Because the unfamiliar Ibo culture challenges the District Commissioner’s identity of omniscient, he subconsciously dehumanizes the Ibo people in an attempt to maintain his superiority.
Because the Ibo culture is unfamiliar to him, the District Commissioner feels threatened by it. He considers the Ibo people’s “love of superfluous words” to be “infuriating” (206). The District Commissioner’s anger towards the Ibo customs is a result of him feeling provoked by new ideas. Before, the District Commissioner believed that he had always been in a position of authority and had always known everything. However, when he faces a different culture which threatens the familiarity that has always allowed him to thrive, he tries to replicate the same sense of familiarity by …show more content…
The District Commissioner reduces Okonkwo’s compelling story to merely “a reasonable paragraph” (209). He reduces their values to a paragraph, expressing that they are worthy of nothing more than a paragraph. The District Commissioner maximizes the differences between the African people and himself because they threaten his identity. To eliminate the challenge that they pose, he dehumanizes them; he establishes his superiority because he feels that something inferior to him cannot challenge him. The District Commissioner further separates himself from the Ibo by naming his book “The Pacification of the Primitives Tribes of the Lower Niger” (209). Because he describes them as children in need of being pacified, he emphasizes their inferiority; by labeling them as primitive, he provides an image of a group of animals that need to be raised and trained. His labels reduces the Ibo to the equivalent of children or animals, which directly shows that he is above to them, and helps him gain power. Again, he reaffirms his belief that those lower than him cannot challenge
Because the Ibo culture is unfamiliar to him, the District Commissioner feels threatened by it. He considers the Ibo people’s “love of superfluous words” to be “infuriating” (206). The District Commissioner’s anger towards the Ibo customs is a result of him feeling provoked by new ideas. Before, the District Commissioner believed that he had always been in a position of authority and had always known everything. However, when he faces a different culture which threatens the familiarity that has always allowed him to thrive, he tries to replicate the same sense of familiarity by …show more content…
The District Commissioner reduces Okonkwo’s compelling story to merely “a reasonable paragraph” (209). He reduces their values to a paragraph, expressing that they are worthy of nothing more than a paragraph. The District Commissioner maximizes the differences between the African people and himself because they threaten his identity. To eliminate the challenge that they pose, he dehumanizes them; he establishes his superiority because he feels that something inferior to him cannot challenge him. The District Commissioner further separates himself from the Ibo by naming his book “The Pacification of the Primitives Tribes of the Lower Niger” (209). Because he describes them as children in need of being pacified, he emphasizes their inferiority; by labeling them as primitive, he provides an image of a group of animals that need to be raised and trained. His labels reduces the Ibo to the equivalent of children or animals, which directly shows that he is above to them, and helps him gain power. Again, he reaffirms his belief that those lower than him cannot challenge