Christian Anigwe
Ms. Wiesinger
H Sophomore English—3
3 September 2015
Nonviolence: Mahatma Gandhi’s Weapon Violence and war has been used throughout the existence of mankind to assert dominance, gain wealth, or to maintain one’s gained power. Mahatma Gandhi was an Indian man who fought for justice and equality in India by leading protests through peaceful means. He also openly advocated against the British’s rule in India. What made Gandhi so powerful was that he fought his adversaries using the unique technique of nonviolence. Nonviolence introduces the idea of “cowardice vs true strength” many leaders face today. Gandhi focused on these ideals mainly because of his early childhood and teachings from his mother. Gandhi was an influential
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12). The use of nonviolence affected India unlike other methods known in history which made other flock to Gandhi and the use of nonviolence. Gandhi had a strong sense of judgment that came from his parents, especially his mother. His mother believed in fasting, nonviolence, and acceptance (even of other religions). By only using Satayagraha and successfully rebuilding a corrupt Indian government, Gandhi had attained great power and influence; thus, showcasing his qualities as a leader. Gandhi also used his power in England to change the nation’s perspectives with only nonviolence: "My ambition is no less than to convert the British people through nonviolence, and thus make them see the wrong they have done to India"(Gandhi Para. 6). Gandhi is using his spiritual qualities; trying to connect with all of England and not force them to do anything. Gandhi knew how to strike an adversary in a political and spiritual mindset to get what he wanted. His ideas and morals can reconstruct a nation while obtaining/maintaining power and …show more content…
Gandhi relates nonviolence to the level of pure-heartedness and faith in God: “Non-violence is a power which can be wielded equally by all - children, young men and women or grown-up people, provided they have a living faith in the God of Love and have therefore equal love for all mankind.” Gandhi used his religious beliefs, saying if someone has a strong faith in God they will have love everyone and nonviolence will be more effective and believes everyone should use his technique of nonviolence. Gandhi then goes as far as relating nonviolence to the God inside of everyone: “Non-violence is an active force of the highest order. It is soul force or the power of Godhead within us” (Citation). Gandhi expresses his religion and believes nonviolence has to do with the amount of God one has inside of their person. Gandhi states that those who see God can have a deeper understanding of nonviolence; this helped him express his power to thousands of different people throughout the
Gandhi, King, and Mandela each fought for their causes with a method that was very rarely used but even less rarely successful. Their efforts at peaceful protest without retaliation to attacks were successful in overthrowing trans-continental rule and ending segregation of races. Gandhi transformed the idea of non-violence into a way to fight for freedom and justice which would ultimately end in success and
Mohandas Gandhi was born in 1869 in the Indian coastal city of Porbandar (Background Essay). He then studied law in London, where he noticed that Indians were expected to imitate their rulers, the Englishmen (Background Essay). Gandhi wanted all people to live free, even those imposed by India’s caste system so he decided to take action in a peaceful manner (Background Essay). By doing so he was able to gain India’s independence in 1947 (Background Essay). This caused Gandhi to be known as “ Mahatma” or “ Great Soul” because he was able to do it without violence (Background Essay). Gandhi’s nonviolent movement worked because he accepted the consequences to his actions, strived for fairness to all mankind, and didn’t think of the British as enemies.
Mohandas Gandhi was the first recorded individual to adopt a non-violent method based form for change. His primary objective was for people of all ethnicities and social class to live freely amongst each other, even those inflicted upon by India’s ancient caste system.
Throughout history there has been struggles between those being oppressed and the oppressors. Some of these struggles have been bloody, gruesome and violent while on the other hand some have been nonviolent and peaceful. Various methods have been used in order to make a stand against those that are in power. Mainly when a group of individuals come together violently or nonviolently they are able to create change and get their message across. Using nonviolent actions much can be achieved such as changes in government policies, challenge injustice, and can weaken a dictatorship. While the struggles of nonviolence differ around time, era, and groups the works an example of Mahatma Gandhi delivers different methods of nonviolence. In the novel
British rule was tough on many Indians. Gandhi, an Indian born lawyer, believed in freedom and peace for his people. He once experienced racism when he was kicked out of a train in Europe. He changed people’s point of view without breaking the law, which was tough for him. Gandhi made his nonviolent movement work through the use of determination, peaceful civil disobedience, and being a powerful leader.
Mohandas “Mahatma” Gandhi was a spiritual leader from India. Dr. King was inspired by Gandhi after hearing a delivery by Dr. Mordecai Johnson president of Howard University. His words about Gandhi inspired King to want to learn more about him. He purchased all the books he could find and grew more passionately about Gandhi’s beliefs. Gandhi believed in non-violence. Gandhi tested various methods of non-violence. He felt that having high standards and morals did not make one weak. Gandhi felt that good should prevail over evil.
When people think about nonviolent movement leaders, the first person people think of is Mahatma Gandhi. Born in October 2, 1869, Gandhi is known for his accomplishment for freeing India from Britain in 1947 with no violence. But how did he do it? His nonviolent movement worked because he had mass appeal, compassion, and clever planning helped him free India.
Mahatma Gandhi was the leader of the Indian independence movement against British rule. He proposed a speech to all of his followers explaining what his resolution was to gain independence, without using violence. Mahatma Gandhi adopts a subtle and affirmative tone while revealing that non violence and the spreading of love is the way to approach this movement for independence. He also portrays his outline for the movement by appealing to the audience's emotions.
Throughout history, many conflicts have happened, some with resolution, and other without. We often tend to think of solving conflicts with war, since most of our history classes are based around World War I, World War II, and so forth, but many conflicts were fought, and successfully won using nonviolent resistance. Many people would use Gandhi as a well known example. Gandhi’s plan of civil disobedience revolved around this big idea called “satyagraha,” which he explains as, “a satyagrahi should always possess civility and humility, qualities that indicated self-control and an humble approach to truth” (Gandhi 50). He later explains that satyagraha is “truth-force” and that truth is soul and spirit, or “spirit-force.” “It excludes the use of violence because man is not capable of knowing the absolute truth and, therefore, not competent to punish” (51). He used this strategy to fight for indian independence. Many other incidents in the world have been fought using civil disobedience, including Women’s Suffrage.
What is essential here for Gandhi is that nonviolence is inherently linked to sacrifice, not struggle. This is to say that while a warrior participates in violence in an attempt to prevent potential harm to himself (we might term this the courage of self-defense), the practitioner of nonviolence instead learns to accept the harm, and in doing so participates in a higher act of virtue—the courage of willing self-sacrifice.
When Gandhi was trying to prove a point he did two main things, he would get arrested or he would stop eating. One of the main ways he got the Indians to stop using violence against the English was through not eating. He would not eat for days and sometimes weeks just to get his people to stop fighting. Although the founding father of civil disobedience was Henry David Thoreau but Gandhi was the first to really adopt the lifestyle of non-violence, he took constant beatings to show that being violent wa snot the answer. There was two different ways that Gandhi looked at violence, passive and physical. Passive meaning that you get under someone's skin and provoke the physical violence from the person. Physical obviously meaning physically harming someone or something. Gandhi used the term “Ahimsa”, which translates to nonviolence in english, when talking about nonviolence. The term means that no violence is okay passive nor physical. Gandhi also believed that violence was not a natural thing of humans, he believed it was learned through experience.
The idea of non violence has stemmed off Gandhi in many forms. Gandhi once quoted “Non-violence is the greatest force at the disposal of mankind. It is mightier than the mightiest weapon of destruction devised by the ingenuity of man” and he fulfilled what he said.
Aroused by the massacre of Amritsar in 1919, Gandhi devoted his life to gaining India’s independence from Great Britain. As the dominant figure used his persuasive philosophy of non-violent confrontation, he inspired political activists with many persuasions throughout the world (Andrews 23). Not only was Mahatma Gandhi a great peacemaker, but also his work to achieve freedom and equality for all people was greatly acknowledged. Gandhi’s unconventional style of leadership gained him the love of a country and eventually enabled him to lead the independence movement in India.
Gandhi viewed nonviolence as the most powerful thing anyone can possess. For Gandhi, nonviolence is more powerful than any weapon
Mahatma Gandhi once said, “Nonviolence is not a garment to be put on and off at will. Its seat is in the heart, and it must be an inseparable part of our being". The book The Essential Gandhi expresses Gandhi’s views on issues like untouchability, religion, nationality, his movements like civil-disobedience are deeply shown in this book. Readers can learn about Gandhi’s childhood, his early married life, his realization and transition in South Africa, and his ways of approach towards attaining Independence in India. The book did a fantastic job in showing the Gandhi’s principles like non-violence with exemplary contexts.