Thomas King's Techniques Used To Construct The Past

A contrived narrative that reconstructs the past in the light of the present and the subjectivities of the author, that is the essence of history. History as learned by the modern student is the author’s manipulated, subjective reconstruction of the past. Thomas King demonstrates in his book how historical authors are able to manipulate the past using various techniques to construct a certain atmosphere in the reader’s mind. He says, “I tried to recreate an oral storytelling voice… In the Christian story, I tried to maintain a sense of rhetorical distance and decorum… These strategies colour the stories and suggest values that may be neither inherent nor warranted.” By drawing out certain points, glossing over others, and using different language,

History is in basic terms, the narrative of the past. Therefore, it can be heavily influenced by the one narrating. While King explores the deliberate methods of shaping historical narratives, Howard Zinn discusses how authors can unintentionally shape the past to align with their personal biases. Zinn states, “A historian’s strong belief in certain values and goals can lead to dishonesty or to dishonesty or to distortions of history. But that is avoidable if the historian understands the difference between solidity in ultimate values and openness in regard to historical fact.” Zinn is a realist, he acknowledges that each person carries with them a cross of biases and subjectivities. These are constructed by the events that that person has witnessed, the places they have known, and the people they have interacted with. He accepts these perspectives and says that there is no way to rid society of them. He does, however, critique the historical community for not acknowledging these biases. In his own piece, he states his bias and urges other historians to follow

This can be seen as early as the age of the founding fathers. Takaki says, “In order to survive, Jefferson declared, Indians must adopt the culture of the white man.” As early as the years of our founding fathers, white men in positions of power forced minority groups to conform to the expectations of the society they wished to create. Men revered as revolutionary, moral, and exemplary founders of this nation perpetuated the long-standing belief in Rudyard Kipling’s “White man’s burden.” They believed they had a duty to “civilize” the savage beasts both on the American shores and the ones they viciously stole from the African coast. This mentality continued on through the the first centuries of America’s life, and is seen very clearly in the civil rights era. Revered civil rights activists like W.E.B. DuBois preached the value of higher education, law, high society, and cultural aspects formerly “owned” by wealthy White men. He urged the African-American population to stop complaining and saying, “we are diseased and dying, cried the dark hosts; we cannot write, our voting is vain,” but to take action and become what American society praised. Examples of social construction can still be seen today. King’s story vividly shows this. “I told her she was crazy to allow people to treat her like that.