Criticism Of Imperialism In Kipling

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Register to read the introduction… In this poem Kipling writes, “Freedom for ourselves and freedom for our sons/ And, failing freedom, war” (19-20). This, according to Said, unveils the real Orientalist’s (White Man’s) intention and shows that beyond his angelic-like mission “there is always the express willingness to use force, to kill and be killed” (Said 226). Orwell, in his first paragraph of his essay about Kipling, argues that no one should agree with Kipling’s ideology toward imperialism or even exonerate him as he is “morally insensitive and aesthetically disgusting”. He argues that he is not just reporting violent acts by the White Man, but actually enjoying them as one cannot remark any sign of disapproval against brutality in his work. Equally, Robert Buchanan, in his book, was bitterly charging Kipling with violence as he describes him as “the voice of the hooligan”. Max Beerbohm as well, “in his famous parody of Kipling in A Christmas Garland, mimicked the pathological reveling in cruelty which, to Beerbohm, seemed a chief distinguishing feature of Kipling’s work” (Gilbert 207). This accusation takes a very negative view of imperialism which is depicted as a morally and materially destructive move whose real purpose is subjugation which is a total contradiction to …show more content…
One of the significant reasons for the hostile policy of the imperial expansion is economic exploitation. By acquiring new territories, the colonial nation testifies an economic growth. It takes benefits from their resources; makes use of their raw materials with receiving their cheap labor, brings the raw materials to their homeland to be turned into manufactured goods and then gets it back to the colonized lands to be sold in their markets with larger profits. That’s how economy works under imperialism. As important as the first reason, imperialism is spurred by the political need. With the territorial expansion, the colonial nation acquires more power which puts it in a more prestigious level in the world. And for maintaining this authority, the White Man kills or imprisons all those who form an opposition to the colonial policy like the originally ruling class or social and religious leaders just to implement his policy in the new acquired territories which resulted in the disruption of the social structure and total chaos. Therefore, the colonized nations are terribly exploited and their loss is far more enormous than their

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