What is the Poem The White Man's Burden by Rudyard Kipling About???

Answer 1

"The White Man's Burden" is a poem by the English poet Rudyard Kipling. It was originally published in the popular magazine McClure's in 1899, with the subtitle The United States and the Philippine Islands.

"The White Man's Burden" was written in regard to the U.S. conquest of the Philippines and other former Spanish colonies.

Although Kipling's poem mixed exhortation to empire with sober warnings of the costs involved, imperialists within the United States latched onto the phrase "white man's burden" as a characterization for imperialism that justified the policy as a noble enterprise.

The poem was originally written for Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee, but exchanged for "Recessional"; "Burden" was changed to match the American colonization.

At face value it appears to be a rhetorical command to white men to colonize and rule people of other nations (both the people and the duty may be seen as representing the "burden" of the title), and because of this has become symbolic of Eurocentrism.

A straight forward analysis of the poem may conclude that Kipling presents a Eurocentric view of the world, in which non-European cultures are seen as childlike and demonic. This view proposes that white people consequently have an obligation to rule over, and encourage the cultural development of, people from other ethnic and cultural backgrounds until they can take their place in the world by fully adopting Western ways. The term "the white man's burden" can be interpreted simply as racist, or taken as a metaphor for a condescending view of non-Western national culture and economic traditions, identified as a sense of European ascendancy which has been called "cultural imperialism". A parallel can also be drawn with the philanthropic view, common in Kipling's formative years, that the rich have a moral duty and obligation to help the poor "better" themselves whether the poor want the help or not.

Within a historical context, the poem makes clear the prevalent attitudes that allowed colonialism to proceed. Although a belief in the "virtues of empire" was wide-spread at the time, there were also many dissenters; the publication of the poem caused a flurry of arguments from both sides, most notably from Mark Twain and Henry James. Much of Kipling's other writing does suggest that he genuinely believed in the "beneficent role" which the introduction of Western ideas could play in lifting non-Western peoples out of "poverty and ignorance". Lines 3-5, and other parts of the poem suggest that it is not just the native people who are enslaved, but also the "functionaries of empire", who are caught in colonial service. This theme may also be contrasted with the Christian missionary movement, which was also quite active at the time in Africa, India, and other British and European colonies (e.g. the Christian and Missionary Alliance).

Answer 2

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What is the Poem The White Man's Burden by Rudyard Kipling About???

Answer 3

The White Mans Burden Summary

Answer 4

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Answer 5

A satire about the way that the Europeans viewed their position in relation to the rest of the world.

Answer 6

the white man is black so get it riiiight