The postcolonial theory looks at how colonization influenced the colonized nations in terms of culture, economics, religion, power, and politics. It encompasses such topics as identity, otherness, class, race, diaspora, and others. This paper aims to explore such topics of postcolonial theory as oppression and being civilized or uncivilized in relation to three literary works: The Epic of Gilgamesh, The Tempest, and Heart of Darkness. The topic of civilization focuses on the group labeled as uncivilized and investigates how this labeling affects the relationships between colonizers and the colonized. The theme of oppression, on the other hand, deals with the reasons why one group is oppressed by the other and how this oppression is internalized and maintained. These two topics were selected because each of the three literary works deals with the issues of civilization versus barbarism and oppression. In addition, these themes are closely intertwined; the opposition between civilized and uncivilized leads to oppression of the latter by the former because uncivilized individuals are considered inferior and less than human. This essay will identify the uncivilized in each of the specified three works and show how they were maltreated.
Heart of Darkness, written by Conrad in 1899, provides an account of Europeans’ colonization of Africa. The novel depicts Marlow’s voyage up the Congo river in a boat, during which this European riverboat pilot encounters the indigenous population and observes his compatriots’ treatment of the natives. Being the narrator, Marlow describes the native population from his point of view, which reflects colonizers’ attitudes toward indigenous people. Marlow sees natives as inferior and inhuman; once, he compared an indigenous working man to “a dog in a parody of breeches and a feather hat, walking on his hind legs” (Conrad, 2008, p. 59). Marlow, presumably like the rest of the colonizers, refused to think of the natives as his peers. Looking at them, he thought, “That was the worst of it—this suspicion of their not being inhuman” (Conrad, 2008, p. 58). Yet, the colonizers did not accept this suspicion; because of the natives’ otherness and savageness, the colonizers considered them “enemies” (Conrad, 2008, p. 20). As a result of such attitudes, European colonizers treated African natives as slaves, chaining them and exploiting them for collecting ivory.
The Epic of Gilgamesh, an ancient Mesopotamian poem, narrates the adventures of Gilgamesh and his friend Enkidu. In this epic poem, the theme of being civilized or uncivilized unfolds in the story of Enkidu. Enkidu is depicted as a savage, encompassing “an animal and man” within himself (Mason, 2003, p. 15). He was “all covered with hair” and got along well with the animals (Mason, 2003, p. 16). For other people, he looked uncivilized, which is why they were “both angry and afraid” (Mason, 2003, p. 17). People could not bear to see a savage beside them, so they sent a prostitute to him to make him civilized. The Epic of Gilgamesh contains another example of the oppression of the inferior. Unlike Enkidu, Gilgamesh was “a god and man” and exercised his power as a king (Mason, 2003, p. 15). Because of his superior position, he oppressed them in many different ways. He slept with brides prior to their husbands and “pushed his people half to death” (Mason, 2003, p. 16). Thus, this poem shows that oppressors justify their behavior by the inferior and uncivilized status of the oppressed.
In Shakespeare’s The Tempest, the role of a colonized savage is played by Caliban, and the role of an oppressive colonizer is assigned to Prospero, a foreign intruder who settled down on Caliban’s island. When Prospero arrived at the island, he claimed that it belonged to him from then on and made Caliban his slave. In exchange for the obtained governance of the island, Prospero taught Caliban to speak the English language. While at first, Caliban was glad about it, later, he felt deceived by the colonizer: “This island’s mine by Sycorax, my mother, / Which thou takest from me” (Shakespeare, 2015, p. 37). However, Prospero saw no injustice in his deeds; he regarded Caliban as inferior and, thus, not worthy of ruling the island. Later in the poem, Prospero even referred to Caliban not as a human but as a thing: “This thing of darkness I / Acknowledge mine” (Shakespeare, 2015, p. 166). Thus, Shakespeare (2015) depicted a conflict between the colonizers and the colonized. Indigenous inhabitants were often dissatisfied with the colonizers’ invasion of their lands, while foreign intruders considered their actions justified by their superior position.
In conclusion, all three works deal with the topics of civilization and oppression. In Heart of Darkness, native Africans were considered savages by European colonizers and, thus, were treated as a disposable labor resources rather than individuals possessing human dignity. The Epic of Gilgamesh showed that people were uncomfortable with uncivilized Enkidu and took efforts to make him fit their civilized culture. In addition, the epic poem demonstrated that the superior position of Gilgamesh, who was a king and two-thirds god, encouraged him to oppress ordinary humans who were regarded as inferior. Finally, The Tempest demonstrated the conflicting interests of the colonizers and the colonized. The indigenous population sought to preserve freedom, while foreign intruders considered them unworthy of ruling their land and living on their own. An exploration of these three works shows that colonizers often justified their actions by the fact that they came from civilized countries and, therefore, were superior to native populations. This superiority granted them the feeling that they were authorized to oppress indigenous people and use them in their own interests.
References
Conrad, J. (2008). Heart of darkness. Planet eBook. Web.
Mason, H. (2003). Gilgamesh: A verse narrative. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.
Shakespeare, W. (2015). The tempest. (B. A. Mowat & P. Werstine, Eds.). Simon & Schuster.