Immigrant
(The topic of this blog began as a mere comment on Kira’s blog, until it grew so long I decided to make it its own post…)
I could see why a reader would draw a connection between “Immigrant” and Kipling’s “The White Man’s Burden” but I was pretty confused about whether my classmates agreed or disagreed with the motivations of Kipling/ the Kimonians.
You all realize that Kipling never lived that derogatory little poem down, right? (We just read it for 382. ) Colonialism= not cool. Racism= not cool. White people THOUGHT they were improving the so-called primitive peoples, but in reality they were degrading the people and wrecking their civilizations. In fact…no. I won’t even give us that much credit- maybe in the beginning the whites/kimonians TOLD themselves they were helping uplift an “inferior” race, but in reality, they thought that even the “best savages” could never achieve their own level of civilization. The whites derived a sadistic, self-rightous pleasure out of their interractions with the natives, much as the narrator of this story felt that he was being taunted (albeit in a more subtle way) by his host family.
I guess we’d have to come to an agreement about whether the Kimoans really want to uplift the human race, or not. Is this colonialism? The only parallel I can remark upon with certainty is the weird phenomenon of people courting their own captivity. The colonized natives, after internalizing the inferiority projected upon them by the british, etc., they sought not to rebel against their oppressors, but to emmulate them- to become “more British than the British.” (I’m wishing I hadn’t sold back
-
Heart of Darkness
right now)
Anyway I think the fact that all of the humans on Kimon eventually desire to be playmates has many parallels to real life, not just in regards to colonialism. The way kids jump through hoops of fire to get into so-called Ivy League undergrad universities, so that they can be surrounded by greatness apparently, but in reality be taught by a TA and be at the bottom of their class. but it still sounds good when they write home. Or just switch on TV? People on reality tv shows are putting themselves through all manner of humiliations in order to be the “best.” But what are they winning? Can the prize replace the dignity that you lost in the process? Hmm. Did you know Donald Trump wants Spitzer’s call girl to be on his tv show?
People love subjugation and would eat it with a spoon if they would.