Analysis Of The White Man's Burden

Through his work, “Of Our Spiritual Strivings,” W.E.B. Dubois takes the reader on a journey through the typical black man’s eyes. He creates a new meaning of the African American man as he shares personal experiences and stories of the past alike. He plays upon the heart strings of every reader, no matter the race, with his literary knowledge of words, use of pathos, and stories of his past experience to pull in emotional ties to his work. The application of dualism allows the reader, who is most commonly white men, to choose a side to sympathize with, for Dubois gives the sense of double consciousness as the African and the American throughout his entire work.

The white man's burden is the idea that saving those who are considered less than is a burden that has been placed on the white “superior” race. The Poisonwood bible shows this burden through a Baptist family who goes on a mission trip to the Congo to save the unsaved. The author, Barbara Kingsolver, presents the idea of the white man's burden through the missionary trip that the price family is on. The father, Nathan, has different views towards the saving of the Congolese people than the wife and daughter, while he believes that his journey to please God should be prioritised, his family soon begins to question their views on all things God.

The white man’s burden is an idea that the white men have a job to take care of the uncivilized beings and develop them to be a more socially endowed race. Their belief that they are superior to the natives is where this is rooted. This idea excused racism and portrayed it as more of a positive element in our society, rather than the destructive mechanism that it actually is. It also caused white men to truly believe that they are better than any other race out there. In “Shooting an Elephant,” by George Orwell, the narrator’s brain is subconsciously imbedded with this notion. He claims to be opposed to imperialism and everything about it while also hating his job and the people associated with it. These two things cannot go hand in hand.

On the other hand, White Man’s Burden is a political poem and was created in 1899, around the same time as Hilter’s manifesto. During this time it was the end of the Spanish American war. Industrial Revolution was going on and also colonization was occurring by most

David R. Roediger displays the history of how the theory of “whiteness” has evolved throughout the years in America in his book, The Wages of Whiteness. According to Roediger, “whiteness” is much a constructed identity as “blackness” or any other. He argues that this idea of “whiteness” has absolutely nothing to do with the advantage of the economy, but that it is a psychological racial stereotype that was created by white men themselves. He claims that it is definitely true that racism should be set in class and economic contexts, also stating that “this book will argue that working class formation and the systematic development of a sense of whiteness, went hand in hand for the U.S white working class.” Roediger basically lays out the fact that “working class ‘whiteness’ and “white supremacy” are ideological and psychological creations of the white working class itself.

In today’s society we face a lot of issues, but there is one issue that stands out to me most. Which these two poems address, that is injustice towards other race in America. In Langston Hughes “I Too” and “The Weary Blues” the trouble of unjust towards African Americans, weigh on the speaker’s mind. Each poem reflecting on the same issue just a little bit differently.

The concept of the “White Man’s Burden” came from the Europeans belief that is was there job to shape others into them, an idea that meant the Europeans viewed themselves as superior to the rest of the world. The a thirst for power in Europe and nations sought ways to gain more. The widely unexplored continent of Africa was viewed as a source of said power and for imperialism. Imperialism is when a strong nation seeks to dominate another country politically, economically, and socially. The driving force for imperialism was economic while competition and politics were propellers in their actions. With money comes power, so whoever had the most money would have the most power in the world.

All three of the poems discussed in this essay relate to the struggles suffered by African Americans in the late 18th century to the early 19th century in many different ways. They had to live under harsh

The reading of The white man’s burden is written by Rudyard Kipling. In this poem is he starts off by saying how white people to "Send forth the best ye breed" to go into "exile" and help their "captives." Some of the other main points stated were how white people should use small words and patiently repeat themselves in order to help the others such as black people in understanding them talking. Some other points

One metaphor Kipling uses compares white men to horses that have to carry a heavy load when he writes, “To wait in heavy harness” (5). The words “heavy harness” reveal Kipling’s belief that colonizing the countries and civilizing them is a difficult job. The metaphor itself reveals Kipling’s belief that civilizing these countries is a necessary venture, relating to the theme of duty. This can be concluded from the metaphor because a horse has to go forward to advance just like civilizing the colonies is necessary to advance. These ventures would have significant implications for all parties involved. For the colonizers, it required significant time abroad and for those being colonized it would mean the replacement of their culture. Another way Kipling proves the theme of duty is through repetition. Kipling repeats the phrase “Take up the White Man's burden” (1, 9, 17, 25, 33, 41, 49). In the phrase, “burden” stands for the hard work that white men have to do to civilize the world. The repetition of this command proves the theme of duty because its shows Kipling believes the civilizing of developing countries is an urgent matter. Overall, Kipling’s use of metaphors and symbolism contribute to a tone of

The cultural criticism that we see in both poems is this idea of racism or making one race or group seem inferior to the people who are usually in power or the majority. In the poem named the white man's burden, we see how the white man is being named the heroes that came to save the savages that included the black men and Native Americans. The narrator specifically states that the savages were not being grateful for the idea that they were being modernized by the ideas of living and thinking of the white men. In the poem, it says, “Your new-caught, sullen peoples,

Within the following are my analysis of both McKinley’s Philippines speech and Rudyard Kipling’s poem “The White Man’s Burden”. I have provided my interpretations of both sources as well as my opinions of their meanings and effect on us as a nation and society. Both sources provided for this assignment provided an insight to the social and political agenda’s to capitalize the imperialistic aspirations and stamp the label of an “Empire” to the rest of the world. Late 1800 American’s were sharply divided whether to be annexationists or anti-annexationists, but also acknowledged the equally powerful forces of racism, nationalism, and more importantly commercialism, that persuaded the United States actions. Nevertheless, history has showed us that without the imperialistic mindset the United States used to forward progress our expansion globally, we more than likely wouldn’t be the empire we are today. It’s one of our

Kipling’s poem, “The White Man’s Burden”, written and published in 1899, speaks about the power that one race has over another. The character Heathcliff from the novel, Wuthering Heights, depicts the characteristics shown throughout this poem. Kipling’s poem articulates superiority and responsibility by the use of language, form, and meter. The first eight lines explains how the colonizers are cast as victims. “To wait”, signifies only the patient one will be served. By waiting they are waiting like a waiter or a server. They are wearing a harness waiting to be told what they should do. “Half-devil and half-child”, is showing the inferiority between the “pure” Europeans. “Patience”, “veil the threat of terror”, “check the show of pride”, “open speech”, “simple”, “profit”, and “gain” are phrases of the whites of having to show restraint. “Gain”, gives a connotation of accusing satirically towards the non-Europeans. In other words, the Europeans believe that they are showing restraint and are able to “gain” by helping the “Half-devil”. This next stanza

He has a student who is struggling, and he wants to help her the best he can. He tries to connect to her through his own experiences and gives her the chance to redeem herself. However, Carol takes advantage of his kindness in Act II. Carol files a report against John to the tenure committee. Carol wrote in the report that John is sexist, elitist, a time waster, and that he told a sexually explicit story to her while locked up in a small room with her. She also misconstrues his words about “The White Man’s Burden,” which is a poem by Rudyard Kipling about the American occupation of the Philippines. John mentions “The White Man’s Burden” in the first act to compare public/private schools to the Spanish-American War. It is implied that Carol wrote in the report that he used the phrase to demean and belittle her and other women. Carol later says that John does not have anymore power. She talks about his group, which is assumed to mean men synonymous with power, versus her group, which is assumed to men women synonymous with defenseless. She tells John that even if he did not misuse his power, he is a part of a group that has taken advantage of their privileges. Again, John tells Carol that she is

They considered the work a burden and thought that the Africans were savages.” In lines 7 and 8, Kipling describes the Africans as “Your new-caught, sullen peoples/ Half-devil and half-child” making them seem like crazy, stupid devil people. Other lines describe the Africans as “sullen” and “silent” making them seem a little dumb. From the beginning of the poem, where Kipling writes “Take up the White Man’s burden/ Send forth the best ye breed/ Go bind your sons to exile/ To serve your captives’ need;” he makes it seem as it is a huge burden on the Europeans but that it is also their duty to help the Africans