Theme Of Imperialism In Lawrence Of Arabia

The film Lawrence of Arabia illustrations the experiences of a man’s exploration of places he has never been before, both on the globe and within his own mind. The leading role is sent to the Middle East during World War One, his experiences there are display disputes that are still prevalent in today’s world. The issues dealt with by the Arabians in the movie and the continued problems in present day Middle East are consequences of European domination. This control is executed through the idea of imperialism or, a countries attempt to expand their power, usually done by means of colonization, in an effort to strengthen their own countries livelihood. The conquest of Arabia by the British was the beginning of the political issues today in the

He is instructed to find an Arabian Prince and act as a mediator between his country and Arabian tribesmen who were all engaged in conflict with the Ottoman Empire at the time. While there, Lawrence finds himself becoming increasingly immersed in Arabic culture, and begins to assimilate into the society. Eventually Lawrence unifies the tribes of the dessert against the Turks promising that if they participated they would be granted sovereignty. It is not until after the Turks are pushed out that Lawrence discovers the British governments plan to split the land between themselves and the French instead of the Arabs as Lawrence had previously been assured. Having himself become so engrained in the Arabic culture Lawrence is appalled upon discovering this news and feeling like he failed the Arabic people he left following the completion of his mission. Although Lawrence had intended for the land to be given to the locals to govern, the splitting of the land shows the great presence of European imperialism. This is a constant theme throughout the movie and is still causing issues in this region of the world today even following British

This is shown near the end of the movie through the Arabians inability to fix the generators for town hall, exemplifying what little training Europeans gave them before leaving. This absence of experience expands into an even larger problem long after the British left the dessert with creation of a power struggle. As no consistent order or rule exists, violent political groups are more easily able to take over. The only method these groups know for ruling is the process of instilling fear in those whom they rule. The British didn’t provide the places they took over with a means to govern themselves once the imperialists returned to Europe, leaving them with continued