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Features of post colonial theory in literature
Colonialism in post colonialism literature
Features of Post colonial literature
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Robinson Crusoe is an excellent adventure story since its publication in 1719; both the novels and the hero have become popular to everyone. The surface of this novel tells only an adventure story, but a conscious reading of the novel shows that colonialism is technically presented underneath the storyline where issue such as race, power identity formation and so on are presented from a colonial perspective. Robinson Crusoe is not just an adventurous fiction, it is a story in which a European man gradually masters his own compulsion and extends his control over a huge, indifferent, and hostile environment. The protagonist of the novel is a typical colonial character. He sets on a distant Caribbean island to establish his own colony, his own civilization and his own culture. Defoe deals with colonialism by portraying a wonderful fictional picture of an adventurous man, who gradually becomes a master over an island and establishes his own colony. In Robinson Crusoe representation of colonialism is clearly reflected through the relationship between the colonized and colonizer, representation of a colonized land and people, and representation of colonialism from the viewpoint of trade, commerce and buildings empire. Robinson Crusoe is known as an allegorical novel. Religiously this novel asserts a kind of “spiritual journey” of the protagonist, economically it is a story for the expansion of the trade and from psychological perspective Robinson Crusoe deals with an alien. But this chapter will try to demonstrate the extent to colonialism which shapes the novel.
Robinson Crusoe is a popular fiction of eighteenth century where the author represents imperialistic attitude of a European man, who wants superior position to authorize or to ...
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...ot by any physical force but by imposing some hidden beliefs. After giving language Crusoe also instructs Friday in religious knowledge. Crusoe creates a deep impression upon Friday’s mind by giving his superstitious beliefs of Jesus Christ. Crusoe had not only saved the life of Friday but also tries to save Friday’s “savage soul” by imparting to him the true knowledge of religion and the Christian doctrine. It is obvious that Crusoe imposed his own culture on Friday to make him a civilized European man like him. To him his only wish: The Soul of a poor Savage, and bring him to the true Knowledge of Religion, and of the Christian Doctrine, that he might know Jesus Christ, to know whom is Life Eternal. I say, when I reflected upon all these Things, a secret Joy run through every Part of my Soul, and I frequently rejoyc’ed that ever I was brought to this place. (220)
The book “From Unincorporated Territory” [Saina] , by Craig Santos Perez, is an interesting story because it shows how colonialism is the destruction of the author’s culture and identity on his native island Guam. It forced the author’s family and himself to make a drastic change in their life and migrate from Guam to America on an outrigger. After leaving in the year 1995 and not returning until 2008, the author depicts to the audience what has changed due to colonization. My thought on colonialism is firm. That I am confused about it. The reason for my confusion is I believe it is necessary for a certain purpose most people cannot see. Even though know that it is wrong; I know it destroys somewhat the vast majority of the colonized culture but I can’t help to think that the author has a message of that purpose most people cannot see. After reading the book, what I just admitted even to me sounds a little cold hearted, but reading his point of view in this book, it made me realized I’m not too wrong for making such a confession. I believe the author has a hidden message about it. Once I had a gut feeling I wanted to expose that message in my essay.
Chinua Achebe was an influential Nigerian author during the 1900’s who was credited with his three essays which have been fused together into the book “Home and Exile”. In his stories he discusses things such as his own Igbo people, the problems with colonialization, the strength that stories can have and many more topics. A big part of his essays are on his thoughts of colonialism, the impact it has had on his home of Nigeria, and how stories written by others either helped justify colonialism or rejected it. Chinua argues that stories have their own power to fight, and while stories themselves do not have the ability to directly fight colonialism; they do, however with their power of words, stories can motivate and encourage people to stand up against colonialism. In proving this thesis to be a true statement, I will be providing evidence of the how, why and the extent to which stories can fight colonialism.
Watt, Ian. Myths of Modern Individualism: Faust, Don Quixote, Don Juan, Robinson Crusoe. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 1996.
In light of the presence of colonization of in the film, we can connect various aspects with our lectures from class. In particular, we can connect what our class learned regarding the process of colonization to the film within the film. Specifically, from our reading of Columbus's journals we can associate the text with a visual presentation, however we do not see the falsehoods Columbus depicts in his journals. The film being created within the film sets out to portray Columbus in a more truthful manner which is very interesting to view. Through the film within the film, the first step of the process of colonization presents itself through the arrival, pragmatism, as well as, clash of two cultures. Additionally, the second step of conquest
Mannoni, Octavio. Prospero and Caliban: The Psychology of Colonization. Trans. Pamela Powesland. Ann Arbor: U of Michigan P, 1990.
Perceptions of exceptionalism are embedded throughout countless works of literature, encouraging readers to take strides against the institutions holding them back and to develop a stronger sense of individualism. Order and rebellion, and the balance between them, play significant roles in molding exceptional individuals apart from the society that shaped them. The ideal “exceptional individual” is depicted through characters such as Robinson Crusoe in Daniel Defoe’s novel, Robinson Crusoe, and Jim Hawkins of Robert Louis Stevenson’s Treasure Island. These characters dare to disobey others, seek greatness, and challenge the suffocating societies they came from. Both Crusoe and Jim manage to defy societal and class expectations and achieve their
... colonists as inhumane, unethical and deceitful, furthering the notion that this piece of literature can be viewed as a work of anti-colonialism.
Daniel Defoe wrote his fictional novel Robinson Crusoe during the 18th century, a time of colonization, and the British agricultural revolution. In the novel Robinson Crusoe desires civilization and comforts during his years on the island, so much that he alters the ecology of the fictional “island” in order to fulfill his craving. Consequently, Robinson Crusoe changes the ecology of the island, with the introduction of invasive species, European crops, and enclosures. Crusoe uses the practices of the British agricultural revolution to colonize the island, and to better his life during his stay.
Crusoe's journey in the canoe exemplifies the reality of his life in that, although he longs to please and obey God, he must also contend with his instincts for self-preservation, looking to himself as his own savior. When Crusoe finally reaches land after a tumultuous experience at sea in his canoe, he states ."..I fell to my knees and gave God thanks for my deliverance, resolving to lay aside all thoughts of my deliverance by my boat,..." (112). Crusoe strives for the Christian ideal, an ideal that leads him to look to God for assistance and not to man/himself because God holds the only power to give and take life. When Crusoe drops to his knees in gratitude to God for his safe return, he appears to have achieved this ideal. However, one must note the use of the word "resolve" in this passage. The Oxford English Dictionary defines the word "resolve" as used in the eighteenth century as follows: to decide, to determine, or to convince one of something. The fact that Crusoe had to convince himself and come to a determination in order to lay aside his thoughts of his boat saving him rather than God, reveals to the reader that C...
From the beginning of some life, people make many choices that affect their personal growth and livelihood, choices like what they should wear and/or what they should do. Even the littlest choices that they make could make a big difference in their lives. In the book, Robinson Crusoe retold by Daniel Defoe, Robinson Crusoe, while on the island, made many choices, big and small, that affected his personal growth and contributed to why he survived for so long. On the island he made a lot of smart decisions of what to do in order to stay a live. On his second day he made a choice to go back to the ship to explore what was there. He spent a lot of time building his home when he could have done something more important. He also took a risk and helped out a person that he did not know. These were some of many choices that Robinson Crusoe made throughout his many years on the island.
Sir Tomas More’s Utopia indirectly criticizes fifteen hundredth European Catholic society for corruption, violence, poverty and inequality. As a lord chancellor to Henry VIII, Thomas More was well aware of these problems and wrote a satire to promote his awareness in a careful manner, as we can see his hesitation to publish the book in his letter to Peter Giles, especially when he described his “two minds” (More, 8). To criticize the problems of his times on a safe platform, he created a fictional character Raphael Hythloday, who is wise and knowledgeable of new places from the sailing experience with Amerigo Vespucci. This not only reflects the times in which people stepped out on their voyages to the New World, but also provides a foil to the European society—the ideal Utopian society of the commonwealth.
"Daniel Defoe achieved literary immortality when, in April 1719, he published Robinson Crusoe" (Stockton 2321). It dared to challenge the political, social, and economic status quo of his time. By depicting the utopian environment in which was created in the absence of society, Defoe criticizes the political and economic aspect of England's society, but is also able to show the narrator's relationship with nature in a vivid account of the personal growth and development that took place while stranded in solitude. Crusoe becomes "the universal representative, the person, for whom every reader could substitute himself" (Coleridge 2318). "Thus, Defoe persuades us to see remote islands and the solitude of the human soul. By believing fixedly in the solidity of the plot and its earthiness, he has subdued every other element to his design and has roped a whole universe into harmony" (Woolf 2303).
The novel Robinson Crusoe was written in 1719 by Daniel Defoe in London. It can be separated into three parts that include Crusoe’s life before the shipwreck, the twenty-eight years that he was stranded on an island, and his experiences after being rescued from the island. The first section of the book is basically about how Crusoe didn’t take his father’s advice in not pursuing a life at sea. He goes out to sea anyway and at first has some successes, but by the third time, his luck had run out. Most of the book focuses on his time stranded on an island off the coast of Venezuela. Throughout his time on the island, Crusoe is able to start a life for himself and become stronger in faith. The last section of the book is about his escape from the island when he learns he isn’t the only one there. There are also cannibals living on the island. Luckily, he is able to find another native man named Friday, and rescues him from the cannibals. He teaches the man his skills and converts his religion. After much trial, they are able to leave the island and escape to En...
When Robinson Crusoe gets shipwrecked and stranded on a desolate island “I am cast upon a horrible desolate island void of all hope of recovery” p.91, in the Caribbean he first considers it a place of captivity holding him back from his dreams and wishes like a prison, but when he is finally able to leave it some twenty-eight years later to return home to England he yearns to return back to the island. Why? You may ask yourself, read on and I will answer that question. Crusoe grows to enjoy being the ruler of his own world, he also becomes antisocial, and starts to enjoy being alone. When he returns home to England he finds no one waiting for him, and he feels lost.
Through realistic literary elements of the novel and the themes of individuality, isolation, society and being content versus being ambitious, readers of Robinson Crusoe can relate to many experiences that Crusoe faced. Crusoe’s story represents the genre of the middle class; it is the narration of middle-class lives with the help of realism elements and prominent themes that reflect on middle-class issues and interests. Crusoe represents mankind in the simplest form, he stands on middle ground no higher or lower than any other. He represents every reader who reads his story; they can substitute him for themselves. His actions are what every reader can picture himself or herself doing, thinking, feeling or even wishing for (Coleridge and Coleridge 188-192)