Imperialism in Asia

Professor Scully History 125-002 Jasjeet S. Waraich 10-23-17 How Abina’s Action was Shaped by the Historical Context The story of “ Abina and the Important Men” takes place in 1876. The Gold Coast has been under the English rules since 1874. During the 19th century, numerous changes, big and small, began to occur in the British ruled colonies in Africa. After many years of slave trade, fueled by the European thirst to grow, the British “officially banned the slave trade [in…

Imperialism played a role in the development of our modern day society. It was viewed differently by the imperialist and the colonies imperialized. H.G. Wells, Liang Qichao, Jamal Al-Din Al-Afghani, and Rabindranath Tagore all lived through the new age of imperialism and saw what was done to the states across the globe. As a result, each of them developed and shared ideas on their views on imperialism. H.G Wells and Liang Qichao were both against imperialism. Through his book The Time Machine…

2.0 Overview of the Indenture System in Fiji Fiji was ceded to Great Britain in 1874 and the first Indian indentured labourers were brought to Fiji in 1879 (Lal, 2004). This new colony of Fiji was in a dire need of economic development so that it could sustain itself in the long run. Fiji’s first governor general, Sir Arthur Gordon, protected the Fijian labourers from commercial employment and believed that Fijians should continue to live in their own traditional surroundings, protected from the…

Blood Diamond and The Constant Gardener are two Western movies each attempting to utilise the idea of Africa as a mysterious continent with an exotic, but Western dependant population, as a setting. The Constant Gardener does make an attempt at avoiding Hollywood-Africa stereotypes, however it fails to completely exclude them. Blood Diamond’s entire plot, on the other hand, revolves exclusively around stereotypes. In The Constant Gardener, Ralph Fiennes as Justin Quayle, plays the lead role as…

overt racism as Achebe states. Said claims that when writing about the natives and their incapability of independence, Conrad's words were caused by his lack of view of the alternatives to imperialism (Svensson 11). Morgan Svensson states this was also because Conrad did not live to see what happened when imperialism came to end (Svensson 12). Said claims that through Heart of Darkness “Conrad allows readers today to see an Africa that is not made up of dozens of European colonies, even if he…

The political- thrillers Blood Diamond and The Constant Gardener tell two different stories, however both movies deal with the representation of Africa in a Hollywood style. The character development, editing and themes are used to further enhance this Hollywood portrayal. Ralph Fiennes plays the role of Justin Quayle in The Constant Gardener. Justin, a minor English diplomat, seems to be a meek, unpassionate, passive gentleman; however this image of him is changed as he becomes provoked into…

The purpose of this article is to analyze the short story “Civil Peace” by the Nigerian writer, Chinua Achebe, in the light of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. The story happens in Nigeria, which has a long history of being colonized by English troops till 1960, when the Nigerians eventually gained their independence. Achebe uses English language as a postcolonial tool to defend his people. The story “Civil Peace” opens right after the Civil War and ends after so much blood shedding and brutality.…

Amitav Ghosh throws light on the imperialist modes of social, cultural and ecological dominance in his fourth novel The Glass Palace. The novel points out that how colonialization has brutally exploded in the South Asia and results into the environmental degradation. The novel is interlocked in the various historical events like colonization of Burma by the British, the First World War, and conquest of Japan over Russia, the intense changes wrought by World War II etc. It’s a story that…

In “Shooting an Elephant” by George Orwell, the author writes about his experience with dealing a rampant elephant in British Colonial Burma. Privilege is usually viewed as a positive attribute, however Orwell explores all of the negatives that privileges can bring, which can be applied to modern day social expectations and politics. In order to highlight its effects on a personal and a widespread level, he uses the rhetorical device of figurative language. The figurative language__________…

In The Pearl, Steinbeck captures the destructive effect of colonialism on the indigenous people. This parable includes many motifs that depicts how greed and corruption can be a destructive force and overwhelm an individual. The novella portrays two contrasting forces that shape a person’s future. It depicts a world in which humans shape their own destinies. However, forces beyond human control can sweep at any moment and completely change the course of an individual’s life. It can be…