A Passage to Colonization

  

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A Passage to India by E.M. Forester is set in India during the reign of the British Raj. This novel looks at the disparaging atmosphere between the British and the Indians. The British took to seeing themselves as refined, civilized, and essentially as good human beings. In contrast they viewed the Indian people as uncivilized barbarians who were prone to committing evil acts. The Indian people were very resentful towards their treatment and undermined British authority with rude slights of propriety and petty comments.   

 

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 The British view themselves as civilized because they come from the Western world which is full of rules, culture, and aristocracy. The Indians view themselves as civilized because they come from a world with rules, culture, and aristocracy. The difference is that the West views India as an exotic and unexplored world that is full of mystery and eroticism. For instance, Adela wants to explore India and discover the mysticism of the culture. Her desire to explore is not because she wants to know the people or the culture but because she wants her view to be fulfilled. 

  

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Her reality becomes shattered as she enters the caves with a local Indian doctor (Aziz) and is confronted by the darkness within herself as well as from the outside. It causes her to ask personal and rude questions about Aziz's marriage and implies that he is practices polygamy. Aziz is very frustrated and hurt by this insult and storms off. Adela has a mental breakdown and fabricates this story about being accosted in the caves.

 

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The British people believe Adela because 

1. She is British and Aziz is Indian.

2. She has privilege and more stature than Aziz.

3. She is engaged to a man of power and so her word must be valid.

4. Obviously, all Indians are savages and Aziz has been masquerading as well-refined doctor for so long.

The British people believe that the caves brought about Aziz's true nature, but in reality they brought to like Adela's. Adela's nature is to point fingers and be fearful of the Indian people. This shows that her rash conclusion and fear of not actually wanting to marry Ronny caused her to have a breakdown, but her first inclination wasn't to acknowledge that something wasn't right with her, but that something was wrong with the man who must have accompanied her even though he left her. Because how could there be anything wrong with someone civilized when faced with the truth in the darkness of a cave? This is the question I believe cushioned Adela to make her accusation.

 

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Nothing really changes by the end of the novel. The British still think Aziz did it and the Indian still hate the British. This is shown through Aziz and Fielding's broken and shattered friendship. They both want to repair it, but the damages of the British civility have been done. The friendship is irreparable just like the Indian people will never be able to fully trust or listen to the authority of the British. There is a rift in the country and it is reflected in the friendship of the East and the West. 

What are your thoughts on the colonization and perspectives addressed in A Passage to India? Let me know down below in the comments.

See you soon,

Sarah Johnson 

Great Expectations (The Truth vs. Reality)

  

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As Americans I think we often times have a fantastic ideal of what Britain is. We as the famous British author Charles Dickens create in our minds these great expectations about our life and the world around us. In the beloved novel Great Expectations, Pip is a poor boy raised by his sister who has no hope of ever getting outside of social class. He is destined to be a blacksmith and take over his brother-in-law's apprenticeship. Pip has these great expectations of breaking out of societal molds and obtaining a dream that seems too great to achieve. He has built up the glory of escaping the middle class and once he does by luck and an anonymous benefactor he quickly realizes that class does not allow for one to escape the truth of English society, which can be an ugly place. 

 

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Americans have a view of England that usually involves a castle, the London Bridge, and soldiers with long black hats who can't move. This is the great expectation of American travelers. Britain, however, is not a far cry from the society portrayed in Great Expectations. Age old prejudices are still there and there is still contempt for those who are poor or who can't do for themselves. Americans walk into England with this profound sense of romanticism for the mystical country. 

 

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When discussing Eastern versus Western in class we touched on the desire many Westerners have when traveling to "exotic" places. I believe that Americans still view Britain as exotic, but not in the sense of unrefined and uncultured as those of the past view other countries. Americans view Britain as sophisticated and as an epicenter of culture. They want the posh British experience. It's the trap of the traveler. The great expectation that lurks within every human being when it comes to experiencing a new individual experience.

What are your thoughts on the Americanized view of Britain? Let me know down below in the comments.

See you soon, 

Sarah Johnson

Sweeney Todd and the Decay of London

  

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I watched Sweeney Todd for the first time during Freeform's 31 Days of Halloween and the film resonated with me. Not in the beautiful way of what a gorgeous film with great moral values. The film was gorgeous, but the gore and the decay of London was a great juxtaposition for the decay of the London people. Sweeney Todd is a barber looking for revenge and returning to London after being wronged and thrown into prison. He has changed his name and is looking for revenge. The opening song is titled "No Place Like London". Todd sings these ominous lines, 

There's a hole in the world like a great black pit
And the vermin of the world inhabit it
And its morals aren't worth what a pig could spit
And it goes by the name of London

Todd disgraces London. He spits on London as it has spit on him through the selfish desires of its inhabitants. London's class scheme and poverty is the root of this story. Yes, there's gore, cannibalism, and insanity, but that isn't what makes Sweeney Todd so disgusting. What's disgusting about London is the way a judge decided to rape Todd's wife in public and got away with. What's disgusting is that Mrs. Lovett schemes to turn Todd's murdered victims into meat pies because of her inability to purchase meat and sustain a living. What's disgusting is the way that London eats its inhabitants up hole and swallows them without any thought because those who inhabit its streets are looking to devour those around them. 

Watch the opening song and tell me what you think down below in the comments. Are you a fan of Sweeney Todd's depiction of London or do you think it's too pessimistic? 

See you soon,

Sarah Johnson

What College has Given me

Recently we had a class discussion on John Henry Cardinal Newman’s Discourse 5. Knowledge, It's Own End. In this class discussion we talked about all aspects of college and a fellow classmate brought up whether or not going to college was a scam.

I completely disagree with the idea of college being a scam. No matter what field you go into, college is important. The knowledge and experience I received in college has been invaluable. In the fall of my freshmen year, was the only person from my high school attending UL. Coming from North Louisiana, everyone graduates and goes to college at Louisiana Tech, ULM, and LSU. I went to school with the same people from kindergarten to senior year. Not that I did not want to be their friends, but I wanted to experience college on my own and make new friends. Upon coming to school I moved into the dorms with 3 random people. I was SO lucky. I loved my roommates and my suitemates and to this day I am still friends with them. I joined a sorority and met some of my best friends and my college support system.  Joining a greek life gave me the opportunity to network. This network helped me get my first internship in Atlanta working for Coca-Cola headquarters.

This job really changed my life. Working for Coca-Cola Headquarters has been one of most interesting things I have ever done. That job alone opened numerous doors for me, and I have gained extensive knowledge in my field. Moving almost four hours away from home has been so beneficial to me. Lafayette is close enough that I can go home whenever I like. But it is not so close that I feel obligated to go home every weekend. This distance helped me. The distance gave me enough space to let me be an “adult” but also allowed me to go home as well. Not being able to go home every weekend was good for me. Do not get me wrong,  I am a huge family person but I think that I needed to grow up and be able to make my own decisions and figure out how to live on my own.

College also allowed me to think more independently. My parents always allowed me to form my own decisions, which I am very thankful for. This allowed me to be my own person. But upon arriving to college I really only had to think about myself in a sense. I was solely responsible for me.

Coming to college and making friends with people who are so different from me gave me a more open mind. I became more accepting of people and learned to love people in different ways. One thing that I think college does for my generation is make us more accepting of others around us. College used to be only for the elite, so everyone was similar. These days college is for everyone. I think this is beneficial because I get to interact with people who have a completely different thought process than me. Even though I might not agree with everyone here I think the critical thinking skills that come from an experience like this are precious.

The classes I have had in college some have been beneficial and yet some have not. I think that UL tries to make each major have a well rounded curriculum. I am in Moody College of Business and I am required to take many different types of courses. These courses range from accounting to geology. Though I have not really enjoyed all of the classes I have taken, I am still thankful for the opportunities to grow that UL has given me. I think that a lot of students get bogged down in the school work and forget that college is a privilege. College has not only helped me grow academically but also as a person. I would not be who I am today without the experiences I have had in college. I would like to thank UL, for the opportunities I have had in Lafayette. I think college is valuable, and I wish everyone was lucky enough to experience the “true college experience.” I would also like to thank all my professors, and friends I have met here. Thank you UL for shaping my young adult life, and giving friends, experience, worldly and scholarly knowledge in the past four years. 

-Savanna

Tea time in Britain

Friday, October 19, 2018

Tea time in Britain

If I think about Britain, one of the first things that comes to my mind is the “Tea Time.” So you are a foreigner in Britain and one thing on your to-do list is to have tea. I am talking about good old fashioned English tea time. But what if you don´t know anything about the British tea time? And how many actual tea times are there during the day?

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The first one I talk about and also the first one in order is elevenses. This one is a late-morning break, which involves a light snack like muffins or biscuits – and of course a cup of tea or coffee. The elevenses is, as the name already reveals, at 11 am in the morning. The tradition of the elevenses is actually not that old. Everybody thinks that the British tea time tradition is hundreds of years old, but according to historians who specialize in British tea, the elevenses popped up in the 20^th century. There are also no references of the elevenses in the 1800s literature.

The second tea time of the day is the afternoon tea. This event is actually a very old tradition, as it first appeared as a social event between the 1830s and 1840s. Back at that time lunch, specially for the upper class society, was a light snack and dinner was around 7:30 pm. So to fill out the long break between lunch and dinner the people of Britain invented the afternoon tea.

Dominik König

Wanderlust

So the main reason I chose to take British Literature is because I am obsessed with all things British. Even though I have never been to England it is at the top of my bucket list to go visit. I love to learn but not in the school way. I think people learn through experiences more than reading from a textbook. Though I have read, researched, and watched many documentaries about England I think the best way to learn is being immersed in their culture. I find their culture fascinating, their life is so different than us Americans. From pubs being older than the United States itself to having the a queen who has been on the throne for sixty-six years England is fascinating to me. So here is my bucket list for when I get to visit England.

1. Ride the London Eye
2. Go see Big Ben
3. Go see the Windsor Castle
4. Go see Buckingham Palace (I really love architecture)
5. Visit St. Paul’s Cathedral
6. Walk over the Tower Bridge
7. Visit Stonehenge
8. Go to Hyde Park
9. Go to Westminster Abbey
10. Go to the National Gallery (I am obsessed with art work)
11. Notting Hill
12. Shop at Primark
13. Eat at Nandos
14. Try and learn to like hot tea
15. Go see the graffiti at North Laine (I really enjoy tasteful graffiti. I know this sounds like an oxymoron)
16. Eat at Bill’s in Brighton
17. Try a traditional English breakfast
18. Try fish and chips
19. The Old Bank of England (it is a pub)
20. Find a place to sit and watch locals and the hustle and bustle of the streets in central London.

There is so much more I want to do when I go to England. Of course I want to do tourist things to see all the sights.I think all the castles in the country are amazing because the architecture. I love seeing all the intricate details because it is so creative. I think seeing Stonehenge will be amazing because it is prehistoric art. Hyde park is a must because it is the largest of the eight Royal parks in England. Shop at Primark and eat at Nandos has nothing to do with culture hahaha just always here people talking about the store online so I want to check it out. I can not wait to see their graffiti. I think that in the proper place and the proper art, graffiti is one of the most interesting types of art. There are no boundaries and that is why I love it.I also want to see what it is like to live like they live. I want to see the way they interact with each other. I like to people watch. Lol that sounds super creepy. I mean this in the non creepiest way possible. I think I will spend a day just relaxing at a pub or a coffee shop just taking in the surroundings and seeing their day-to-day life. Is it possible to go on vacation for a month? I feel like I might not want to leave once I get there!!

mood when I finally get to visit

-Savanna

Shooting an Elephant

  

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George Orwell's essay "Shooting an Elephant" is an account of a British Parliament solider who hunts down an aggressive elephant. The account feels incredibly personal and as though Orwell himself is the one who is hunting down the elephant. We are never told explicitly whether or not the narrator is Orwell himself and this makes the story feel much more personal, but also adds to the fact that this could be a fictional narrative.

 

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The narrative poses the question of morality. Morally the soldier is under the law of the imperial British rule and forced to keep the Burma people in line. In regards to imperialism, the people of Burma are very against the British soldiers and have been rude towards the soldier with snide comments. Imperialism can be an ugly coin with two sides. There is no right side and Orwell addresses that in his story.
 
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As this man hunts down an elephant, he wars with the knowledge that he will have to kill the elephant because of the Burmese people. They have follow him after they see him carry an elephant gun and he has crowds of two thousand behind him. The question is whether he is killing the elephant because of the people or because it is his duty as British officer.
 
Morally killing this elephant is graphic. It consists of multiple rounds being fired and the elephant still struggling to hang onto life. The elephant is hanging to life by a thread (much like the Burmese people). This elephant is living its life and the rule of man has said that it is violent, aggressive, and a risk to society. It must be taken down. The Burmese people have been told by the British that they are uncivilized and need culture to function properly. Both instances show that the British have control over innocent individuals who are trying to live their lives.

Do you think the Burma people are similar to the elephant? Let me know down below in the comments.

See you soon,
Sarah Johnson