of the colonizing Belgians. In Heart of Darkness, the Africans are reduced to “savages” and cannibals with little or no moral values. It is Achebe’s argument that due to these characterizations, it is an abomination that Heart of Darkness be continued to be taught. Despite Achebe’s vehement opposition to the teaching of Conrad’s novel, academics should not only continue to teach Heart of Darkness in a lyrical sense, but also a historical one.

Dominant media produces films using generalized, and distorted images of Africa to create the idea of a dark continent in need colonial help, due to native civilization’s inability to live in a functional society. Mountains of the Moon, follows Richard Burton and John Speke, two explorers in search of the Nile. Set in pre-colonial times, this movie constructs images of Africa, perpetuating African’s inability to live in developed societies, and shows their natural inclination to appease British explorers. The Kitchen Toto, tells the story of Mwangi, who becomes a British officer’s kitchen Toto after his father is killed for opposing the clandestine independence movement. This movie shapes inaccurate images of African independence movements, showing those who are not under colonial rule as threatening, malicious, problematic, and incompetent of leadership. A Good Man in Africa tells the story of a British Diplomat, Morgan Leafy, who lives in Kinjanja, a nation recently freed from British rule. This film portrays Africa’s dependence on neocolonial rule through the Kinjanja’s fait, which rests in the hands of Dr Alex Murray, the man who is in the way of Adekunle’s exploitive building project. These three films represent ho western cultures imagination has evoked stock narratives, creating artificial Africas, in dominant media and films, leading to falsified images expanding from pre-colonialism to twentieth century neocolonialism.

Jomo Kenyatta’s ethnography, Facing Mt. Kenya was written in the 1930’s about Kikuyu society during 1890-1910, the early years of British colonialism in Kenya. Since the coming of the early colonization the Kikuyu people have tried to develop a religious attitude that would define it’s own culture while adapting forcefully to the European conforms of religion.