Kipling’s Notions of Race in Plain Tales from the Hills
"No other Western writer has ever known India as Kipling knew it"
"nobody can teach you British India better than Rudyard Kipling"
"There will always be plenty in Kipling that I will find difficult to forgive; but there is also enough truth in these stories to make them impossible to ignore".
Salman Rushdie, "Kipling", from Imaginary Homelands, London: Granta Books, 1991, 74-80.
It may be discerned from the quotes displayed above that Rushdie, a writer not renowned for suffering fools gladly, accords Kipling some epistemological superiority. Yet when examining images of race and blood in Kipling, the critic turns most frequently to Kim, and I contend that the short
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Here the ideal is represented as Lispeth, and the missionaries and the Englishman, far from being the pillars of empire, are delineated as underhand, arrogant and duplicitous.
Going native is a deeply complex notion, carrying simultaneous multiple meanings. While at a superficial level it may be read as white settlers’ fear that one of their own may reject the mores of the colonizer and turn into the native other, it may also represent a fantasy role, in which the white man may be reified as the wily, romantic, unknowable, native other. T.E. Lawrence, (Lawrence of Arabia), is perhaps the best known of these figures.
Kipling’s version of this character is Strickland, who appears in "Miss Youghal’s Sais". He has the unlikely ability to pass unnoticed among "the native riff-raff", was "perpetually ‘going Fantee’ among natives" and had "mastered the thieves’-patter of the chángars" (28). Kipling ascribes fantastic and unbelievable talents to Strickland, enabling the author to examine western notions of culture, what constitutes an eastern other and how deeply or superficially human character is permeated by culture and nurture. McIntosh Jellaludin, in "To be Filed for Reference" has a wife who is "A native woman" who is not "civilised" (327). Witness the author’s attempt to
The United States at one point decimated native people along with their identity and culture, simultaneously, exploiting them as individuals. In the novel “How to Write the Great American Indian Novel”, Sherman Alexie admonishes against toxic stereotypes held by white people against native people thus, showing hegemonic structures of them. This is because the dominance of white culture exploits people of other culture, race, identity and gender to acculturate to the white norms. The novels junctions are informed through a lens of an American Indian to awake the ignorance on stereotypical views for native people. The author draws attention not only to native people’s beauty, but also to their poverty, alcoholism and frequent
Throughout the duration of “The Poisonwood Bible” one truth remains increasing evident, the westerners, the christians, and even the United States of America have no business messing around in the affairs of the Congo, a people they know so little about. Nathan Price, so sure that he can save these uncivilized people, the Tribe of Ham, from God’s wrath, he sacrifices his own family. It turns out however, that he, like those before him, the Underdowns, and the US misunderstand the local customs, ultimately leading to their failure. “The White Man’s Burden” by Rudyard Kipling is a very famous poem that takes the opposite stance to that of Barbara Kingsolver. Kipling argues that it is the more civilized, more intellectual, more holy white man
For hundreds of years, Native Americans have been persecuted by outsiders who invaded their lives and territories and subsequently robbed them of their lives. Through various readings from Tecumseh, Benjamin Franklin, and Andrew Jackson one can see how perception greatly affects interactions between Native Americans, interactions between whites, and interactions between Native Americans and whites. It is interesting to see how these different writers perceive issues of unity and civility.
It was believed by some that the white man held the burden to bring its dominion, architecture, language, beliefs, government, politics, and civilization to others to release them of their primitive prisons. Rudyard Kipling writes a poem called, “The White Man’s Burden”, in which he addresses this sole responsibility of the Europeans. Kipling states how no matter what the savages send against Europe’s invasion, they will lose to the ultimate goal of civilization. It is white man’s duty to bring law and order to the world, and Kipling wastes no time stressing
While in India Kipling was exposed to British imperialism in India. This helped him in many novels he wrote along with poems such as “The Declaration of London” and “A Day’s Work” ("Kipling, Rudyard" Nobel Prize Winners). Kipling moved back to Britain and there he married his wife, Carrie, who was the younger sister of a publisher he worked with. Soon after Kipling married Carrie, he and his wife moved to Vermont in the United States ("Kipling, Rudyard" World Authors). Living in the United States inspired Kipling to write many works staring Anglo-Americans. One of these works, Captains Courageous, tells of the vast lifestyle of a European boy heading for New York, although no one but the captain’s son believes him. This work helps to show Kipling’s views on Americans. The rich European is a liar in the eyes of the Americans. It also reflects on Americas view on foreigners during the time period. Many Americans rarely welcomed immigrants, and typically treated immigrants with animosity. Eventually, Kipling moved back to Britain, where he published most of his poetry. Most of Kipling’s poetry relates to British imperialism. Kipling was accused of being an imperialist and jingoist ("Kipling, Rudyard" Hutchinson Encyclopedia). He shows some of his imperialistic ways in his poem “The White Man’s Burden” where he pleads for the United States to take up responsibility in the
Ferry justifies this by stating, “that European nations acquaint themselves with generosity, with grandeur, and with sincerity of this superior civilizing duty” (Ferry, para. 4). He is directly implying that these uncivilized nations are filled with savage people whom are completely incapable of governing themselves. Rudyard Kipling, another advocate of imperialism, also claims that these savage and barbarian like people need the guidance of a civilized nation. In his poem titled, “The White Man’s Burden,” Kipling calls these foreigners, “sullen peoples, half-devil and half-child” (Kipling, para. 1). Kipling goes on to express that even though these people will protest and not be grateful, it is still the duty of the white man to educate, govern, feed, and protect these lesser people. Unlike Ferry and Beveridge, Kipling understands that the white man will receive nothing for all of his effort and good deeds. “By open speech and simple, an hundred times made plain to seek another’s profit, and work another’s gain” (Kipling, para. 2). What Kipling means by this is that the white man, the superior race, will not receive the benefits of new markets or cheap labor. He conveys the idea that by bringing food, medicine, education, and Christianity to these underdeveloped peoples, the white man is living up to
Kipling’s person experiences are constructed to leave a message of maturity for both audiences. Kipling has his poetry set in a parallel structure and left many of the lines open-ended for further interpretation. He guides the reader in the right direction of the mature thing to do, however, depending on where a person is at, the audience will take their own route with their personal mindset. Kipling is trying to convey the message that maturity is not age, but rather growing from situations and how a person handles them. He is trying to get this ideology through to his child so he can be a Man one day. Having this personal experience will also build ethos as a speaker to the audience.
Sending the best men to war, holding back your pride, taking profit of learning from the mistakes made by others, getting rid of famine and diseases, not stopping for any less, and figuring out your manhood, and by not being childish anymore should be kept in mind in order to Imperialize Europe. This poem was Kipling’s response for the speed of imperialization in
Rudyard Kipling’s attitude towards the British Empire was significantly negative. The novella essentially expressed Kipling’s feelings towards British Imperialism and his overall frustration with the British Empire. However, there are several positive qualities of the Empire pointed out by Kipling several times throughout his novella. Despite his mixed feelings, he is ultimately dissatisfied with the British Empire, claiming that it is “the White Man’s Burden”. Kipling was a steadfast imperialist, living in a time of British domination and oppression. He shared similar outlooks with the natives, that the majority of them were oppressed by the government and the wealthy. The upper class was greedy and wanted working men to do all of the work for them so that they could reap the profits. Kipling conveys his attitude towards British Imperialism through parallelism and figurative language.
The author Rudyard Kipling in his book Kim mentions race almost everywhere possible. Race is apparently one of the important things to the author. The author at the very beginning of the book highlights the dark tanned skin of the people as he mentions and I quote “burned black as any native”. He also stresses that he himself is white. One things the author masters in his book is mentioning the race of each and every character in the book. Let’s take a look at one of the passages of the book
In the poem, “The White Man’s Burden” by Rudyard Kipling, the author addresses this directly to the Americans and the Philippines about how the Europeans
The meaning of the word “white” is not only descriptive of a race, but it is descriptive of the power and success within this particular discriminatory society. Native Son highlights the unjust distribution of social power between wealthy, privileged groups - white people - and poorer minority with less opportunity - black people. Bigger’s, the main character, world is divided between those who have power and those who do not; the opening scene of Native Son introduces this theme of power by making Bigger act in a violent way which illustrates his desire for control.
Rudyard Kipling was an english author that wrote short stories and poems. Some of his famous work would include “Just So Stories”, “The Jungle Book” and “Gunga Din” during the 1900’s. (www.biography.com) He was born in Mumbai, India on December 30th, 1865 in the Bombay Presidency of British India, to Alice Kipling (one of the four Victorian sisters) and John Lockwood Kipling. For Kipling, India was a wondrous place. Along with his younger sister, Alice, he explored the local markets with his nanny. He learned the language, and in this diverse city of Anglos, Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists and Jews, Kipling fell in love with the country and its culture. However, Kipling was forced to move to Britain for a better education forced by his mother. Kipling continued studying in Britain until one night we had a nervous breakdown.
Rudyard Kipling’s 1899 poem “The White Man’s Burden” epitomizes the European man’s view on imperialism, Euro-centrism and social Darwinism. Four centuries before 1899, such ideas were briefly hinted in the letter from Christopher Columbus to King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella, however by 1899 these attitudes strengthened and developed fully into their complete meaning. The U.S and Europe’s imperialism in the nineteenth century were the most influential ever in the history of human civilization. The immense motive for imperialism came from social factors including religion and Social Darwinism.
Rudyard Joesph Kipling was born to John and Alice Kipling in Bombay, India on December 30, 1865. His father, John, was the principal at the School of Art in Lahore, India. His uncle was an artist and his aunt at the time was a future British Prime Minister. In his early childhood, Kipling and his sister were raised by an Indian couple who spoke “kitchen Hindi”. At the age of six Kipling and his sister were sent back to Britain to pursue