The Persian Letters - Essay Example

1). One major mental conflict that has haunted Usbek, the protagonist of ‘The Persian Letters’ is regarding the stark divide in religious beliefs between Persia and France. In Letter 17, Usbek had asked Mollah Mehemet Ali, Guardian of The Three Tombs at Koum, to clarify his doubts regarding this subject (Montesquieu and Betts, 1973, 63). He has asked, “whence comes it that our lawgiver forbids the use of swine flesh…why are we forbidden to touch a corpse and why for the purification of our souls is this endless washng of the body ordained?” (Montesquieu and Betts, 1973, 63). These questions had evidently entered the mind of this Persian only after seeing that in France, all these Persian religious laws were not obeyed and the people of France were not even aware of them. This difference in religious practices has been fundamental to the development of East and West as two dissimilar civilizations and cultures. The religious faith and rituals were to keep the people of the East strongly bound to the end but the West developed more into a secular society where religious beliefs and rituals existed only on the margins. In the letter to his chief black Eunuch, Usbek is seen asking him to watch over his “precious storehouse…of affections” which was nothing other than the harem in which he had kept his wives (Montesquieu and Betts, 1973, 41). The Eunuch is also commanded to exercise his powers if the women of the Seraglio tried in any way to break the laws of chastity and modesty (Montesquieu and Betts, 1973, 41). These lines have given us an ample example of how the East was bound to grow in a way, very suppressive of the rights of its women. In another instance, the chief Eunuch has written that “in the exercise of my authority (over women) I feel as if I had recovered my lost manhood” (Montesquieu and Betts, 1973, 49). Here also, the gender status of woman is placed well below that of man and even Eunuchs. Regarding gender, the attitudes in the East has remained very close to this mindset through the centuries that passed by and till now. But Usbek is later seen comparing the women of Persia and France and observing that a woman he met in France had a “ charming gaiety” that Persian women lacked, and he has found out the reason for this also when he admitted that the “secluded life” that Persian women led had stifled this gaiety out of them (Montesquieu and Betts, 1973, 143). At the same time, the freedom enjoyed by women of France including sexual freedom is amusingly narrated by Rica, the fellow traveler of Usbek, when he said, “ here a modest girl comes to confess the the torments of a virginity too long preserved, her struggles and her painful resistance; she is so little proud of her victory that she is always on the verge of accepting defeat” (Montesquieu and Betts, 1973, 173). All these observations has been forecasting the fate of the women of East and West in future and the way both these cultures would approach gender. The obsession that West was to develop later with hi-tech weapons and the possibility of scientific development getting manipulated to make killing weapons have also been discussed in these letters (Montesquieu and Betts, 1973, 196). But the social life in France was a source of light-hearted remorse and admiring curiosity for Usbek (Montesquieu and Betts, 1973, 178). This is evident when he has observed, “man, they say, is a social animal. In this matter, a French man appears to me to be more of a man than any other…. they pass their lives in going to funerals, in expressions of condolence, or in marriage congratulations” (Montesquieu and Betts, 1973, 178). Usbek has also remarked that men in France were freer than in Persia (Montesquieu and Betts, 1973, 185). He also has intelligently derived that this freedom makes the process of ruling a nation easier for the rulers of France (Montesquieu and Betts, 1973, 185). The French ruler could make “the French man to dowith pleasure and inclination what (Persian) …Sultan obtains from his subjects only be keeping constantly before them rewards and punishments” (Montesquieu and Betts, 1973, 185). While reading this portion of the letter, we are reminded of the strong pillars of democracy that the West was to build and the authoritarian regimes that evolved in the East and exist there still. Also the notions of social equality that has been prevalent in French society is keenly examined by this visitor. Rica, the co-traveller of Usbek, in one of his letters has stated that in France, “the authority exercised by a husband over his wife, a father over his children (and) a master over his slaves (were only) nominal” (Montesquieu and Betts, 1973, 172). This was a clear indication of the focus that the West was to put on individual freedom. Works Cited   Montesquieu, Charles de Secondat and Betts, C.J., “Persian Letters”, Penguin Classics, 1973. 2). Europeans’ “New” imperialism has implanted a sense of inferiority in the public psyche of the colonized countries and this has remained till date. The tendency to look West for solutions has become a way of life. The developmental models still get copied blindly from the West and often cause unforeseen ecological consequences for the non-Western civilizations. Similarly indiscriminate cultural copying has left the indigenous cultures gasping for breath. The impact of colonialism in Asia has also been viewed in connecting South East Asia strongly to a “world economy dominated by the West and (in introducing) Western ideas and technologies” (Lockard, 2009,118). Another impact, less desirable, was the consequences of divide and rule tactics in which one ethnic group or region was provoked to play against another and which makes national unity, still very difficult to attain (Lockard, 2009,119). The educational contributions of Christian missionaries were one of the few positive aspects of colonial rule in Asia. In India, agriculture and industry were only limping forward under the colonial rule. But towards the end of Second World War, the industrial growth was speeded up owing to the strategic position of India in the military logistics. The independent India owed its “national transport system, an administrative apparatus in working order, a shelf of concrete development projects and substantial reserves of foreign exchange” to its colonial past (Blusse, 1987, 9). One impact of colonization in African countries has been “in the sphere of language” (Boateng, 54). North Africa, Ethiopia and Tanzania are the only countries which have retained the prominence of their native languages while a number of other African countries have English as their official language (Boateng, 55). The local chiefs were the centres of power in a traditional African society but the assimilation and direct rule strategies of French colonists destroyed this institution. This traditional system was an “undivided, religious, economic and political source of authority” which was replaced with a foreign system which had “no local roots” (Boateng, 63). Many of the current ethnic and political conflicts that rage in African countries have their roots in the chaos caused by the destruction of these traditional social structures. A positive aspect of European colonial rule was the spread of education in African countries in which, the Christian missionaries were very instrumental (Boateng, 68). But even after decolonization, many African nations stay controlled from outside both politically and economically (Boateng, 77). Economic backwardness and extremely low living standards of majority of people has remained to be a common phenomenon in almost all African countries. On the other hand, values like democracy, equality and freedom in the current sense have been the contributions of the West to the non-Western civilizations. But the ancient democratic structures of Asian and African societies were totally destroyed. The West in turn, benefited from the rich literary and cultural resources of non-Western civilizations. The riches of the colonies saved the day for the West in situations of financial crises. Frantz Fanon had sarcastically observed that “Europe is literally the creation of the third world” (Fanon and Philcox, 2004, 102). It was colonial exploitation of a major portion of the third world that enabled a rich capitalism to grow in the West. Works Cited Blusse, Leonard, India and Indonesia from the 1920s to the 1950s: The Origins of Planning: Essays, Brill Archive, 1987. Fanon, Frantz and Philcox, Richard, The Wretched of the Earth, Grove Press, 2004. Lockard, Craig.A., South East Asia in World History, Oxford University Press, 2009. 3). If the scenario in the Asian continent is examined in totality, it can be inferred that the West was almost out of its wits and resources fighting the wars. Though the Ottomans and the Muslims were defeated by Europeans in the First World War, new Anglo-Russian rivalries emerged and Asia once again became a battle ground for these new rivalries (Kapur, 1990, 4). Soon after, Japan emerged as a modern military and industrial power and led the global situation to Second World War (Kapur, 1990, 5). The Bolshevik revolution in Russia catalysed all the revolutionary and nationalist struggles going on in the European colonies (Kapur, 1990, 5). The two World Wars and especially, the Second World War had been a major catalyst in ending West’s control over Asia, Africa and Middle East. It has been an oft-repeated conclusion that “the collapse of France, the destruction of British factories and shipping, and the spread of the war to the Mediterranean, Africa and South East Asia, all served to demonstrate the vulnerability of Britain’s industrial empire” (Jaffe,2007, 41). The empire was “dependent on long and perilous lines of oversea communications” (Jaffe, 2007,41). And the the threat of a joint German-Japanese military offensive was looming large over India and the Middle East (Jaffe, 2007, 41). This threat was removed only after the “Nazi armies were defeated in Stalingrad and Africa” but within that time span, the pillars of the British empire had already been shaken (Jaffe, 2007, 41). India’s industrial expansion during the Second World War was the result of a well-thought out plan to turn India into a wartime industrial base (Jaffe, 2007, 41). The nationalist movement in India can also be seen partially as a consequence of this weakening of British empire as well as the new industrial development of India (Kapur, 1990, 5). Maintaining the colonies had become an expensive affair and the riches that could be juiced out of these colonies were getting depleted. The renewed demands for freedom and the conflicts that followed were another sour eye that West had to constantly deal with. After Second World War, West was devastated economically and militarily while USA and USSR emerged as the super powers (Kapur, 1990, 5). Freedom struggles in European colonies gained momentum and new states emerged out of colonial rule one by one (Kapur, 1990, 5). The communist change over of many small European countries further weakened the traditional European power centres (Chamberlain, 1999, 100) In Africa, the British colonies were considerably able to expand their “export base between the two World Wars” (Fage, Roberts and Oliver, 1986, 129). After first World War, the German colonies were divided between Britain and France (Fage, Roberts and Oliver, 1986, 422). The European economy weakened by the economic depression of 1930s was leaning on its newly found African resources to make a speedy recovery (Fage, Roberts and Oliver, 1986, 10). But after second World War, the demand for freedom became pronounced and decolonization process started (Fage, Roberts and Oliver, 1986, 15). The apartheid regime in South Africa was overthrown under international pressure and rising people’s resistances, thanks to the growing awareness of human rights all around the globe. This was one of the last blows to the European colonialism. Major elements crucial in the development of African nationalism have been listed as “ ideas generated by higher education and foreign travel, constitutional reform, Pan-Africanism and international working class solidarity (Fage, Roberts and Oliver, 1986, 264). The newly found interest of US in African riches was also a key factor in decolonizing Africa after the second World War and Americans served “as the patrons of decolonization” in several African nations (Fage, Roberts and Oliver, 1986, 13; Chamberlain, 1999, 117). The resurgence of Islam speeded up the process as well (Chamberlain, 1999, 122). Thus Europe’s lost its maritime empires one by one and the era of European hegemony over Asia and Africa came to a fateful end (Chamberlain, 1999, 118). Works Cited Chamberlain, Muriel Evelyne, Decolonisation: The Fall of the European Empires, London: Wiley-Blackwell, 1999. Fage, J.D., Roberts, A.D. and Oliver, Roland Anthony, The Cambridge History of Africa: From 1905 to 1940, Cambridge University Press, 1986. Jaffe, Philip, “New Frontiers in Asia: A Challenge to the West”, Read Books, 2007. Kapur, Ashok, Diplomatic Ideas and Practices of Asian States, Brill, 1990. 4). To the eyes of an impartial viewer, it is very clear from history that France has failed in many aspects to function as a truly multi-cultural and open society, though it has claimed to be so. The 2004 ban on wearing “conspicuous signs” of religious affiliation in public schools in France is one instance cited by Scott (2007, 1) as a violation of the freedom of other cultures in France. This law was “aimed primarily at Muslim girls wearing head scarves” (Scott, 2007, 1). The UN committee for implementing “ CEDAW-the convention outlawing all forms of discrimination against women- (also had) expressed concern about the effects of such bans on women’s access to schools and universities” (Scott, 2007, 2-3). Scott (2007, 4) has raised the question whether the gender equality supposed to have been ensured by the ‘scarf law’ was applicable to Muslim women alone and whether the subordination of women by Dutch, French or German social systems were not to be attended to in a similar vein. Scott (2007, 11) has also criticized vehemently the French notion that “Universalism-the oneness, the sameness of all individuals –is taken to be the antithesis of communalism.” In the book, “Persian Letters”, Montesquieu (1773, 39) has tried to compare the religious practices of France and the Muslim world and inferred that though France seemed to give more freedom to individuals and especially women, there was more virtue and simplicity in the lives of Persians than French people (1773, 67). So it is evident that what is considered virtue in one civilization is not so in the eyes of another civilization. It is in this context that the questions raised by Scott (2007, 4-6) gains relevance. The freedom noticed by Usbek, the protagonist of “Persian Letters” in France has been declining through years. The tolerance that was showed by French people towards religious and gender differences is fast becoming a thing of the past, it is feared (Scott, 2007, 19). Scott (2007) has added that: The voices of calm and reason- those pointing out, for example, that radical, politicized Islam could be attributed to only a tiny minority of French Muslims, or that the number of headscarves in schools was hardly a widespread phenomenon- were drowned out by a growing hysteria fed by the pronouncements of some leading intellectuals. (24). The fear of the other, the unknown culture must be overcome and prevented from becoming a mania. To understand this process, France could emulate the approach of Usbek who tries to understand the alien land and its people with tolerance and holds on to his own religion and beliefs with great faith (Montesquieu (1773). The tone of “Persian Letters” also shows how much tolerant and sensible a moderate ordinary Muslim citizen could be regarding matters of religion, gender and race. There have been many instances in which the protagonist of “Persian Letters” talks of French people with great respect for their religion and social life. A re-reading of Persian letters could become a point of new beginning for the French people regarding the way in which a Muslim could be understood. Usbek represents the majority of Muslims. He is the common voice of the Muslim world. As Scott(2007) has observed France can start learning the meaning of a multi-cultural society by acknowledging the cultural differences of Muslims instead of imposing the self-proclaimed ‘civilizing mission’ on them (50). Works Cited Montesquieu, Charles de Secondat, “Persian Letters”, Alexander Donaldson, 1773. Scott, Joan Wallach, The Politics of the Veil, Princeton University Press, 2007. Read More