The Story of Babar by Jean De Brunhoff is a wonderful children’s book that revolves around an elephant named Babar who enters into, and becomes part of, French society. Babar runs away from the forest to what most likely is, Paris after a hunter brutally murders his mother. Once he enters Paris, a benevolent old lady takes care of him and she begins to ‘civilize’ him. She buys Babar clothes, educates him and teaches him the ways of the French. The story concludes with Babar returning to the forest, clothed, walking on two legs, and being crowned king. On deep investigation of this story, some argue that Babar is a metaphor for French colonialism and that it is “an unconscious expression of the French colonial imagination” . In response to this analysis, in his essay, Freeing the Elephants, Adam Gopnick conversely argues that Babar is not in itself a metaphor for colonialism; rather it “is a self-conscious comedy about the French colonial imagination and its close relation to the French domestic imagination” (1). This children’s book is not only about taming the savage elephant, dressing them in stylish outfits and other civilized activities, rather it is about recognizing the absurdist nature inherent in those situations. Furthermore, Gopnick argues that Babar was created as a metaphor to parallel France’s history of establishing order from chaos. By creating Babar as an inherent outsider, and using his de-familiarized perspective, De Brunhoff enabled himself to parody French societal norms and ideals of order. De Brunhoff transforms Babar from an unruly, chaotic and savage elephant to a cultured and uniformed French bourgeois gentleman. By doing so, claims Gopnick, De Brunhoff’s Babar is not only about French colonialism and re... ... middle of paper ... ...e to perceive Babar in a de-familiarized fashion. In conclusion, Gopnick analyzes the De Brunhoff’s Babar in a modern, yet historical, approach. He argues that Babar is not only about colonialism and French society benevolently rescuing and civilizing the savage; so much as it is De Brunhoff’s insider’s parody of French life itself. “Far more than an allegory of colonialism,” says Gopnick, “the ‘Babar’ books are a fable of the difficulties of a bourgeois life...The unruliness of natural life is countered by the beautiful symmetries of classical style and the absurd orderliness of domestic life—but we are kidding ourselves if we imagine that we are ever really safe.” (4). In truth, while Gopnick lacked a certain depth to his argument, he, nonetheless, achieved a fresh and compelling approach to the story and his take on Babar added a certain nuance to my own reading.
In Orwell’s reflective narrative, “Shooting an Elephant”, he reveals the truth on imperialism. Through the utilization of irony and the method of appeals, Orwell shows the reader that imperialism is just a definition because the people are in control, not Britain.
...machinery – such as machine guns, tanks, and aeroplanes – seems to have made the biggest impact. On the other hand, psychological damage – such as feeling of abandonment, disconnectedness, and disillusionment – seemed to be at the crux of Remarque’s experience. Nevertheless, both emphasize the sheer amount of carnage and violence that human race has never seen before. As such, they both highlight the worthlessness of human life, which is caused by the technological advancement in the modern European society. In studying these two texts, one must be able to carefully distinguish the subtleties of the authors’ lessons as well as be able to perceive the bigger picture in which the story is set. Nevertheless, it is paramount to understand how these lessons are derived from their experiences and to comprehend the deeper meaning of their lessons set in historical context.
So far this book was a nice little surprise. Like previously stated, upon picking this book up one would think that the author is crazy for writing about the lifestyles of elephants. But when it is actually explored and read its written style and messages make for this book to be taken in very easily and fluently. This language used is at the perfect level, and the subject level is complex enough that the reader has to make connections themselves or else they will become confused almost guaranteed.
To summarize the book into a few paragraphs doesn't due it the justice it deserves. The beginning details of the French and Ind...
In 1998, Francine du Plessix Gray, prolific author of novels, biographies, sociological studies and frequent contributions to The New Yorker, published her most acclaimed work to date: At Home with the Marquis de Sade: A Life. A Pulizer Prize finalist that has already appeared in multiple English-language editions as well as translated ones, Du Plessix Gray’s biography has met with crowning achievement and recognition on all fronts. Accolades have accumulated from the most acclaimed of eighteenth-century luminaries, such as Robert Darnton, in a lengthy review in The New York Review of Books that compares her biography with Laurence Bongie’s Sade: A Biographical Essay, to the list of scholars whom she thanks in her acknowledgements for having read the manuscript: Lynn Hunt, Lucienne Frappier-Mazur, and Marie-Hélène Huët. Surely, any scholar can appreciate the vast amount of research that undergirds Du Plessix Gray’s narrative, and indeed, she takes great pains to meticulously inform the reader who might care to look at her sources and read her acknowledgements that she has done her homework and knows every inch of the scholarly terrain. Du PlessixGray wisely begins her acknowledgements with a debt of gratitude to Maurice Lever’s studies, which rest on years of archival research.
The drive to colonize the continent of Africa in the 19th centuries brought the European imperial powers against difficulties which had never been encountered before. One such difficulty is that of the local wildlife in Africa, such as lions or other big game animals. In The Man-Eaters of Tsavo, by Colonel John Patterson, a railway bridge project in East Africa is terrorized by a pair of man-eating lions. This completely true story shows the great difficulty in colonizing Africa by demonstrating the somewhat harsh environment of Africa.
As the era of literature slowly declines, the expert critiques and praise for literature are lost. Previously, novels were bursting at the seams with metaphors, symbolism, and themes. In current times, “novels” are simply short stories that have been elaborated on with basic plot elements that attempt to make the story more interesting. Instead of having expert critical analysis written about them, they will, most likely, never see that, as recent novels have nothing to analyze. Even books are beginning to collect dust, hidden away and forgotten, attributing to the rise of companies such as Spark Notes. An author deserves to have his work praised, no matter how meager and the masses should have the right to embrace it or to reject it. As much of this has already been considered, concerning Les Misérables, the purpose of this paper is to compare, contrast, and evaluate Victor Hugo’s use of themes and characterization in his novel, Les Misérables.
In staging reality, setting is critical for both Chad and Undine’s performances. In expatriate fiction, Europe is associated with more freedom than Puritanical America and is used as a medium for performers to present and explore both themselves and cultural and social differences between their home in America and abroad. In Going Abroad, William Stowe suggests that Europe is a space in which higher class and non-essential laborers can “prepare for or advance their careers” (Stowe 7). As a continent with a vast collection of cultural goods, Europe conflicts with the barren American landscape. Acquiring a “Europeanized” persona helps Undine and Chad to gain experience that they employ at home, and cultural accumulation provides an advantage
Baudelaire, Charles. The Parisian Prowler. Trans. Edward K. Kaplan. 2nd ed. Georgia: University of Georgia Press, 1997.
In “Shooting an Elephant” writer George Orwell illustrates the terrible episode that explains more than just the action of “shooting an elephant.” Orwell describes the scene of the killing of an elephant in Burma and reveals a number of emotions he experienced during the short, but traumatic event. Effectively, the writer uses many literary techniques to plant emotions and create tension in this scene, leading to an ironic presentation of imperialism. With each of the realistic descriptions of the observing multitude and the concrete appeal of the narrator’s pathos, Orwell thrives in persuading the audience that imperialism not only has a destructive impact on those being governed under the imperialists’ oppressive power, but also corrupts
Elephants'." Studies in Short Fiction. 17.1 (Winter 1980): 75-77. Rpt. in Literature Resource Center. Detroit: Gale, 75-77. Literature Resource Center. Gale.
Through the old woman’s nurturing of Babar the elephant, Jean De Brunhoff’s Babar most closely represents Said’s argument that the Occident assimilates the Orient with a purpose of improving them based on their own understanding of what is proper. In Babar, the seemingly superior Occident represents itself as the old woman, while Babar plays the role of the Orient. When Babar stumbles upon human civilization, he is welcomed by an old woman who cheerfully educates him on how humans should act. Babar learns to dress, dine, exercise, bathe, and even to complete mathematical equations like a human. The old woman is glad to take him in because she believes that she is helping him. Much like the Occident, the old lady believes that her way of life
Vichy France is a period of French history that has only fairly recently begun to be examined for what it truly is: a period in which many of the French turned against their own state and collaborated with the German forces to betray their own country. Until the eighties, the Vichy Regime was regarded as “an aberration in the evolution of the French Republic” (Munholland, 1994) , repressed by the French in an attempt to regain their national pride. ‘Lacombe Lucien’ (1974), directed by Louis Malle is a film which aims to capture the ambiguity of the era through the documentation of fictional collaborateur, Lucien.
If Guy is Haiti as the country, then little guy is the window through which the lingering European ideals show. Little Guy gets the role of Boukman, the father of the Haitian revolution, in his upcoming play. Guy and Lili are astronomically proud of little Guy, and after reciting his speech, “It left them feeling much more love than they ever knew they could add to their feeling for their son.” (Danticat 229) However, their admiration could only go so far because “It was obvious that this was a speech written by a European man, who gave to the revolutionary Boukman the kind of European phrasing that might have sent the real Boukman turning in his grave.” (Danticat 228) Although Little Guy is representing a Haitian hero, all the words he speaks are European, which illustrates the full extent of French influences that still linger heavily over Haiti.
History has been told through various forms for decades. In the past, history was more commonly expressed through word of mouth, but more recently in the past century, through written text. While textbooks and articles give formal information with little to no bias, novels give a completely new perspective from the people who experienced it themselves. The Novels, God’s Bits of Wood, written by Sembene Ousmane, and No Longer at Ease, by Chinua Achebe give a more personal account of the effects of colonization. These two novels tackle the British and French method of colonization. God’s Bits of Wood takes place in the late 1940s and sheds light on the story of the railroad strike in colonial Senegal. The book deals with different ways that the Senegalese and Malians respond to colonialism during that time. No Longer at Ease is set in the 1950s and tells the early story of British colonialism and how the Nigerians responded to colonization. Comparing the two novels, there are obvious similarities and differences in the British and French ways of rule. African authors are able to write these novels in a way that gives a voice to the people that are most commonly silenced during colonialism. This perspective allows readers to understand the negative ways that colonization affects the colonized. Historical fiction like God’s Bits of Wood and No Longer at Ease are good educational tools to shed light on the history and effects of colonization, but they do not provide a completely reliable source for completely factual information.