Kimberly L. Jones
Colonial & Post-colonial Literature
Dr. Craig White
July 5, 2001

Final Exam

    European imperialism has resulted in customs and belief structures being imposed on other nations and cultures, resulting in colonized nations experiencing an evolutionary process of assimilating and rejecting the colonizer’s influence on their culture.  After the intrusion of imperialism subsides, the culture subjected to colonization faces an identity crisis due to the fact that they have been forced to adopt ideas that have tainted the rituals, customs, and beliefs that once formed the fabric of their nationality prior to colonization.  A dialogue can be discerned in colonial and post-colonial literature that illustrates the assertion of ideas by colonizers onto the colonized, as well as the repercussions of the loss of national identity that the colonized experience after the departure of the European colonizers.        

      The process by which colonized nations assimilate and eventually deny the ideas of the colonists is described in Chidi Amuta’s article “Fanon, Cabral and Ngugi on National Liberation” where he outlines Fanon’s three stages of the process: the assimilation phase where the colonized exhibits his acceptance of the ideologies possessed by the colonist; the “cultural nationalist phase” where the colonized realize they must take ownership of their identity, but they are not able to do so due to the fact that they feel “culturally alienated”; and a phase involving nationalism on the part of the colonized (PCSR 158).  Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness and Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart are texts that depict the assertion of imperialism and assimilation of these ideas by the colonized, while E.M. Forster’s A Passage to India and Arundhati Roy’s The God of Small Things serves as examples of the struggle for identity and a sense of nationalism the colonized inevitably experience following imperialism.

      When the narrator’s aunt in Heart of Darkness alludes to the fact that it is necessary for people to go to less developed countries in order to civilize natives and bring religion to them, her opinion mirrors the imperialistic attitude existing in the West during the colonial era.  In addition to other incentives for colonizing nations such as the acquisition of property and natural resources, Europeans believed they were enacting good acts through bringing Christianity to what are now defined as third world countries.  Conrad’s text provides the perspective of the English colonizers, such as Kurtz, who are portrayed in an immoral and ruthless light as they attempt to enforce their ideas onto the Africans and “civilize” them.  Throughout Conrad’s text, the Africans are referred to as “natives” and “savages,” and they are not given a voice, which disallows the reader the opportunity to understand the situation from their point of view. However, the fact that Conrad does not give the savages a voice reflects the image that the English colonizers had of the Africans—they did not view them as humans who actually did have voices.   In order to justify robbing the Africans of their land and cultural identity, the European imperialists had to view the Africans as less than human.  As the European imperialists began to occupy native lands in greater numbers, forcing their beliefs onto the natives, the natives inevitably began to assimilate the information being forced upon them.

     Chinua Achebe responds to Conrad’s text in his article “An Image of Africa: Racism in Conrad’s Heart of Darkness” as he outright declares Conrad to be a racist due to his depiction of the Africans in his text.  A dialogue exists between Heart of Darkness and Achebe’s Things Fall Apart from the perspective that the African voice is heard in Achebe’s text.  Achebe argues that Conrad is writing from a European perspective and is aligned with the notion that the Africans were savages; Conrad fails to address the fact that the Africans had a perspective as well. While the Africans in Conrad’s text could not respond to the Christian ideologies that were more than likely being forced upon them, Achebe’s characters are able to tell their story of the effects of imperialistic entrenchment on their culture.  Characters in Achebe’s narrative such as Okonkwo understand the dire consequences the assimilation of Western ideologies into their own belief structure will have on the purity of their culture.  The effects of colonialism are depicted in Things Fall Apart as the colonists interrupt the natural progression and growth of a culture by prematurely introducing technology such as weaponry. Even though the community in the text is not isolated from violence (there are instances where Okonkwo is depicted as beating his wives), the colonists displace the balance that existed in the culture prior to their arrival.  Achebe portrays the European ministers as completely disregarding the gods that were worshipped by the community, and teaching the Africans that Christianity was the one and only religion.  Since the Europeans did not understand the African culture and believed that any culture apart from their own was uncivilized, the Africans are treated as children who must be educated.  As a result, the European influence created a division in the community through introducing dissension among groups with varying religious beliefs (Christian ideology vs. the worshipping of African gods), and the community becomes subject to ruin.

     In his text, Achebe addresses the lack of depiction in Conrad’s text of the natives’ reaction as everything that defines them as a culture is robbed from them and replaced with foreign concepts and ideas that they are forced to assimilate into their original cultural ideologies.  The destructive effects of the English colonists is clearly seen in Achebe’s text as Okonkwo chooses to kill himself rather than continue to exist in a situation that will continue to be muddled by European influence. Even though there are circumstances leading to Okonkwo’s suicide, his death symbolizes the absolute resistance of the Africans to the idea of extinguishing their cultural beliefs. Achebe answers Conrad in the sense that, in contrast to the lack of the African perspective in Heart of Darkness, the Africans in Things Fall Apart are individuals who are part of a culture and who are cognizant that it is being stripped from them before their eyes.

    The process of what Chidi Amuta refers to as “cultural emasculation” is depicted at a different stage in Forster’s A Passage to India than is seen in either Heart of Darkness or Things Fall Apart.  Forster’s narrative depicts the colonized at a stage where they are beginning to question what has been assimilated into their culture, but their reactions are never followed through upon since they tend to feel helpless and alienated.   Just as Achebe’s text answers Conrad's text by depicting the Africans as humans who understand that their culture is being destroyed due to its dilution from an outside culture, Forster’s text continues the dialogue by illustrating the reactions of the colonized after the process of assimilation has actually occurred. 

     The characters in A Passage to India are completely immersed in an environment affected by Western influence.  Just as Achebe and Conrad’s texts depict Europeans projecting their ideas onto the colonized cultures, Forster depicts Europeans creating perceptions of what they feel India should be. In his article entitled “Orientalism,” Edward W. Said states that the Orient was a European invention due to Europeans associating the East with what is exotic and mysterious (PCSR 87).  Forster’s characters are living in a world that has been completely defined by the Europeans.   The Indians are forced to indoctrinate Western thought into their belief structures while also playing the role of subject to the Europeans as is the case with Dr. Aziz.  Aziz is an Indian character who is aware of the influence of Western thought in his life, and he is determined to prove his level of responsibility to the Europeans.  Of course, it would not have mattered how responsible Aziz proved to be, colonizers such as Ronny Heaslop would always view him in a subordinate position. By the end of the text, Aziz represents a colonized individual who is questioning the Western thoughts he has assimilated into his own cultural ideologies, and begins to resist the English.  Even though he does not completely disassociate himself with Western thought, he begins to break away from the ideas that have been forced upon him in order to reclaim his nationality. In the final pages of the text Aziz states that one day, “India shall be a nation! No foreigner of any sort! Hindu and Moslem and Sikh and all shall be one! Hurrah for India!” (361).  The question discussed throughout the text amongst the Indians about whether or not Indians and English can be friends has been answered by Aziz at the close of the text—they can only be friends when the English have departed and the Indians can reclaim their nationality.  Forster responds to Conrad and Achebe in regard to the idea that despite the imperialistic attempt by the Europeans to erase cultural ideologies of nations such as Africa and India, the native inhabitants will eventually return to reclaim those beliefs. 

     Yet, returning to ideas and concepts that were maintained before the introduction of Western thought is a difficult task for individuals whose past has been erased and replaced with a new national culture; there is a constant struggle to regain a national identity. Arundhati Roy’s The God of Small Things depicts an Indian family who is living in a post-colonial world constantly influenced by Western thought.  While the third stage of cultural evolution, according to Chidi, is nationalism, which is characterized by a return to strict adherence to traditional customs and beliefs,  Roy’s text continues the dialogue created by A Passage to India in addressing the subject of whether or not colonized nations can fully reclaim nationality.  The God of Small Things depicts that Western thought continues to seep into every facet of colonized nations through language and culture. Rahel and Estha are fascinated with manipulating language and understanding how English words combine to create meaning (i.e., cuff+links=cufflinks).   Despite the attempt to acquire their own national identity, the characters in the text will always be haunted by the “History House,” which will remind them of European imperialism. There is also a resistance to relinquish the value placed on English characters such as Sophie Mol and her mother; it is indoctrinated into the psyche of the colonized to deem the colonizer as possessing more worth or value as a human being than they possess.  For this reason, it can be argued that Roy’s text depicts the ever-present and pervasive influence of European imperialism. 

     Roy’s text serves as an example of the lack of national identity that exists following the rule of the colonists.  Once the colonizer’s rule ceases, the colonized are free to return to their original cultural ideologies, but this is not an easy task since they have gone through the process of cultural assimilation.  Jamaica Kinkaid refers to this occurrence in “A Small Place” as she discusses the Antigua that she knew as child no longer exists for many reason; however, the main reason is due to the fact that the English no longer rule there. Kinkaid states, “I met the world through England, and if the world wanted to meet me it would have to do so through England…(PCSR 94). The God of Small Things supports Kinkaid’s idea of the colonized seeing the world through the eyes through that of the colonizer. Even though Indian culture is depicted in the text through social constructs such as the caste system, Western thought greatly affects the characters in their values, dress, and language. 

     While Jamaica Kinkaid voices her disdain for the English rule which created the struggle for identity that many colonized nations have experienced and are still experiencing, Derek Walcott’s poetry depicts an individual who is desperately attempting to find his place in between the two worlds—one of original cultural ideologies and one tainted by an imperialistic nation. In his poem “A Far Cry from Africa,” Walcott states, “Between this Africa and the English tongue I love? Betray them both, or give back what they give? How can I face such a slaughter and be cool?” (18). Walcott’s poem exhibits the voice of an individual who is torn between two cultures with which he can identify, which is an inherent problem in the process of colonization. Despite the immense effort the imperialist forces invest in trying to erase the colonized nation’s culture, religion, and values, they can never fully erase the colonized culture’s memory of the past.

     The dialogue existing between Heart of Darkness, Things Fall Apart, A Passage to India, and The God of Small Things illustrates that people will naturally desire a return to their past. Unfortunately, the ideas that have developed through the texts suggest that returning to the past can actually only remain a desire; Western influence is not easily diminished once it has been assimilated into a culture’s sociocultural context.  Roy’s text responds to the other texts in providing a narrative supporting the idea that Western thought introduced through colonization becomes deeply rooted in colonized cultures; as a result, individuals living in previously colonized nations will more than likely continue to experience the identity struggle which Derek Walcott so eloquently articulates through his poetry.

Dear Kimberly,