Kipling’s poem, “The White Man’s Burden” (1899) conveys several themes depending on different readers’ interpretations of the poem, and one’s point of view. One of the main themes conveyed in the Kipling’s poem is the influence of the Europeans culture on other people’s culture, as a result of imperialism. Kipling proposes that the whites have the duty to rule over and renovate other people’s cultural background. In fact, the phrase “To seek another's profit, And work another's gain” suggests that, the whites have an obligation to dictate the cultural development of the other nations until they become enlightened and become capable of sustaining their own economic and social backgrounds
The words, "the white man's burden" could be examined from a metaphoric point of view to mean the “the primitive world” that existed before the imperialism. The implication brought forward here is that, the European powers have the responsibility to take control of the national culture and economic traditions of their colonialists and shape them; not for their own benefits, but for the betterment of their subjects. The assumption here is that, the colonialists are living in a primitive world, where they are incapable of self-governance, and need Britain’s assistance to become civilized. Civilization here means adopting the whites’ culture and hence become Christianized. In summary, the European culture is considered superior over the other people’s culture.
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The Charles Darwin's theory on the “Origin of Species ” can be used to justify the sentiments expressed in the “The White Man’s Burden”. The theory suggests that, organisms originated from the pre-existing organisms in the primitive world; the organisms themselves were too primitive during the origin. The primitive world in this poem is the undeveloped countries before colonialism, while the primitive organisms are the uncivilized people. The European colonialism stands for the factors which contributed to the evolution of the primitive organisms to the present complex organisms in existence today. The evolution process as depicted in the Darwin’s theory is gradual. This represents the period taken by the Europeans in bringing their colonialists into civilization, as quoted in the phrase, “ Comes now, to search your manhood, through all the thankless years. ”
The line, “ Your new-caught, sullen peoples, Half-devil and half-child” conforms to the Darwin’s, statement, “Struggle for Existence”. The struggle here is indicated in the American’s war with Spanish. Then, Darwin’s statement, “Survival of the Fittest”, is marked by the America’s takeover of the Philippines after defeating the Spanish in the Spanish-American War. Kipling’s phrase, “Take over the White man’s burden” could be taken genuinely to mean the benefits the Philippines enjoy after their colonization by the America. It could be perceived from the satirical point of view to represent the defeat of the Spanish by the America.
Application of the Darwin’s theory to the social setting has negative reputations. For instance, the idea of primitivity gives some individual the advantage of being superior to the others. In such, those civilized develop a sense that they are more important than the others, a situation brought by the concept of the “survival of the fittest.” Thus, the more civilized group of individuals takes the advantage their civilized nature and exploits the uncivilized. In the Kipling’s poem, the whites are urged to colonize the undeveloped nations in the argument that they are fulfilling their obligation to bring civilization to such nations. Besides, Darwin’s statement on the survival of the fittest would mean that, the less privileged in the society should be abandoned and left to perish. This is against humanity, and hence has adverse negative implication to the society.
In conclusion, Rudyard Kipling’s poem, "The White Man's Burden" is an example of artworks which contributed greatly to the colonization of the undeveloped nations by the European powers. With such, it encourages the whites to take over the other nations, which are considered primitive, and help in bringing them to civilization. The main assumption here is that, the Western culture is superior over the other people’s culture. In other words, the poem suggests that all nations should abandon their culture and embrace the European culture. Then the European powers should remain in charge of their subjects until they are able to manage their own governance.
