A Modern novel, Jewel in the Crown, by Paul Scott, depicts the latter stages of imperialism’s erosion and explores it through the lives of individuals and their relationships as symbolic of larger societal conflicts and political events. Jewel was written well into the 20th Century and employs thematic concepts and literary forms characteristic of Modernism, as well as being significant in its literary-historical context of the decline of British Imperialism/post- colonialism in India.
“Some of the major issues to which twentieth century literature responded in ways generally known as ‘Modernism’ are: a growing awareness of a variety of cultures which had differing but cogent world-views; exploitation of other cultures and races, and a society built on power and greed” (Lye, 1996). The fact that Modern literature explored these issues with more scrutiny, candor, and depth than previous literary eras. “This is the story of rape, of the events that led to it and followed it and of the place in which it happened” (Scott, 1966). The rape is of a young British women in colonial India, but also of the rape of India by Britain, “the affair…ended with the spectacle of two nations in violent opposition, not for the first time nor as yet for the last because they were then still locked in an imperial embrace of such long standing and subtlety it was no longer possible for them to know whether they hated or loved on another, or what held them together and seemed to have confused the image of their two destinies” (Scott, 1966). The events, interactions, and sentiments of Daphne, the woman in question, and those of the ot…
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…. For Jewel in the Crown and Heart of Darkness, the questions and criticisms of British Imperialism are brought up metaphorically through their stories they tell, and so interrelated in subject theme, mark a specific period in time tin B ritish History.
Works Cited and Consulted
Agatucci, C. (2001). ENG 103, Survey of British Literature. Central Oregon Community College.
Damrosch, D., et al., ed. The Longman Anthology of British Literature: VolB. Compact ed. New York: Longman-Addison Wesley Longman, 2000.
Lye,J. (1996). Some Cultural Forces Driving Literary Modernism, (Dept of English, Brock Univ.) 2F55: Modern Fiction. http://www.brocku.ca/english/courses/2F55/forces.htm [last accessed: June 2001].
Scott, P. (1966). The Jewel in the Crown. Vol. 1 of the Raj Quartet. Rpt. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1998.
Prejudice and Racism in The Jewel in the Crown and Heart of Darkness
Racism in The Jewel in the Crown and Heart of Darkness
The effects of British colonialism are reflected in literature from both early modernism and post colonialism. Racial discrimination tainted both eras portrayed in the British morale of white supremacy over non-European counties unfolded. Heart of Darkness exemplifies early modernism in the British explorers viewed African natives of the Congo as incapable of human equality due to perceived uncivilized savagery. Personal interaction between races was little to none, as the freshly conquered Africans were still viewed as alien. Likewise, Jewel in the Crown, exemplifies of post colonialism, echoes racism from the British Rule in India. Postcolonial literature evolved from early modernism as the focus was of the interactions between the British and the people they conquered in modernism. Racism was still prevalent in post colonialism, yet the literature offers a slightly lees subhuman view of the Indians. The characters in both literary works express reactions to ” learned prejudice” as white people in
“control of a black man’s country” (Jewel of the Crown, P.150). Furthermore, the theme common human bonds between blacks and whites develop as British characters reject racism in ” the critique of the traditional values of the culture” (Modern Literature handout, P.4). Through the recognized human bond, the need to bridge the gap between black and white people develops.
The modernism theory of British ” awareness of primitiveness and savagery civilization built, and therefore an interest in the non-European peoples” (), was still evident in Post colonialism literature. The British explorer of uncivilzed Africa, Marlow in Heart of Darkness, has…
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…ived in early Modernism and Postcolonial Literature. The British value of learned prejudice produced a fear of dark skin, especially when curious attraction and primitive instinct felt natural to the British. However, as values are questioned, and basic human emotion is shared, human bond become blind to skin color. The theme in both literary pieces reflect Carl Jung’s theory that ” all humans share a common spiritual/psychic heritage, collective unconsciousness, racial memories”(English 103 handout HofDEaarly Modernism, p., 2).
Works Cited
Agatucci, Cora .Conrad Study Guide
Damrosch, David, et al., ed. The Longman Anthology of British Literature: Vol. B. Compact ed. New York: Longman – Addison Wesley Longman, 2000.
Scott, Paul. The Jewel in the Crown. [1966.] Vol. 1 of the Raj Quartet. Rpt. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1998.