Nishanth Prajith
05/06/2019
English 11000
In-Class Essay (On Critical Lens)
Human life is all about questioning, it is the idea of learning from events and trying to create a clear picture of what you are and what something is. It is also the idea of questioning everything and oneself to gain knowledge on what makes someone or something unique. Jamaica Kincaid, in On Seeing England for the First Time she says “ I knew the names of all the kings of England. I knew the names of their children, their wives, their disappointments, their triumphs, the names of people who betrayed them ”. This quote talks about Kincaid experience as a child to remember details regarding the history and ideologies of the country that colonized her, which was England. And this is a key factor in all colonization, the subordinate countries usually get “preyed on” and goes through several changes. The country will be forced to adopt the cultural values and educational beliefs from the country that colonized it. Some argue that this change is usually for the best of the subordinate country, however, this is not the case. Once the standards are put into place, the people in the land lose their sense of individuality and understanding of who they are, and these new standards will now affect their decisions, beliefs, and morality. And this is what is being portrayed in “On Seeing England for the First Time” which talks about how Jamaica Kincaid had to endure a lot of colonization changes in her country and adopt it as her own while questioning herself every step of the way.
One of the very first details that are very shocking and reflects the impact colonialism left on Antigua from the piece was when the author Jamaica Kincaid mentions every accessory, clothes, and food she and her family owned had the label “Made in England”. Which at first seems pretty normal, a foreign entity is forcing its subordinate country, to buy it is goods. But things get different when Jamaica Kincaid says “England they began the day with this meal called breakfast….No one I knew liked eating so much food so early in the day” and “eat my food in the English way: the knife in the right hand, the fork in the left”. This really goes on to show the impact of the foreign entity, how far they have “melted” the culture and societal behaviors into the subordinate country, which now paves way for new hierarchy in society. If someone, does not eat with a fork and knife, he or she will be looked down up and therefore be criticized for their behavior. This seems rather untrue, however, Kincaid stated that once she was able to master the art of eating like an “English” her mom boasted about this to her friend. The incident also shows the change in the morality of the people in Antigua, before being colonized they considered eating with their hands was not bad behavior. However, after colonization and the “melting”, the people now consider eating with hands to be a disgrace and moral sin. This is very bad for subordinate country because adopting another country’s values makes them lose their own. This is not only an issue of lost history but the loss of uniques because if everyone behaves and believes in the same exact thing then no one is different from another. Our uniqueness which helps advance innovation, creativity, and change in the world is lost.
Another effect of post-colonialism on the subordinate country is the change brought upon educational values. This is usually a good change when done without force because it allows for expression and ingenuity. However, during colonization, this is not usually how it works, the foreign entity would force the subordinate country to accept their educational traditions and systems to curtail a change in the mindset of young children, who later will represent them. And they will do this without teaching them about their own history but the history of the foreign entity, which they will be forced to value as pre-dominant over others. On page 367 in On Seeing England of the First Time, it says “no test we would ever take would be complete with this statement: ‘Draw a map of England.’ ”. This is very much rather crazy until later down of the page it mentions “ I knew the names of all the kings of England. I knew the names of their children, their wives, their disappointments, their triumphs, the names of people who betrayed them, I knew the dates on which they were born and the dates they died. I knew their conquests and was made to feel glad if I figured in them; I knew their defeats.”. Virtually, every bit of information about the history of England is being taught but none about the Antiguan history, which is where it is being taught. The change brought by this post-colonialism and its effect could be just summarized by what Kincaid said in 367 “these were the ones that made the most lasting impression on me, these were the ones that made me really feel like nothing”. The statement is very much accurately summarizing the effect of the colonialism. After, learning all of the histories, the young children feel like they are nothing compared to the English people or their children, who from the teaching are being considered superior in the very fact of being “English”. This brings about a change in the mindset of the children who will now either try to get close to being “English” or accept their defeat and live the rest of their lives as inferior creatures. They will not bother to bring about change to pave way for a new way of thinking and racial hierarchy.
Some argue that this change brought by post-colonialism helps people be more successful and productive. By, introducing the people to new forms of thinking and values, they are not forcing them to be pushed down but are helping them to be brought up. This may as well be a myth, because the more people the foreign entity, controls the more power they have. By forcing people to buy goods, they are not generating revenue and economic stability of the host country, but they are extending their influence over others. The subordinate country’s new generation will be raised under the values over being inferior and to worship the foreign entity, which later they will pass on to their kids, resulting in absolute control for several generations for the foreign entity. This is very much worse because their peculiarity is now gone because they do not question their existence, they just take for what the foreign entity tells them.
In conclusion, post-colonialism affects people’s sense of individuality and who they really are. The changes brought sometimes could be positive is done the right way, however, this is not usually the case. In On Seeing England for the First Time, we see an England forcing their values and traditions on to the Antiguan people who are too weak to fight back. This resulted in not only a feeling of inferiority but created a divided among the people themselves for being the most “English”. It also caused the history of the land and its people to be erased, which is very bad because once the land is no longer colonized they will have none of their tradition and will be tempted to continue with the English systems. This results in no change from the past and they will be living life exactly the way under a colonialistic regime, with no difference in beliefs.
