Week 11

The colonist is pure evil


The post colonial era is depicted as a somber and highly depressing atmosphere in the text. We get a sense of resentment toward the British and colonial powers in general as a result of not only the hardship that the Antiguans have experienced from them. Whilst it is true that the colonist is not liked ,the same can be said of other foreigners they are by no means spared the hatred and resentment Antiguans have .This xenophobia however harsh is very well endorsed by the narrator as we get sense of why it is that foreigners are not liked. To start there is the fact that tourists are able to get away from their routine and get away to a land such as Antigua. Antiguans as a result of the robbery that they were subjected to in the past have been left financially crippled and thus they ,but for a select few ,are unable to escape reality in the same way North Americans and Europeans do. The abuse is consistent with the narrator eluding forest to the treatment at the airport upon arrival, Europeans get the the express exit in foreign country, locals returning from their vacations are padded down and extorted as airport officials look to deplete them o much needed cheap goods from overseas. This already paints a clear picture as to why this so called resentment exists. The Europeans left Antigua battered and depleted to the point where simple things such as clothes and food supplies are grossly overpriced. So for an Antiguan to go back to the colonial power to try and make cheaper purchases, only to be subjected to an uphill battle when he returns to his country after attempting to salvage some pride by taking back what was once his is only going to amplify this resentment.” You disembark off your plane .You go through customs. Since you are a tourist ,a North American or a Europeans -to be quite frank ,white -and not Antiguan black returning to Antigua from Europe or North America with cardboard boxes of much needed cheap clothes and food for relatives you move through customs swiftly, you move through customs with ease.” By returning with these goods from oversees the Antiguan is seizing, or at leas attempting to reclaim pride by taking something from the colonist the same way that Europeans robbed them in the past. The sense of salvation is short-lived though as a result of the tribes and tribulations experienced at such an airport .An airport that is very much still run by the colonist as a result of the brainwashing and mis-education that customs officials have pounded into them. Customs are a product of the British government and through meticulous brainwashing are the British in disguise. They subject Antiguans ,who are supposed to be of the same nationality to hardship in the same manner the British did. Robbing them of necessities such as food and clothing ,taking resources without asking much n the same way the colonist does. To summarize the colonist is evil he has left his victim(Antigua) victimized and depleted and furthermore he has taken a small percentage of the population and corrupted it with the colonial ideologies of greed and snatching.

Midpoint review

The class thus far has been extremely interesting .The text although particularly difficult at times is also intriguing. The reason is that a lot of it draws on several divisions such as philosophy and history. The most lessons learnt have been in the mindset of the colonizer and the colonized and how they go about endorsing their thoughts and their actions. Strategies that I tend to implement in reading these texts is to isolate the important characters and looking to follow their path and how they grow as an individual in the novel. Furthermore I look to categorize them into one of the distinct groups, whether it is the freedom fighter or the colonized ,brainwashed intellectual. There are parallels in the mindset that one finds in the mindset that I’ve learnt within my International Affairs classes. The mindset of the colonized seems to be one of resentment over the colonizer’s control. It leaves the colonized bitter due to the helplessness they feel over the control colonial powers exert within their land. Texts have varied in the level of interest that I have felt towards it. Fanon’s approach is particularly theoretic in that it simply categorizes the type of characters that exist in our plots. Fanon is able to describe the characters we encounter in the novels thus far in great detail and their experiences are very similar to those that Fanon points out. As an example Munira is the pinnacle of the colonized intellectual and his actions resemble that. His inadequacies, insecurity and loyalty to the colonist are all resembling of the colonized intellectual .Texts that I found particularly interesting were Season of Migration to the North and Ngugi’s text .Season of Migration to the North is particularly intriguing to me due to it’s relevance in my life. As a foreigner in the United States I feel like I ,too am reluctant to woo girls by telling the stories of my homeland. Mustafa and his method of operating is also a key point to me because he has an almost godly status in the eyes of English women anyway. His growth as a character is further evidence of Fanon’s assumptions and as the story progresses he seems to drift further and further away from his own culture in the same way an immigrant to the United States drifts away through time and naturalization. Character growth seems to be the main point in all these novels. The characters all have a point which represents their ends. This is evident in Ngugi’s novel where Abdullah ,Munira ,Kharega and Wanja all have a place that represents their heaven of sorts. Another important topic is the role of women in third world society and the depiction of women in an inferior status to that of men is spot on. The reading thus far has been very interesting with the exception of thre difficulty of the Orientalism PDF and the length of Ngugi’s novel the books have been a pleasure to read.

Blog 6

One gets the sense that Mustafa is immortal and infallible within the text and certain parts with the novel and particularly the part I have chosen from Taleb Salih’s Season of Migration to the North elaborate this notion. “There is no justice in the or moderation in the world .I feel bitterness and hatred, for after all those victims he crowned his life with yet another one Hosna Bint Mahmoud,the only woman I have ever loved.” The hatred is a testament to the power that Mustafa Saeed truly possessed ,the power to woo and manipulate any and every women black ,white, Arabic, English or Sudanese. Mustafa’s ability to manipulate these women was due to the power that he held in being this exotic commodity that so many women sought after .Furthermore, not only was he able to entice them to his bed ,such was his prowess that he left his victims with a sense of emptiness ,a void within themselves and a lack of lust for life. This explains the hoards of women that killed themselves after being wooed by the godly Mustafa.” I love your sweat. I want to have the smell of you in full the smell of rotting leaves in the jungles of Africa..”(pg 118).This shows the degree of manipulation possessed by the character ,it is clear from the expression of lust and even love that one develops for him that his power is immeasurable. The nature of his wooing is also extremely imperious of power Mustafa simply uses words and falsified impressive adventures; adventures that lure in what is referred to as easy prey. This only elaborates the portrayal of females within the book ,females are the victims ,but not only that, they are viewed as prey or simply put animals. Society assumes the males are dominant and females in Sudan especially draw their status from their husbands. English women are portrayed only slightly differently ,they the premier victims of Mustafa in his crusade to avenge the colonial sufferings .These women are portrayed as fledglings in Mustafa’s game of manipulation. They are exposed to him due to their fascination with the exotic and orientalism. This makes the ‘easy prey’ for Mustafa. So clearly women are seen as the weak within the novel and their differences relate to how Sudanese women are tied to their husband in search for identity whilst their English counterparts are weak due to their obsession with the exotic. Mustafa is the intellectual in our post colonialism plot within the plot and he has lost touch with his culture as a result of his escapades in foreign lands. So despite looking to avenge and liberate his people Mustafa loses his culture much like many intellectuals do .Mustafa’s loss of identity is much like the loss of identity his home nation suffers ,he is different from the typical intellectual in that he does not really seem to be the bridge between colonized and colonizer; he is not an educator in the nature of other Westernized intellectuals. There is a loss of identity and such is the transition between homeland and foreign land ,that in the end the individual is not truly sure of his place .This confusion leaves one to wonder if there is truly hope considering the character does not even know his place in society.

Orientalism

How does your text reflect or confirm Said’s ideas about Orientalist discourse? Does your text complicate Said’s argument? Do the depictions of Oriental “Others” in your text reflect embedded cultural notions and stereotypes Said believes are promulgated through Orientalist discourse? Does the East/West binary remain in place in your text or are the boundaries between these two ostensible opposites blurred at any point? Does the text you’ve chosen point to a counterargument to Said’s piece?

Said states that,”Orientalism is an entrenched structure of thought, a pattern making certain generalizations about the part of the world known as the ‘East’. In this short essay I will be comparing Said’s idea of the entrenched mindset that is witnessed with in the novel and comparing it to another form of entrenched thought. The comparison although unorthodox will both display how the British in general were the main culprits in their oppressive mindset and how enforcing the norms and ideologies were a grueling process.
The novel 1984 by George Orwell is a classic display of what the oppressive government is capable of. Within the novel the main character in there are many-situation of the British government imposing their ideology on the blue-collar population and society in general. Although fiction in nature the novel is also very similar to the real world in the punishment and torture apprehended. The totalitarian regime could be contrasted with the aggressive and manipulative nature in which Mustapha the main character within Season of Migration to the North is depicted. The government within 1984 is a pervasive, surveillance-obsessed government that watches each and every move of each member within society. Members are therefore not afforded the freedom to do as they please. Human rights and freedom in general is the main theme of the book and the banners scattered within the city that read: “WAR IS PEACE; FREEDOM IS SLAVERY, IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH” and “BIG BROTHER IS WATCHING YOU “show the image of a brainwashed and disillusioned society.
The text tends to vindicate Said’s argument due to the fact that the government is so fixated and obsessed with this ideology they’ve created of a rebellious and dangerous society. There is therefore this highly volatile aggressive nature to the government and their actions. The government is guilty of constant propaganda; hence the government is always right. In the same way Mustapha woes English women by telling stories of a falsified past when he is in the midst of Orientanlism the British government manipulates history to suit them. So it would be logical to compare Mustapha to the regime in the nature of his actions. Mustapha is born on the day colonialism begins and disappears prior to its dissipation. Mustapha is the colonist. He is imposing revenge by manipulating British women and in turn colonizing them. Said’s believes of stereotypes of the Orientalist discourse are somewhat evident in that there is equally violent treatment amongst the individuals that are not affiliated with the government. The binary remains in place however the structure changes because the oppressed are subjected to such volatile action that they are resigned and accept and come to love the oppressor at the end.

The counterargument exists because Said’s text sees the colonial individual garner the strength to fight the colonizer although Mustapha is the oppressor he is also an anti-Hero in that he goes about liberating or avenging his nation In Orwell’s 1984 the brainwashing is so drastic that that society has no choice but to crumble and learn to love “BIG BROTHER”.