Said: Individual or Society Wanderlust holds an infatuating grip to most but seldom achieve. Subsequently, people desire to travel the world in pursuit of unfamiliar lands, remarkable types of leisure, or contemporary approaches to life. There are people who are tourists, they visit a place for pleasure and to talk boastfully about to their colleagues, while others have a thirst to conquer and declare a measure of the world for their own. But there is another important type of traveler: the scholar. A scholar wants to absorb and inhabit a different culture for a moment in time, writing about their experience so they can inform those who cannot explore their wanderlust such as they have. One particular scholar, Edward Said, noticed an interesting
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Burton manifests Said’s allegation that a scholar cannot escape their influences from their society. Burtons ultimate goal for his travel was to manipulate the middle eastern people into believing he was there on a pilgrimage in order for him to gain access to holy temples not yet recorded by westerners. Burton maintained his goal of exploitation throughout his journey unlike Cabeza de Vaca who had a metamorphosis during his travels. Burton flat-out states that he does not care how conceited he appears to be in his writings: “… I make no apology for the egotistical semblance of the narrative. Those who have felt the want of some ‘silent friend’ to aid them with advice, when it must not be asked, will appreciate what may appear to the uninterested critic mere outpourings of a mind full of self” (Burton 5). Burton entirely acknowledges his inclination egocentric narrative which one could assume is of a European mindset because of his conquering attitude of the East, like its some prize to be won. His entire plight encompasses his European first, individual second point of view. In his notations, Burton expresses his opinion against eastern medicine: “medicine in the East is so essentially united with superstitious practices” (Burton 13). Burton reasoned that their medicine had unfounded beliefs and were more mere fallacies than actual cures. In contrast to Cabeza de Vaca, initially he thought the same, but later demonstrated their useful medicine on himself because of how assimilated Cabeza de Vaca had become. Conclusively, it is imperative to indicate that even though Burton’s appearance was that of an Eastern man, meaning his customs and practices were legitimate and authentic, his body split from his mind. Burton definitively remained with a Western ethos, in which is evident: “I offered my services… for the purpose of removing that opprobrium to modern
Burton manifests Said’s allegation that a scholar cannot escape their influences from their society. Burtons ultimate goal for his travel was to manipulate the middle eastern people into believing he was there on a pilgrimage in order for him to gain access to holy temples not yet recorded by westerners. Burton maintained his goal of exploitation throughout his journey unlike Cabeza de Vaca who had a metamorphosis during his travels. Burton flat-out states that he does not care how conceited he appears to be in his writings: “… I make no apology for the egotistical semblance of the narrative. Those who have felt the want of some ‘silent friend’ to aid them with advice, when it must not be asked, will appreciate what may appear to the uninterested critic mere outpourings of a mind full of self” (Burton 5). Burton entirely acknowledges his inclination egocentric narrative which one could assume is of a European mindset because of his conquering attitude of the East, like its some prize to be won. His entire plight encompasses his European first, individual second point of view. In his notations, Burton expresses his opinion against eastern medicine: “medicine in the East is so essentially united with superstitious practices” (Burton 13). Burton reasoned that their medicine had unfounded beliefs and were more mere fallacies than actual cures. In contrast to Cabeza de Vaca, initially he thought the same, but later demonstrated their useful medicine on himself because of how assimilated Cabeza de Vaca had become. Conclusively, it is imperative to indicate that even though Burton’s appearance was that of an Eastern man, meaning his customs and practices were legitimate and authentic, his body split from his mind. Burton definitively remained with a Western ethos, in which is evident: “I offered my services… for the purpose of removing that opprobrium to modern