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Index to Final Exam submissions 2013 (2013 final exam assignment) Essay 1: Learning Experience |
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Valerie Mead
Essay One
Everything is Not What it Seems: Shades of Grey in my
Learning Experience
By taking Colonial and
Post-Colonial Literature, I have had one thing pointed out to me again and
again: I do not know nearly as much as I thought that I did.
I came into the course confident that my exposure
to other cultures, races, and religions would be beneficial to my understanding
of the texts being presented.
While my background did help to some extent, I was
unaware that I was actually more of an ignorant American (objective 3) than the
enlightened and culturally exposed person I felt I was upon beginning the
class.
It turns out that I knew much less than
I thought I did upon coming to class, and had several lessons throughout the
course that I do not think I could get elsewhere, as I was exposed to works
that, as Susanne Allen says in her midterm, “highlighted the Americans ignorance
to the larger world view of postcolonial issues related to democratization and
modernization” (“Western Culture Nipping at Traditional Society”).
However, the most important thing I learned
throughout the course was that life, especially when it relates to colonialism
and post-colonialism, and the people who live it, are constantly exposed to grey
areas; nothing is black and white, and interpreting a text in such a way is a
good way to fail to understand the truth in the words written.
Coming into the class, I did not even
realize that America, while a settler colony, is obviously also a colonial
empire through its involvement in countries outside of the U.S.
This is something that Americans do not like to
consider because it throws them into the category of “colonizer,” a role that is
usually inhabited by people who are seen as villainous to those being colonized
(objective 2a).
This perception of their villainy, as I discussed
in my midterm, can be seen in numerous works from the semester, including
The Man Who Would
be King.
After being taken over by Dravot, the people of the
village finally revolt after he attempts to marry a young woman, bringing “ruin
and mutiny” (2.76) to those involved; in his colonizing the area, he
successfully made enemies of people who were peaceful to begin with, which is
obviously the work of a villain.
However, just because those who
colonize are seen negatively by those who are being colonized does not mean that
these people are entirely villainous, which goes back to the idea of a grey
area.
In Orwell’s “Shooting an Elephant,” the narrator was
“hated by large numbers of people” (par. 1), but those people did not get to
know him personally and realize that he was just saving his own hide by
following orders, which led to him wearing “a mask, and his face grows to fit
it” over time (par. 7).
Because there is no black and white answer, only
overlapping shades of grey, many Americans have difficulty studying colonial and
post-colonial works; this is something that turned out to be true for myself as
well.
While studying Defoe’s
Robinson Crusoe
and Conrad’s
Heart of Darkness in
classroom discussions, my midterm, and both research posts, my pre-conceived
notions were challenged yet again on the concept of human nature and how it
relates to cannibalism.
These two works have opposing views on cannibals,
with Defoe calling cannibals “the worst of savages” (93) while not taking into
account that they are not bloodthirsty animals, but rather doing this because it
is an act of wartime.
Defoe fails to take into account the grey area I
mentioned before; simply knowing that a person is a cannibal while not knowing
their reasons for doing so is not enough because it does not explain their
behavior, only acknowledges it.
In contrast, Conrad’s Marlow marvels at the
cannibals’ “restraint” (118), saying that he would have “just as soon have
expected restraint from a hyena prowling amongst the corpses of a battlefield"
(119).
Conrad is insinuating that these people can resist their
animalistic urges, meaning that they are more human than animal, something Defoe
did not take into account.
As I did, Crusoe did not take into account the land
of shifting shadows that is human morality and the fact that no matter how it
seems, not everything is black and white.
My ignorance is also evident
when it comes to the fact that transnational migration (objective 1b) is
considered to be part of colonial/postcolonial studies.
While it is obvious now, this was something that I
had not considered initially, so I was surprised to find works focusing on this,
such as
Jasmine, as assigned course reading.
As Cory Owen says in his final exam titled “What I
Thought I Knew,” I feel that these works are a “great way to bridge the gap of
American "ignorance" in regards to other cultures.”
These works were so much easier to read and because
of their relative modernity, easier to understand.
While Jasmine determined to “go away [to America]
and have a real life…[away from the] backward, corrupt, mediocre fools” (81),
the effects of colonialism are long-reaching and do not go away simply by
leaving the country.
From this, I learned that the tendrils of
colonialism reach much farther than I initially thought.
When discussing
Train to Pakistan,
I came to the realization that I was much more ignorant than I thought, as I had
never even known the history behind the formation of Pakistan, let alone that it
caused communal riots so severe that “within a few months, the death toll had
mounted to several thousand” (pg. 24).
This novel shows the nature of man insomuch as both
sides feel they are right, something they use to justify their actions.
This is something that is also seen in the
discussion of cannibalism, as discussed in my midterm as well.
Both sides felt they were in the right and did not
understand why the other disagreed.
Since discussing the nature of man in my midterm, I
have come to the conclusion that there is no black and white, but rather a
shaded area of grey that extends to how and why people behave the way they do.
Understanding how race,
culture, religion, experiences, and more affect the characters we read about is
extremely important, especially when it comes to colonial and post-colonial
literature.
Going in, I had the typical problems that many Americans
do, especially with thoughts of ethnocentrism and basic ignorance.
The major challenges I had with understanding these
characters and texts dealt with my own ignorance on the topics, though much of
that was clarified through class discussions.
I learned a great deal about the subject at hand,
but more importantly, I learned about myself and my cultural ignorance and
biases as well as the shadowy territory of human nature.
Essay Two
Shades of Grey: Gender Roles in Colonial and Post-Colonial
Literature
Like many Americans, I tend
to judge things based on assumptions and pre-conceived notions.
I also like to bury my head in the sand and deny
entirely that I do this.
Taking a course on colonial and post-colonial
studies helped me to realize that I do this and to face the situation instead of
hiding from it.
I had conceptions of gender roles and treatment of
women during these time periods and geographic regions, as well as the people
who make it up. From the beginning, these thoughts were challenged almost
immediately, though it was further compacted towards the end of the semester.
Specifically, works that challenged my conceptions
of gender roles this time were Mukherjee’s
Jasmine,
Singh’s Train to Pakistan,
and Kipling’s The Man Who Would be King,
among other texts.
In Kipling’s
The Man Who Would be King,
women are not treated as respectfully as I would like, but they are still given
options. The native woman who did not want to marry Dravot chose to attack him
instead and was not condemned by her people for doing so.
Within the course of this text, women were treated
like objects, with Dravot even comparing them to animals, saying the natives are
“prettier than English girls, and we can take the pick of 'em. Boil 'em once or
twice in hot water, and they'll come as fair as
chicken
and ham”
(2.50).
Women within this work were considered second-class
citizens at best, and they were not given the option of making their own
choices, as their patriarchal society controlled them.
This negative perception of women was
not just held by Dravot, but was also a common sentiment of the times, with
Peachy noting that “The Bible says that Kings ain't to waste their strength on
women” (2.52).
Women could not argue with the men in their lives
in The Man
Who Would be King.
They were told who they had to marry, as can be
seen when the young girl was “being prepared to marry the King,” (2.62) despite
the fact that the girl in question was “crying fit to die” (2.62) upon being
told her fate and “white as death” (2.72) when meeting her future husband; she
did not want to marry the King, and though she was vocal about it, her
resistance meant nothing.
However, the girl was not completely under
patriarchal control and had at least some semblance of self that can be seen in
the fact that she openly resisted and even bit the “King” (2.74) and ran away,
somewhat similar to how a powerless Jasmine channels Kali when warding off her
rapist.
This theme of oppressing women
continues in
Train to Pakistan.
The protagonist, Jugga, treats Nooran like
dirt, though she did not seem to mind it and almost expected it.
He also treats his mother that way, so it could be
something to do with him personally.
Even other women look down on each other, which can
be seen with Jugga’s mother calling Nooran a “bitch” (152) even though Nooran
was begging for her affection and sympathy.
She is not the only woman who does this, though.
The gypsy grandmother buys into the patriarchal system as well, only she does it
for her own advantage by trying to protect her dancer granddaughter from the
Colonel at the Magistrate, unlike Jugga’s mother who just buys into the system.
In this text, women are treated as
secondary objects, something that men can and do use and do not have choices of
their own.
The entire town in which the work is based seems to accept
this way of thinking and does not discourage Jugga or any other man from doing
the same, which can prove that women were not valued in this society, at least
as much as men were.
This is something that is seen in virtually all the
works we have studied, such as the way Jasmine was looked down on while in India
because of her gender and especially in the way women were treated in the Igbo
village in
Things Fall Apart.
The type of man or position
the man was born into in
Train to Pakistan seemed
to determine the said man’s treatment of the women around him.
For example, Jugga is born into his role as a
villainous rogue because of what his father had done before him.
Therefore, he has to fit into the ascribed gender
role given to him.
Jugga is born into his role, knowing he will be
seen as bad and is bad because of that.
Jugga was “the rock bottom” while Iqbal was “A
Class” (88).
However, no matter the man’s station, there was constant
oppression of and derogatory remarks made against women.
This can be seen throughout the text with the
constant remarks about and threats against women, such as the threat that they
will “rape his mother, sister, and daughters” (171).
Even though women were not causing the problem, men
were going to blame them and destroy them as a result of a man’s follies.
Jasmine
is meant to be read side by side with
Train to Pakistan.
However, Jasmine (like Lucy) breaks traditional gender roles, unlike these
previously mentioned women, which is surprising considering her upbringing.
Most of the women we have read about, such as
Nooran, the wives in
Things, and the women in
King,
conform to gender roles.
While it is true that Jasmine does indeed conform,
she also makes a point of sometimes surprisingly going against that which is
expected of her.
This has a great deal to do with the fact that
during that time, strong, independent women who are seen sometimes negatively
for choosing what makes them happy, something that is exemplified by the ending
of Jasmine.
Jasmine is more unconventional than
other women in some regards, but she is also quite traditional in other aspects.
Though she does not always have to, she does
usually base herself and her personality on the men in her life: she admits that
she had a “husband for each of the women I have been. Prakash for Jasmine,
Taylor for Jase, Bud for Jane. Half-Face for Kali” (197).
Even at the parts when she is at her most
vulnerable, like when she is abducted and raped, she defies convention of a
docile and subservient woman by killing her captor; in doing this, she has a
direct correlation to Kali, the goddess of time, change, and empowerment.
This differs from the other women, who, though they
do have moments where they refute gender stereotypes sporadically, are not as
liberated as Jasmine is.
While she is more liberated than other
women mentioned, Jasmine seems to fall back on tradition when she can’t face the
hardships of her new life.
As a character, Jasmine can be criticized or seen
as losing her traditions, especially as it relates to her gender and her
behavior, but it can also be said that her past was so traumatic that it’s
better to simply forget and rebuild.
Jasmine came from a culture where girls
were not valued nearly as much as boys.
She was supposed to have been aborted, but she
“survived the sniping” (40) and because of that, her “grandmother named me
Jyoti, Light, but in surviving I was already Jane, a fighter and adapter” (40).
With this, the reader can see that Jasmine was
already looking back on her past and associating herself with Jane and her new
life.
Regardless of the fact that her society constantly told
her otherwise, she “always felt the she-ghosts were guarding me. I didn’t feel I
was nothing” (4).
The same can not be said for the other women being
studied.
Even
as a child, Jyoti seemed to rebel against the traditions of India and the fact
that she, as a fifth daughter without a dowry, was unimportant in the greater
scheme of the world. When Jasmine informs her father that she wants to continue
her education and even become a doctor, he calls her “mad” (pgs. 51-52) and
initially refuses. It takes a long argument and a split lip on her mother’s part
to secure her education. However, even with Prakash exposing her to new lines of
thoughts, she “felt suspended between worlds” (76), the old and the new, the
traditional and the modern. Jasmine says that she is not “choosing between men.
I am caught between the promise of America and old-world dutifulness. A
caretaker’s life is a good life, a worthy life. What am I to do?” (240).
With this, we can see that she is conflicted and
while she doesn’t feel guilty about her choice, she does have trouble making it.
To the outside observer, Jasmine may not be the
most liberated person, but through her rejection of tradition and acceptance of
modernity, she is just more liberated than the other characters mentioned.
In
Things Fall Apart,
Okonkwo does not treat his wives, or anyone else for that matter, with respect.
This is common practice, as his village treats
women as commodities.
Men made a point of collecting and purchasing as
many wives as possible, because each marriage was a sign of wealth and
prosperity.
All of this was done regardless of the individual
happiness of the women involved.
Any wealth that was made was done so through a
person’s connections with his family, which is why polygamy was accepted and
encouraged in this culture.
Marriage, and therefore women, were part of the
economic system.
A great deal of children were needed in
order to farm so that a plentiful number of crops can flourish, a plethora of
wives was needed in order to have all of this.
These familial ties helped to form alliances
through communities and other families, and wives were a crucial part of this,
whether they were happy or not.
However, there are elements within the text that
surprised me.
There are obvious gender roles defined
during the text: men must be strong and women must be docile and obedient.
Okonkwo follows this role perfectly: he "never
showed any emotion openly, unless it be the emotion of anger. To show affection
was a sign of weakness; the only thing worth demonstrating was strength" (24).
The village itself supported these views, feeling
that "no matter how prosperous a man was, if he was unable to rule his women and
children (and especially his women) he was not really a man” (45-46).
On the other hand, while wives usually obey and are
silent, sometimes they break their ascribed gender roles.
This can be seen when one of Okonkwo’s wives
protects the other by lying to him.
The wives are viewed as being strong even though
they have no obvious power.
They stand up for their children when they are
about to be killed, while Okonkwo, a man, lets his adopted son be sacrificed.
Gender has a great deal
to do with Colonial and Post-Colonial Literature.
However, as with the previous essay, there is no
black and white with this issue, either.
While there are ascribed gender roles that both
sexes should adhere to according to their societies, many women and even some
men do not follow only these sets of rules.
Most of the time, they pick elements from both
categories and live their lives as they see fit.
Instead of black or white, they wind up just
another varying shade of grey in a world full of shifting shadows.
