The significance of colonialism Salman Rushdies Midnights Children - Essay Example

Meditate on the significance of colonialism: Salman Rushdie’s Midnight’s Children. In the novel “Midnight’s Children” Salman Rushdie critically examines imperialism from every angle unleased in India by the colonial powers to exploit the people from all ends. Colonialism is like the serpent with many hoods each emitting poisonous fumes. Colonial tools of exploitation are militarism, economic and cultural imperialism. The main objective of the colonial powers was to destroy anything that was native, and to implant the so-called colonial values. Of all the forms of ills, Salman Rushdie singles out how economic exploitation and cultural denouncement of the country was systematically executed by the managers of imperial powers in India and wherever they established their political authority to rule. The operating tricks of the colonial powers were as per their usual copy book style, ‘divide and rule’. Having established the foothold, their influence spread in all directions like the growth of the octopus. The British were proud of their advanced guns and navy. They were able to spot a few locals with whom they could develop friendship to advance their ultimate objectives. The offshoot of economic imperialism was the cultural imperialism. ‘Give us an inch and we know how to take in yards’ was the policy of the imperialists. They trained their local salesmen to do the rest. Eventually, the imperial powers would attack places of worship and replace them with a series of villas and other places of enjoyment. They conducted all such operations overtly and covertly and brainwashed some of the top class local citizens to hate their own society and claim the superiority of European Culture. The author analyzes the strength and weakness of Britain’s imperialism from a geopolitical angle. Britain, being a small island, lacked the natural resources to build the necessary infrastructure and industrial base to keep the wheel of the progress in the empire moving to attain the position of envy in the world. The factor of geographical location worked to the disadvantage of the empire, and they had to rely on the duty assigned community of British and they helped to remodel the country as per their political designs. After World War II, the colonies became too difficult for the British to handle and they thought of packing off at the earliest opportunity, leaving the colonies to their fate. Through the conglomeration of characters, Rushdie has tried to paint the correct picture of India under the imperialist rule and their disposition to the local people and their responses. The book should help the students of economics, sociology and history apart from being a first grade reference book for the politicians. That the characters are based on real life makes the story authentic and interesting. There are no heroes in this novel and as such this is truly a common man’s story depicting the grassroots realities in India controlled and ruled by the British Imperialists. Colonists worked from several angles to subdue the native population of India. Conversion, often forcible, was one of their options. Publishing texts with wrong interpretations of the Holy Scriptures was another step. This resulted in cultural confrontation to challenge the colonial maneuvers. The loyalty of the local people for their customs and traditions were extremely strong and any efforts to dent them met with stiff opposition. It was their responsibility, taking into consideration their allegiance to the colonial masters, to establish a workable model that would tender the desired results of conversion to Christianity, which was the stepping stone for establishing the political authority. Whereas the colonial powers proceeded along with their chartered course, and amended it as per the demands of time, it was not an easy task to subdue the natives, as they too began to learn the English language and became aware of the hidden agenda of colonizers. The colonizers succeeded in creating distortions in the areas of religious and linguistic practices of the natives but failed in their attempt to marginalize them completely. Natives’ becoming knowledgeable was like handing over to them a double-edged sword. When they realized that their traditions and customs were being challenged, resentment and protests were the natural outcomes. The natives were no more willing to trust the colonizers and they continued to meet increasing resistance. The avowed ambition of the missionaries was conversion, but the immediate problem was converting whom? Conversion of any individual, without understanding the word of God, was as good as putting a cross on the neck of a wooden figure. The next task of missionaries was learning and translating the language and on getting the foothold in that area, their final target was consolidation of colonial and political power. In the process of colonization many of the missionaries turned linguists of the native language. Colonists could not totally destroy the local customs and traditions, though they succeeded in creating a dent. In the process, colonialism paved way for Indian "nationalist" consciousness, which is prevalent till today and helps the process of political consolidation. Salman Rushdie argues, “Memory has its own special kind. It selects, eliminates, alters, exaggerates, minimizes, glorifies, and vilifies also; but in the end it creates its own reality, its heterogeneous but usually coherent version of events; and no sane human being ever trusts someone else’s version more than his own”(26). The story is an imaginary saga and not a historical document, though his observations are the products of history—the confrontation between the colonial powers and the nationalist forces. The current political and cultural situation is powerfully swayed by the impact of colonial powers on the nation on the one hand, and on the other by technological advances and the internet revolution. The forces of neo-colonialism, globalization and trans-nationalism, move forward and influence the societal disposition in tandem. The starting period for the novel is 1915 and it encompasses the period up to late 1980s. The important events during that historical period Mahatma Gandhi’s Quit India Movement, the violence that engulfed the sub-continent during the partition of the country in the year 1947 leading to the creation of new nations Pakistan and India, the declaration of Emergency by the Congress Government under Indira Gandhi’s leadership etc. are discussed in detail. The novel gives fillip to the political consciousness of the reader. The author articulates in detail diverse features of colonialism and post-colonialism and the course of identity constructing and cultural edifice. While looking at the events in the story of the book, Rushdie ‘pretends’ to be an outsider, as if one is observing the game of cricket from beyond the boundary line. But he is a perfect player very much in the game and his knowledge and views are original, though he creates tension-ridden situations and controversies. He articulates the procedure of repossession the identity through from the deeps fissures created in the society by its long interaction with imperialism. Emancipation procedure through the “pre-adaption of the own language or dialect” is a tough option. He argues, “In a country where the truth is what it is instructed to be, reality quite literally ceases to exist, so that everything becomes possible except what we are told is the case” (414). Thus, his novel depicts the path of “co-opting political and literary power”; as such the role of the opinion makers through literature is as important as the role of the politicians who occupy the chairs of authority to rule. Conclusion Salman Rushdie traces the arrival of colonial powers, their standard method of working to ‘divide and rule’ the society to establish the firm foothold. In the process, the economic exploitation continued without intermission, and the missionaries helped them from the sidelines, and also by occupying the center stage when occasion demanded. In any case, they were the reliable allies to the colonial powers and actively helped in the process of colonization. Rushdie sees the horizon past the western frame of thinking and initiates a critical investigation of facts and constructed realities. He stands by his conviction that spaces for independent thinking and giving rooms for the ideas of each other will contribute to creation of societies based on equality and justice. Work Cited Rushdie, Salman. Midnight’s Children. New York: Vintage, 1995.Print Read More