Rhetorical Tropes In The Rhetoric Of Empire

     Europeans viewed Africa as a place where there were more jobs as well as investment opportunities doe the middle class, and a place where the lower class was offered higher status, better job opportunities, and a chance to leave life behind and start again fresh. They also believed that the African people were people who needed to be helped so the Europeans went over on various church missions. Rudyard Kipling’s poem, “White Man’s

“Take up the white man’s burden--send forth the best ye breed--Go bind your sons to exile to serve your captives’ need…” -Rudyard Kipling, The White Man’s Burden, 1897

Starting in the mid-nineteenth century, Europeans developed a superiority complex when comparing themselves to the people of less-developed nations. During the age of imperialism, many European powers ventured into Asian, African, and South American lands in order to colonize and impose the rules of Western society. Rudyard Kipling’s poem, “The White Man’s Burden”, properly depicted the racist ideals that developed with imperialism, as Europeans believed it was their duty to civilize the people they viewed as savages. Europeans held a racially superior point of view for almost an entire century. In the latter half of the twentieth century, however, waves of immigrants began flooding into various European nations. This caused the perception

The white man’s burden was to convert them into Christianity in order to make them ‘better’. However, I believe the white man’s burden was selfishly driven and ended with the Ibo people left in chaos. The white man’s burden is explained as “[A] hundred times made plain - To seek another’s profit - And work another’s gain” (Lines 14-16). In his poem, Kipling also saw the white man’s burden as greedy. When he says, “To seek another’s profit” (Line 15). He believes that the white people had other motives besides simply spreading their religion. They wanted to take advantage of the abundance of resources the people had. This was a contributor to things falling apart because the white people not only brought their beliefs about God, but also about how to live, and how things should be ruled. They got so power hungry because they knew once they had fully taken the Ibo people over, they could not only take away their faith, but also their land and their

Many European countries had enough leverage un weaponry and land dictatorship over Africa. By the time European countries were ready to imperialise in Africa, they already had access to inventions that would help them to gain access to take over a Africa. The European countries had access to firearms, diseases treatments, and steam engines which would help them take control of Africa (Doc C). In ‘The White Man’s Burden”, Kipling hints at an importance of imperialising on other countries that go through savage - like conditions, in which he makes the mother country look like a hero who had the skill set and leverage, go save lives (Doc F). However, Khumalo, a South African tribe chief, compares European countries and him to a chameleon eating/killing a fly (Doc F).

One of the main driving factors of European imperialism in Africa is that Europeans wanted to help Africans in need. Part of Africa needed food, water, shelter, and education so some European countries went to travel to Africa so they could help these people. According to Rudyard Kipling’s poem, “Take up the white man’s burden, The savage wars of peace-, Fill full the mouths of Famine, And bid the sickness cease.” (Doc F) In the poem Kipling talks about how the Europeans needed to go to Africa and

The German and British people believed that they were better than everyone else. In Document F Rudyard Kipling wrote a poem calling the Africans uncivilized and a burden. The poem displays ethnocentrism, the belief that your culture is better than everyone else. This document provides a new viewpoint of the cause of imperialism; cultural superiority. When Kipling says “ Your new-caught, sullen peoples, Half-devil and half-child” he is referring to the colonized people. Document B John Ruskin and Freidrich Fabri talk about how the Germans and British are better than everyone, clearly displaying ethnocentrism. Fabri believed that Germany should strive after colonies because they needed to complete with the British to maintain a new position of industrial

In “The White Man’s Burden,” Rudyard Kipling writes, “Your new-caught, sullen peoples, Half-devil and half child...” Kipling is referring to people that were ‘uncivilized’ in accordance to European standards, and in this case, Africans. This demonstrates the superiority they felt in comparison, and in their minds, giving them the right to go in and civilize these people themselves with religion, clothing, education, etc. Kipling also mentions, “Take up the White Man’s burden—The savage wars of peace—Fill full the mouth of Famine—And big the sickness cease.” By this, Kipling meant it was an obligation for the Europeans to feed the starving and to help the sick. It illustrates the mindset of the Europeans who thought they were sacrificing and help the African colonies by colonizing them, whether it was what they truly believed or a mean to make themselves look better. The nationalistic and superior beliefs that Europeans harbored were significant motives for European imperialism in

In history, colonization was a truly popular tradition practiced by great and powerful empires in order to extract and retrieve all materials necessary to support their homeland. However, in order to achieve such sense of commerce and well-being, those colonists who had the power, had to colonize weaker and far less advanced societies. Great powers such as Britain and France would then travel to these societies and implement their rule in order to gain prosperity. Some, those who benefited from colonization, felt that the practice of colonization was an obligation to better the “uncivilized,” societies and help them advance, but the emotional and physical hurt that came from colonizing outweighed the positive aspects. The intention was good, but the manner in which colonization was carried out was poor. This topic is immensely controversial that pieces such as Kipling’s poem, “A White Man’s Burden,” and Achebe’s “Things Fall Apart,” have been written in order to support or go against colonization. But despite much debate, colonization has been a tradition that has caused those regions being colonized much struggle and negativity.

Kipling also showed how the English empire thought they were superior to the natives of India and Kafiristan in multiple ways. Dravot would compliment the natives he was ruling over by calling them English, “These men aren’t Indian, they are English.” This implies that being English is the right way to act. Kipling also displayed English superiority when Dravot refused to listen to the people he was ruling when they protested against him marrying a woman that was not a god. Kipling too thought that the British gained power in a corrupt manner. This was revealed when Dravot claimed to be friends with one of the gods the Kafiristan people worshipped. Both Dravot and Carnehan took advantage of the natives in a fraudulent manner as did the British. Kipling further showed how he thought the style the British were ruling was poor because both Dravot and Carnehan mimicked British methods. Both characters created a contract, modernized the country they took over, and brought new rules, just like the English. In both the story and reality, the people rebel against the English to reclaim their Independence.

Europeans contained the belief that their customs and religious values were the sole method in living. Missionaries from throughout Europe desired to journey to foreign lands in order to teach the civilized and Christian ways of living to the natives. Often missionaries were in competition for converts, and thus supplied imperialism with other drives (Patterson, par. 10). The Social Darwinist ideas were prevalent in this time. The Europeans believed in the survival of the fittest, and it was generally accepted that the Anglo-Saxons were the superior race. In the 1890’s Rudyard Kipling published “Whiteman’s Burden”. This poem defines the white man as responsible for civilizing the “others”. It is supportive of the imperialism of other countries

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.

However, some westerners actually genuinely thought that they should help and westernize the inferior countries of the world. The British went into Africa, thinking that it was their duty to spread their advances of medicine, law, western civilization, and the Christian religion. This was proved to be embraced in the "anthem of imperialism," called the White Man's Burden by Rudyard Kipling. He expressed in the poem that the duty of the "white man" was to teach and help the people who they cast the inferior rank to. However, it is hard to believe that this was Britain's most important goal in their imperialism.

     In one of his most famous poems, Rudyard Kipling said, "Take up the white man's burden!" (146). He was only one of many who believed in the virtues of imperialism in the late nineteenth and the early twentieth centuries. During that period, imperialism was on the rise, and Africa was being swallowed up by competing European nations. The imperialists had many arguments supporting imperialism. They said it was beneficial and, in some cases, essential. Their arguments did not satisfy everyone, but that did not bother them. The justifications ranged from economics to social services, while touching on everything else in between (Hayes 222-3).

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.