Name: Jankiba Rana

M.A. Semester 3

Roll No. 11

Batch 2014.15

Paper:2    NEO CLASSICAL LITERATURE

Definition of Colonialism

            Colonialism is the extension of a nation’s sovereignty over territory beyond its borders by the establishment of either settler colonies or administrative dependencies in which indigenous populations are directly ruled or displaced.

·         Types of Colonialism:

1.      Setter Colonialism,

2.      Plantation Colonies,

3.      Trading Post.

·         Land occupation is always accompanied with cultural colonialism.

·         The significance of Image:

“White man’s Burden”: The coloniser’s self-perceived “destiny to rule” subordinate peoples.

Colonization

           The theme of colonization is the core and most obvious refrain in the novel.

·         The Master-Slave Relationship:

                        In conjunction with the theme of colonization, of course, is the master slave dialectic. This can be seen in many ways. Robinson is the force of civilization who finds himself on a savage island with only a savage for company. He works hard to civilize them both by making them conform to his own steadfast notions of what civilization means.

                        Defoe’s Robinson does not show a moment of self-doubt and is absolutely sure that he is meant, to inflict his will on both the land and its native inhabitant. The interesting paradox that Robinson is a colonial master but a Neitschean Slave.

·         Rational Man’s Civilization of Nature:

                            Robinson is methodical in imposing order on the chaotic island. He is confronted with.  He listed his successes in a lucid and precise account. His work is systematic and logical and all his actions are disciplined. His rationality is beyond question and his animal libido never gains the upper hand. You can set this theme in the context of the theory, literature and philosophy of the Neo-Classical age in England.

Robinson Crusoe

                     The story of Robison crusoe tells of a man’s shipwreck on a deserted island and his subsequent adventures. The story of Robinson crusoe is based partly on the true story of Scottish castaway Alexander Selkirk and partly on a Muslim man’s fictitious story.

 The colonized people’s identity in Robinson Crusoe:

                     The “identity”, it is all about how to establish an identity. A presence without being represented, a human with all factors and traits of identity in Robinson Crusoe has two extremes in that one represents the ‘self’ and the other one represents the ‘other’.

                     In a time when England was under the process of establishing an identity as a big empire in Europe, Daniel Defoe wrote his first novel “Robinson Crusoe” (1719), while a fictional side of the novel has little to do with the.....

                     Political and colonial side which dominates the atmosphere of the novel and therein we could come p with many readings that apparently depict the strategies of the colonizer in their colonial voyages to the ‘other’ word.

                     To change the identity means you change a culture and then a whole nation.

                     From a Eurocentric perspective as that of Robinson crusoe, the other is repented as ‘things’, so they have to be represented by converting them to Christians and charging their names, dress, language, food etc...

                     It is actually started by Karl Marx in that Edward said quotes his famous statements as an epigraph to his book “Orientalism” when the former said;

“They cannot represent themselves;

They must be represented.”

 Xury is the symbol after ‘Civilizing’ Friday

                     To our reading of the novel, a postcolonial reading, we will identify that Robinson Crusoe represents the British Empire in that time and characters such as Xury and Friday are the representatives of the colonized people in the novel.

                     Xury for e.g., is a slave whom Robinson Crusoe meets when they, both of them, are under slavery of the Moor. Crusoe rebels against the Moor and flees with the Moor’s servant who belongs to the barbaric pirates; Robinson chooses Xury and throws the Moor to the sea believing that “It was so venturing to trust him.”

                     Xury is such a character which is the symbol to what is going to be like Man Friday after ‘Civilized’ by Robinson Xury speaks English and clearly that he underwent the same process that latter on applied of Friday. Xury is such a stereotype of those who have been changed by the colonizer, through he is still a slave.

                     First he speaks English like language; it is the same language that Friday speaks after being taught by Robinson, with broken grammar and punctuation.

                     Xury is ready to sacrifice his life for Robinson even though; he does not do anything for him. It is the fact that Xury is a Slave, and used to be so, so his masters taught him to risk his life before the life of his masters.

                     Xury’s mind is endowed with the idea that the white man is superior than those “wilds mans” because the latter are aggressive and cannot be dealt with.

“They offered me some flesh,

Which I declined, pointing out

That I would give it them,

But made signs for the skin.”

                     Robinson does not do favour for the people for free, he refuses to take flesh, though, he demands the skin of leopard since he knows that he can sell it and gain a bounty money.

                     

The strategy of exploiting is the colonizers, so he will not help you for free, there should be something in return.

                   

  The “White man” gives nothing for free as that Robinson, he helps the inhabitants, but he takes his reward.

Xury cannot forget his first word in English when he was civililed before even though crusoe doesn’t ask him to call him master as he does later with Friday but the idea of superiority of the white man is already existed in xury’s mind :

“ Master master a ship with a Sail”

He calls robinson master without being asked to say so even roinson in his previous statement describing the language of xury he equates himself to xary as being slaves:

“such English xary spoke by conversing among us slaves”

Man Friday’s identity:

The character of man Friday in the novel represents basically the colonized people in call aspects of colonial imperialism. It is the relation between Friday and robinson that most of the critics consider it as

Master slave relation before Robinson’s meeting Friday, he was alone in the island for twenty five years now how the questions of colonialism is clear through the novel is that robinson is not showing a real passion to find somebody to be with as a friend or even companion after all this period of imprisonment in the island he first tells Friday to call him

Master, then this is why the theme of this novel can be conceived to some extent as being colonial rather than a fictional stray.

The initial step to change the identity of Friday is changing his name,

Robinson does not even ask “Friday” about his name, what is important to him is that to let the savage,

                     “Know his name should be Friday,

                     Which was the day I saved his life,”