The irony in An Indians Looking-Glass for the White Man - Essay Example

William Apess' Irony in An Indian's Looking-glass for the White Man An Indian's Looking-Glass for the White Man (1833), authored by William Apess, is a scathing rebuke against racial prejudice and discrimination against the colored races, inclusive of Indians and Negroes in the United States. William Apess was a Native American who accepted the Christian faith. He continued to labor among the Native American Indians as a Christian minister and advocated human rights in his sermons and writings. The period in which he wrote marked an age of cruel slavery and anti-miscegenation laws which prohibited the intermarriage between Whites and Colored people. Apess uses the notable technique of irony in which he would expose the hypocrisy of the Whites employing their own religious doctrines and ideologies.  The superficiality of the White man's doctrine is a point of argument in Apess' work. Apess observes that one "may learn how deep (the White man's) principles are...I should say they were skin deep." The foundation of the White man's objection to non-Whites enjoyment of their inalienable human rights is based on the skin tone. Skin pigmentation or exterior is not of value in any substantial and profound argument for what lies on the inside forms the core and matters most. In his day, Apess would have been familiar with the Great Chain of Being philosophy which privileges the Whites at the head of the human races and relegates the Other to occupy lower tiers. Whites used this concept to justify their subhuman treatment of other races. The irony of using skin color as a means to exalt oneself and debase another reveals the truth of the proverb, 'All that glitters is not gold.' In time, the surface of any object is defaced and gradually stripped away. External appearances deceive however, only nature is real and enduring. Apess reiterates: "I am not talking about the skin, but about principles." Apess makes a stirring appeal to the tenets of Christianity, the so-called White man's religion. White men would use their religion to validate conquest, segregation, and the institution of slavery, however, Apess wields the Holy Bible, the book which instructs Christians in defence of human rights, equality, justice and brotherhood. The Christian Bible quotes that "God is no respecter of persons"-"Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, with all thy soul, with all thy mind, and with all thy strength-Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself." "By this shall all men know that they are my disciples, if ye have love one to another." "Let us not love in word but in deed." Repeatedly Apess preaches to the people who should be acquainted with their own doctrines of love. Apess concept of God differs from the White man's God. Judging from the professing Christians' cruelty, greed, and antagonism, the Apess shows that according to the white man's principles, the Christian God would have to be an unfair and hateful deity who would favor a cross section of people and belittle others. True religion in Apess' eyes is an inclusive religion. One which inspires love and compassion. Apess laments that in 'Christian America' there remains active practice of cruelty, systematic oppression, inhumanity and hostility. Apess argues that a Christian should never be a slave-owner for doing so puts at detriment his own soul and contravenes the founding principles of his faith. He urges the equality and brotherhood of Negroes and Whites according to the Christian doctrines and wonders at White Christian hypocrisy. To add force to his arguments, he quotes numerous scriptural texts from the Bible from Matthew, John and Romans. To hate and propagate division is not only unchristian but also unethical. God's unconditional and impartial love is a perfect example of the love that man must have for his fellow. Greed, selfishness and prejudice are the true motivators of discrimination that have poisoned the heart, turning it from human compassion. Vices such as sloth, greed and materialism are other adverse effects of the White man's conquest of America, his capture of other's lands, resources and belongings. His attitude represents a monstrous deviation from virtues such as peace, humility, integrity and love.  Apess employs irony in the differentiation of savagery and sophistication. Native Indians are called savage barbarians who are uneducated. However, he wonders at the Europeans who called themselves enlightened individuals and despised the opportunity to teach and educate his people. The mark of savagery is not in culture but in ignorance. Yet, he discovers that it is the White man's goal to keep 'inferior' races in the dark by denying them education. This continuinity of ignorance would guarantee the miseducation of the colored races. "Now if these people are what they are held up in our view to be,...why they are not brought forward and pains taken to educate them? to give them all a common education." Education would be the weapon to undo the ills of ignorance and improve the  chances for mental cultivation and intelligence. At the same time, people who say that they are education are acting worse that the said barbarians themselves for they indulge in common and base vices which depreciate their own value before other races.  Apess satirizes the trials for its travesty of justice and the spurious premises upon which the colonists based their allegations. Here one sees the union between Church and State since a religious offence is put before the civil courts. One sees the fear of the colonists that Christianity is losing its hold over the minds of the faithful, therefore the individuals, who they perceive to be threats to its hegemony, are persecuted. "Remarks Concerning the Savages of North America" (1784) satirizes the customs and identity of North American savages. The Amerindian's principles of good oration, decorum, dignity, civility, reason, and respect stand in contrast to the brute force, hastiness, rudeness, and tyranny of the English colonists. The irony is that it is universally understood that savages refer to the Amerindians. Franklin validates the Amerindian culture by showing their organized way of life. One sees the glaring presence of ethnocentrism where instead of agreeing to a friendly exchange of values, one side devalues, dominates and suppresses the Other. Because of opposing schools of thought, one understands that co-habitation between the two cultures was problematic. Conflict is seen in Christianity versus Animism, English education versus Amerindian learning, hospitality versus prejudice, business ethic versus greed. White people with Black hearts is another point of irony in "An Indian's Looking Glass at the White Man" (1833). Apess cites that "there reigns in the breast of many who are leaders, a most unrighteous ...and impure black principle." This black principle is the brand of  racism which sanctions cruelty and barbarism under the guise of godliness and good judgment. This irony is potent in effect for it overthrows the skin color argument and exposes the true nature of Whites as beings with black hearts instead of pure, holy and white. Apess knows that traditionally black is a color linked to negative images: evil, corruption, illegitimacy and ugliness, whereas white possesses a goodlier connotation: holiness, purity, beauty, righteousness. In this line, Apess informs the reader that the true Black or colored people are not those with the skin tone black, but those with the black hearts. Further, Apess references to "the black inconsistency...ten times blacker than any skin." This allegation is a direct accusation of the White society's hypocrisy which is infinitely worse than simply having colored skin. Going back to the annals of history Apess however says  that when he " cast my eye upon that white skin, and (he sees) those crimes written upon it." This ironic statement betrays Apess using his discernment and knowlege of colonial history to manifest the truth that on the European skin hangs many of the crimes ever committed against the human race. Rape, conquest, brutality, power intoxication, rapacity, genocide number some of the illicit acts done by those who call themselves White.  At the time of Apess' writing, anti-miscegenation laws were constitutional and enforced in American society. There existed the concept of racial purity embedded in various anti-miscegenation laws to preserve racial purity among whites. However, Apess recognizes that the institution of marriage is a civil right which cannot be withheld from a specific group of people. He also reveals the blatant hypocrisy of the anti-miscegenation laws which are unilaterally and selectively applied which enabled White to choose mates among colored people but which forbids the colored people from entering unions with Whites. Apess feels that human rights guarantee the entitlement of all races to enter into the covenant of marriage without discrimination whether Colored or White. White-supremacist values are ingrained in the Anti-miscegenation laws which criminalizes hybridization of the white race but do not work vice versa. Johnathan Edwards wrote the piece "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God." Edwards is a fervent preacher of fire and brimstone who preaches and warns the people during the Great Awakening where a religious revival is set in motion where there is a renewed consciousness of issues of the soul of man, his destiny and man's choice in either going to heaven or hell. Edwards paints a horrific picture of the unconverted man's lot in hell should he choose to forfeit God's offer to salvation. Man has the freedom of will which determines his ultimate end. Man is naturally predisposed to evil and God's wrath always hangs above his head. However the one option open is to accept God's offer of salvation from earthly doom. On one hand there is the burning anger of God and on the other, there's the tyranny and terror of Satan. In his passionate homily, Edwards’ tactic is to terrify sinners into believing in God and accepting salvation making appeal to man's desire to be saved and hell and eternal damnation. It is very interesting to note that Edwards makes his conversion appeal after having given an in-depth description of God's wrath against Man, man's fallen nature and the infernal horrors of hell. Without converting to Christ, man is lost and fallen sunken in a decadent mire of sin whose consequence is eternal death and fiery torment. Edwards bases his reasoning and conclusion on scriptural authority and draws his examples from observing references to the children of Israel and God's attitude when his people sinned against Him. Here Edwards condemns all men as sinners who will be imminently judged for their wrongs and will be brought to justice.  In sum, "An Indian's Looking Glass at the White Man" skillfully integrates irony as a literary mechanism to pinpoint inconsistencies, inaccuracies and societal folly, namely the greed, exploitation and grievous oppression of the colored races. William Apess was a Native American convert to Christianity who functioned as pastor and teacher. He served tirelessly for the colonists as an evangelist and instructor. Apess respects and upholds human rights for all and stands against discrimination and dehumanization on the grounds of color and race. Believing in the concept of equality in the distribution of natural, human rights, Apess struggles to open the eyes of Whites to their own condition in perpetuating a falsehood that destroys the lives of many. His work exposes the hypocrisy of the White society's embrace of Christianity while contradicting their very principles of brotherly love and equality. Because of ethnocentric attitudes, Native Indians and Negroes are mistreated, while their white counterparts are considered natural superiors. Because of these delusions cherished by the mainstream White society, the races are kept separate by laws such as the anti-miscegenation laws which outlaw marital union of people from different ethnicities.  Works Cited: Apess, William. An Indian's Looking-Glass for the White Man, 1833. Texas A&M University  Commerce.  .  Accessed 28 April 2011.  Edwards, Johnathan. Sinners in the Hands of An Angry God, 1741. Christian Classics in  Ethereal Library . Accessed 28 April 2011. The University of Chicago: Theories of Media-Irony  . Accessed 28 April 2011. Lovejoy, Arthur. Peter Stanlis. The Great Chain of Being: A Study of the History of an Idea,  Transaction Publishers, New Jersey, 2009.  Reuben, Paul. William Apes or William Apess, Perspectives in American Literature: A  Research and Reference Guide-An Ongoing Project . Accessed 28 April  2011. Read More