Imperialism

"Take up the White Man's burden-

Send forth the best ye breed-

Go bind your sons to exile

To serve your captives' need;

To wait in heavy harness

One Fluttered folk and wild-

Your new-caught, sullen peoples,

Half devil and half child" 

(ln. 1-8 The White Man's Burden)

       This poem almost makes imperialism seem like a bad idea, except that it also makes it seem noble and self sacrificing. The sons are noble to go into "exile" so that they can "serve" the people who are "new-caught" and "sullen". Additionally, it invokes a sense of responsibility as well by calling those people "half devil and half child". Now that he has said that how can they leave people alone if the people are mere children? And half ruled by the devil? That would be irresponsible if it were not merely caused by different cultures clashing. They call them "wild" to make them seem less human in a sense (the "half devil" reference works toward this goal as well) while also contrasting with the "White Man" who would be following their social standards, having known those standards his whole life and been taught that it is the only way to live.

     In many ways this outlook on people reminds me strangely of the upper class verses the lower class. The upper class is in charge and might be trying to help, but they are also condescending, and a part of the problem. They may even try to make the poorer half look "sullen" to turn things around so the "heavy harness" is something the rich are bearing, not the poor, because the poor do not know better. In some ways I feel as if this rhetoric could work almost as well in describing the social differences in England as it could be used to apply to colonialism ideals.


Kipling, Rudyard. "The White Man's Burden". The Broadview Anthology of British Literature : The Victorian Era. Ed. Don Lepan. Toronto: Broadview Press, 2009.           775-776. Print.