Take up the White Mans burden, Send forth the best ye breed,

Go bind your sons to exile, to serve your captives need This line in
the poem by Rudyard Kipling demonstrates the mindset of British
colonizers during the imperialistic era. They led themselves to believe
that their mission was one of goodwill and support for backwards
nations; in reality however, they exploited, abused, and oppressed
their settled areas. These actions caused native societies to become
distressed and broken. Using examples from major works of literature,
we can deduct that British Imperialism induced unfair treatment of
locals, disrespect for ancient traditions, erasure of native culture, and
mistreatment of respected lands.
The Train to Rhodesia by Nadine Gordimer is a piece that shows
Britons believed themselves to be superior to the natives, therefore
treating them badly. Initially, from the setting described in the story, it
is seen that the railway station was built cutting through a village. The
stationmasters barefoot children wandered over. From grey mud huts
with the untidy heads that stood within a decorated mud wall
(Gordimer 1010) With no regards to the welfare of the village people,
British engineers and architects clearly believed their railroad was
more important that the well being of the residents. When the train
parked, an English girl collected all the distasteful chocolates from the
train and threw them out into the crowds. She thought of them as
being peasant beggars since she gave them food that was to be
thrown out anyways. That same crowd had village artists who were
making an attempt at selling their work. Men from all across the train
would shout at the artists trying to negotiate in order to pay as less as
possible. They did not appreciate the time, effort, and sentiment that
went into making each delicate sculpture; the Brits thought of the
villagers as if they were dishing out factory products. This selfconcerned mindset held by the invaders tended to lead to a general
sacrilege towards age-old ethics.
Disrespect for ancient traditions was also a characteristic of
British Imperialism, as shown in Dead Mans Path by Chinua Achebe.
When getting assigned to oversee the management of a missionary
school in Africa, the main Character, Obi, witnesses the native people
walking across his school. He learned that the trail these people walked
on was a sacred and respected path; his immediate response was to
end the trail walking in order to impress the inspection officer. Obis
decisions were completely closed-minded and did not take into
consideration how much this ritual meant for the locals. The Village
chief confronted Obi with an open mind and a willfulness to try to
understand Obis motives, but Obi rejected each of the Village leaders
statements and ridiculed his beliefs. The whole purpose of our
school is to teach your children to laugh at such ideas. (Achebe 12).
This quote really exemplifies Obis egoistic ideals. In attempt to stop
people from following the trail, Obi put up fences around the school,

blocking off complete access to the path. Luckily, the villagers were
able to break down the fences and get Obi fired; however, sometimes
the fight against enforced westernization cannot be won, and
thousands of years of culture can become whitewashed or erased.
This erasure of native culture was not uncommon amongst lands
colonized by European Powers. The first European people to settle in
African colonies were often missionaries. These holy messengers often
took the word of God too far and forced the natives to convert into
Christianity. In On Seeing England, the teacher can be seen making
references to her religion, This is Jerusalem, the place you will go to
die but only if you have been good (Kincaid ) expecting the children to
follow and understand. Aside from practicing the message of the Bible,
the indigenous people were forced to clothe themselves similarly to the
British. Traditional attire was abandoned for Khakis and button up
shirts. In the story, the main characters father is described as wearing
his shirt and trousers accompanied by a brown felt hat that didnt
match the local hot climate. English diet was also imposed on the
natives. The narrator on this story tells of how her parents make her
eat a hefty breakfast consisting of porridge, bread and butter, cheese,
and cocoa. She later states that she doesnt like this kind of meal early
in the morning, for it makes her sleepy throughout the day.
The white men who conquered states mistreated the lands they
occupied. In the poem The Virgins by Darek Walcott this neglectance
towards sacred lands is evident. This poem describes a major port that
lost its value due to tourism. People didnt appreciate the sanctity of
this area and diminished its importance. This invasion of tourists has
caused native people to become agitated and driven into poverty,
increasing crime rates. A condominium drowns in vacancy (Walcott
12) tells of how living spaces arent effectively used to benefit the
general population, rather, they have been converted into areas to
extract profit.
The invasion of the white men created an unfair treatment of
natives, a disrespect towards ancient traditions, an erasure of ageless
culture, and a tendency to mistreat sacred lands. A century later, these
effects can still be felt. Our world today is stained with systematic
oppression and racism that was initially instilled by these European
conquerors. The invaders have left, but their footprint is still evident.