LITR 5734: Colonial & Postcolonial Literature

Sample Student Midterm 2005

Mary Brooks

October 1, 2005 

Resistance is Futile

Colonial and Postcolonial literature seems on the surface to be pretty obvious and does not require alot of in depth interpretation.  It appears that there are two opposing perspectives on the circumstances that occurred when a country entered another country and interacted with the native people that resided there.  If one were to simply take this superficial view that things are or were as they seem in the novels then one would be missing out on the true message of the novels, an the insight they give into the lives of the occupied and the occupants.  The view created by the novels is one that allows the reader into the three prong process that occurs when a country is taken over by a stronger country and the meaninglessness of the native people’s resistance to change brought by the new people. 

The colonizer’s goal whether it be wealth or power it always follows the same pattern to control the local people and create circumstances in which the colonizing people will have all the advantages.  The colonizer’s priorities upon entering a country are to complete the following process to capture the locals’ minds with religion, their lives with government, and their bodies with military force.  When the natives have been subdued and their minds, bodies, and souls belong to the colonizing force the postcolonial period will begin.  The colonized after years of repression and integration will begin to express the changes they encounter in the “new and improved colonized society”(Mary Brooks).  As Lisa Jones states in her midterm, “ The idea of a linear scale of progression of mankind, as well as a religious ideology, helped colonizers justify the acquisition of territory and peoples”.

The first step to any colonizing force is to subdue the natives by what ever means necessary.  The first line of defense sent in by the colonizers was the missionaries, who attempted the very noble task of capturing the natives souls for God.  Achebe gives an excellent account of the missionaries tact’s in Things Fall Apart  when he relates that “He [missionary] told them that they worshipped false gods, gods of wood and stone”(Achebe, 134).  Convincing the natives that they were wrong was certainly not something that was easy and was often of no use no matter how noble ones purpose.  The capturing of another’s mind often takes more than a man of God can bring to the native people and their culture.  As Walcott states, the missionaries believed that their purpose was “…noble, based on some phrase, forgotten from the Bible…”(Walcott, 380).  The forgetfulness of purpose comes in later in the process, but the sense of purpose and saving of savages is present in every missionary who attempts to convert a native culture to Christianity. 

The missionary seems to miss, what Conrad phrases so well, that “The conquest of earth…the taking it away from those who have a different complexion… is not a pretty thing when you look into it too much.  What redeems it is the idea only”(Conrad, 10).  It is at this point that the missionaries realize that they will not be able to convert all and the next step in the process of subduing the native people is begun.  The arrival of a foreign government and the enforcement of laws completely unknown by the natives begins and the next step in squashing the native resistance is begun..  The courts are built and cases are tried by judges who “judged cases in ignorance” of the rules and culture of the native people (Achebe, 160).  The process of capturing a people is not an easy one.  Each step in removing resistance is crucial to the successful control of the natives considered savages by the colonizing force.

The moment that God is not enough to control the natives a more forceful element is added to the colonizing force the rule of law and government is applied by the “… white man [who] not only brought a religion but also a government”(Achebe, 144-145).  Once force of government is required to subdue the natives who refuse God, the governing by the colonizing country begins and the natives who have been converted “…help hold up the government” and enforce the laws only the colonizers are familiar with (Achebe, 161).  Both Achebe and Conrad related the hardships of the natives in different ways, however both had sympathy for their plight.  Conrad put it quite well when he stated that the white man “…in the great demoralization of the land [and its people] he kept up appearances” (Conrad, 21).  That is really the point of the entire process as it relates to the native people to use them when it suits and exploit them as is profitable, they have no proper place in the world the colonizers are creating. 

This process of colonization comes to completion when the last of the resistance by the natives is subdued with the use of military force.  Those holdouts who refuse the laws and the God of the colonizers will be forced into submission even if it means to kill all those that resist.  As Achebe relates in Things Fall Apart, “Everybody was killed [men, women, children], except the old and sick…”(Achebe, 128).  The ruthlessness of the colonizers is also the reason for the “…postcolonial frequently appears conservative or is unbound…but is essentially radical in the sense of demanding change”(Gugelberger, 584).  The postcolonial native people reflect the brutality of this three step process of colonization by asking and demanding change in every facet of their country.   Whether that change means independence, a return to native ways, or simply the equality of their rights.  The needs of an educated native people against the educated colonizing power is a formidable one and one that cannot be overlooked.  Once brutal force is used there is no turning back, the damage to a society has been done and the consequences will be seen by the colonizer’s in the future.

Each novel relates the process of colonization from a different perspective but each follows the same three processes for the completion of colonization.  While the culture of the colonized is broken down slowly with this process of religion, law, and force; the colonizer never realizes their mistake until the postcolonial period when the views and perspectives of the natives can finally be heard.  Postcolonial culture for the colonized is altered and nearly unrecognizable from its origins. The literature shows that the old culture may not be seen in the main stream of a society that has been colonized.  A form of the old culture, however altered, still exists and thrives in the native peoples of the colonized country.  It is this altered native culture that the postcolonial writer clings to and maintains in concert with the newly acquired culture the colonizers brought with them. 

It is truly ironic that the very same colonizing force that brought such brutality and strife can also be thanked for the education that those writers acquired from them.  Without the education provided by the colonizing force the native peoples would never be able to relate their side of the story and their point of view could never be broadcast on such a wide scale.  It is a sad feature of oral cultures that they leave no record behind.  

We are then left with the fictional retelling of stories by postcolonial writers whose perspectives are trapped between two worlds.  They are neither the colonizers nor the colonized any longer as they can claim heritage to both.  Postcolonial literature should not be considered clearly the truth simply because it comes from a society that was colonized years ago.  One must apply the same rigorous standards that one applies to the colonial versions of the truth.  All information contained in the writings is suspect and should be considered based on the perspective of the writer.  The fictional retelling of any story contains some form of the truth.  It is only by rigorous study and historical research on both sides that one can begin to trust the facts as they are presented.  Truth varies with the perspective of the author and the facts the author decides to include or embellish.

Literature of the colonial and postcolonial writers certainly contains some of the most political and radical perspectives that can be found in the literature of the time.  While it is amazing literature whether or not you dig deeper for the meaning. However, it certainly makes the journey through the text that much better if you understand the background and the perspective of the writer involved.  It is by understanding the blending of cultures that the most interesting and moving works can be interpreted and understood.  Perspective is the key to understanding the texts meaning.  Each author showed their own representation of the cycle of Missionary, Judge, and Soldier as they attempted to subdue the native peoples.  Each also showed that humanity cannot be controlled by brutal force even within their own cultures.  One can clearly see that change was something that was embraced by some and fought by others.

As Achebe stated in his article, the colonized peoples of the world have “…suffered untold agonies and atrocities in the past and continue to do so in many ways and many places today”(Achebe, 259).  It is a tragedy of our world that the powerful always want more and that those that are weaker will always suffer more.  While many people may consider colonialization a thing of the past and something never to be repeated I often ask myself “Has anything really changed, does imperialism still exist?”  The worlds priorities have changed we are no longer looking for gold or for diamonds but now we search for oil.  Will we repeat the mistakes of the past and oppress a people simply to get what we want?  Have we begun yet another cycle of violence and suffering with a native people who simply happen to reside in a country that contains the resources we require?  The past is the past but the ultimate truth is that no matter how hard we attempt not to we continue to repeat the pattern that leads to the suffering of those who are not like us.