What Does Caliban Symbolize In The Tempest

In Shakespeare’s The Tempest, Caliban is enslaved by Prospero and Miranda. He is taught the language in order to communicate. In a slight act of defiance, Caliban curses at Prospero and Miranda in the language they have taught him. He believes this is a way for him to benefit from his new knowledge. Caliban’s cursing is a symbol of resistance as it symbolizes the Native Americans opposition to European colonization.

Prospero and Miranda were exiled from their homeland and forced to flee. Caliban is the only being on the island they find themselves in. Similar to how the Native Americans treated the colonists when they first arrived to the Americans, Caliban is kind and respectful to Prospero. He teaches Prospero about the island and Prospero

takes pity on him. However, after attempting to rape Miranda, Prospero enslaves Caliban with his magic. He is forced to work and follow all of Prospero’s orders. Though it can be argued that Caliban deserved to be enslaved and punished, it cannot be forgotten that Prospero essentially stole the island from Caliban. The island originally belonged to Caliban’s mother’s, Sycorax but Prospero took control. Caliban has no other choice but to accept his enslavement. He can, however, use the language against his captors. Caliban’s cursing is his way of “talking back” to those dominating him. As a slave, he is expected to sit quietly and do whatever he is ordered to. By cursing at Prospero and Miranda, Caliban is resisting the conventional ways of power. Though he is bound to slavery by magic, Caliban has some power of his own to make things harder for Prospero rather than be fully compliant.
In A Short Account of the Destruction of the Indies Bartolemé de Las Casas speaks about the different forms of resistance of the Native Americans.

The greatest form of resistance was the physical resistance of fleeing from the Europeans as they ransacked the natives’ homes. Many of the Native Americans fled to the mountains. Las Casas says that the “local people see the mountains as a refuge and flight as a solution to their plight” (119). The mountains were viewed as an escape from the horror that was occurring. It is mentioned several times that the mountains were where the natives chose to run to. However, fleeing did not lead to successful solution. Even when the natives dodged the initial attacks, the Spaniards went after them and almost always captured them. No one was safe from the immanent torture. In the end, the mountains did not provide any sense of protection. Las Casas also speaks about the mental resistance of the Native Americans. The Europeans had initially claimed that their goal in the Americas was to convert as many people to Christianity as possible. Unfortunately, the religious goal of the explorations was overshadowed by the greed of the Spaniards. Instead of spreading the word of God, the Spaniards spread the blood of the natives. In one of the accounts, Las Casas speaks of a cacique by the name of Hatuey. When the Spaniards arrived in Cuba, Hatuey fled but was later captured and staked. Before Hatuey died, a Franciscan friar spoke to him about God

and Heaven. Las Casas says that Hatuey “asks the friar whether Christians went to Heaven. When the reply came that good ones do, he retorted, without need for further flection that, if that was the case, then he chose to go to Hell to ensure that he would never again have to clap eyes on those cruel brutes” (28-9). Though Hatuey’s initial resistance does not work, he does get the final say when he decides to reject Christianity. Even the Europeans’ “goal” of converting the natives does not work out for them. Hatuey rejects all that the colonists offer him, including the good aspects of religion. He dies with the satisfaction of never allowing the Europeans inside of his head.
Though it is possible for the Native Americans to resist, it never usually results in a positive outcome for them. During one instance, in the Kingdom of Yucatán, the son of the chief was forced to leave the kingdom with the Spaniards. When the son refused to leave his home, “the Spaniard took out his dagger and lopped off first one of his ears and then the other” (de Las Casas 74). The Spaniards were simply too strong to oppose. It was almost impossible for the natives to get away from their horrific power. Chaos ensued in every part of the Americas the Spaniards landed in. As stated before, the most common method of resistance was fleeing. Las Casas mentions that each time a native would flee, the Spaniards would send a search party.