Essay Example on The White Man's Burden is a turn of the 19th century Poem

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The White Man's Burden is a turn of the 19th century poem written by English author and poet Rudyard Kipling Although criticized by many for its racism The White Man's Burden is one if not Rudyard Kipling s most famous poem The highly racist poem was written Philippine American War which allowed the U S to gain control of that country The Poem explores the way in which Kipling and many others viewed the war as a glorious thing Through repetition of the title the ideologies of social darwinism and stylistic elements Kiping is able to convey his emotions about the war and civilized intervention Throughout the poem repetition pays a major role in how the reader interprets exactly what the white man burdens entitles The phrase Take up the White Man's Burden is used at the beginning of every stanza After follows what he believes to be the burden that they take With the repetition of this phrase the reader is able to fully understand and analyze exactly what Kipling is attempting to convey which is that the white men have taken the burden of the war to civilize the natives In the beginning stanza Kipling introduces the reader to this burden He explains that the white men must send their best they breed We then moves onto saying the white men must Harness the half devils half childs 



The first two stanzas and the rest of the stanzas start with the same phrase to emphasize that this is all a burden the white men take on in order to help and civilize the uncivilized With the repetition of the title and the repetition of the first of the stanzas the reader is able to grasp that Kipling is praising the white men for what they have done in civiling other nations The phrase the The White man's burden is a key part of kipling s praising of the white men and he then introduces the reader to his ideals of social darwinism This whole poem entails Social Darwinism The term social Darwinism is used to refer to a way that one believes in survival of the fittest as well as evolution Kipling was a strong believer that whites were superior and that the darker peoples were inferior His sense of racial hierarchy caused him to also go along with the beliefs of social Darwinism and agree with the racist actions his fellow white men partook in This can be seen when he refers to the white men as No tawdry rule of kings But toil of serf and sweeper The tale of common things Kipling believes that the work the white men do is like the work that surf did Serfs were considered the lowest of the low and was forced to do all the awful work that must be done however they were pretty much slaves to society Darwin believed in evolution and in survival of the fittest Kipling believes that the white men are the most evolved race and that it is their burden to assist other races who are inferior to them In the survival of the fittest according to Kipling the white men deserved to be praised that they were able to conquer these lands and help those who resided there While Kipling believes social darwinism is in favor of the white men he continues to explain this belief through stylistic elements

Through Kipling's poem he is able to use stylistic elements to express what he believes the white man's burden to be Kipling explains in the second stanza of how the white men must wait in heavy harness On fluttered folk and wild The metaphor that they are the heavy harness gives the image that the white men are the strong horses who have the harnesses that pull and hold the weight of in this case the uncivilized nations in which they concur This gives the reader a deeper understanding of how high of a standard Kipling holds the white men to be Kipling then uses personification and figurative language to explain what the white men are doing in these areas He explains The savage wars of peace Fill full the mouth of Famine And bid the sickness cease He personifies the so called famine or Sickness as something human that could hear their bid for it to stop In doing this Kipling makes what the white men are doing as more humane And as if they are doing so out of the kindness of their heart By using Stylist elements Kipling is able to convey to the reader his honest opinion the actions of the white men The White Man's Burden is the most notable work of Rudyard Kipling The Poem explores the way in which Kipling and many others viewed the war His statements are now viewed as racist and demeaning but the work still freshly captures the essence and views of the white men during this time It becomes very clear on how many white men praised the war and thought their actions to be actions out of kindness towards those whom they conquered Through the repetition of the title the ideologies of social darwinism and stylistic elements Kiping is able to convey that praise


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