The Post-colonial period overview

The Decolonization Process

The word “decolonization” is currently used to describe mental developments that firmly reassign pre-colonial masters’ freedoms to people. The fundamental concept behind this process is the reconstruction of out-of-date perceptions, power structures, and forms of subjugation that were accepted throughout the colonial era. In the construction of nationalized personalities, postcolonialism highlights the nationality, visualizations, and embodiment of the nation, the setting, freedom, social reflections, religious conviction, customs and rites, and cultural distinctiveness. This paper seeks to explore contemporary anxieties brought by post-colonialism by analyzing the books by “The Man to Send Rain Clouds” by Silko’s, Leslie Marmon and “The Lone Ranger and the Tonto Fistfight in Heaven” by Sherman Alexie.

Analyzing “The Man to Send Rain Clouds”

The postcolonial analysis is the enduring outcome of imperialism such as the psychological challenges of either incorporating or rejecting pre-colonial attitudes and cultures that subjugated the subjects (Amritjit & Schmidt 65). “The Man to Send Rain Clouds” by Silko’s, Leslie Marmon is a story in which an old man dies in a sheep camp, and his grandchildren take charge of preparing a decent burial for him. It depicts the clash of tradition and Christianity in which the grandchildren want to send him off with Indian traditional burial rites while a Catholic priest insists on a Christian burial stirring conflict between the traditional and western cultures. “The Lone Ranger and the Tonto Fistfight in Heaven” by Sherman Alexie portrays the experiences that the Native Americans faced in the reservation and other places. They mutually reveal the conflicts between the indigenous people and the imperialist such as social inequality, religion, social interference and more the general attitude of the two personalities. The two stories bring out the imperialism conflicts that were experienced by the Native Americans and the whites who wanted to instill their contemporary perspectives to the people (Amritjit & Schmidt 65). Which relate to the type of anxieties the characters go through in both these stories.

Conflicts in “The Man to Send Rain Clouds”

The story by Silko depicts the conflict between tradition and post-imperialism modernity especially the place of religion, creation of counties, and intergenerational conflicts. One controversial issue regards who can bring rain clouds since the grandchildren think that the dead can while Christianity believes that only God can bring rainfall. The quote “send us rain clouds Grandfather” (Silko 91) shows that the Native Americans have strong beliefs in their Indian religion. In this case, a conflict arises between the Indian tradition that was practiced before the colonial time and the western religion, which was introduced by imperialism. However, in some cases, the two cultures agree since for both Franciscan priest and the Native Americans water is vital during burial ceremonies “I only came to ask you if you would bring your holy water to the graveyard” (94). The title of the story represents a cultural divide between Father Paul, the Catholic priest who believes in one almighty God and the Native Americans who are rooted in their Indian culture. There is a constant power struggle between the white customs who want to bring civilization to the land and the Pueblo who want to retain their culture. The conflict in the story involves man’s actions against the society, which tries to transform its community norms. Before the Whites arrived in America, the native people from India were living according to their traditions, but the arrival of the foreigners changed many things (Sanjay 210). The changes bring many troubles as the Native Americans try to keep their beliefs while the whites attempt to alter such custom. Moreover, this was a generational change the sought to reconstruct the tradition ways since the age bracket would voluntarily or involuntary learn the ways of the foreigner.

Conflicts in “The Lone Ranger and the Tonto Fistfight in Heaven”

Alexie tries to draw the traditional legends of the Native Americans and compare them with the contemporary life after influence from Imperialists. The comparison brings out the conflicts between the white culture and the Indian one that was practiced by the Indigenous Americans. The Native Americans are fighting for identity in their land after the whites’ invasion and attempt to introduce western culture including religion. The introduction of some commodities such as soft drinks, shopping stores, and television plays off against the values of the Native Americans especially those affecting family, tradition, and community (Ina 102). Victor is living with a white woman, but he does not feel comfortable living in the city (Alexie 8). Trying to live like an ideal Indian bringing out the cultural conflict that exists in the Indian society is caught between two worlds. Indians are aspiring for modern life as per the American customs such as fancy cars, elegant mansions, and televisions knowing that they may never feel at home with such cultures. At the same time, they feel embarrassed for leaving their way of life such as their traditions that have defined their lives for thousands of years (Sanjay, 210). The culture of the Native Americans has been corrupted with alcohol and money after the Europeans arrive in the land and the former do not understand their values anymore (Amritjit & Schmidt 65). The conflict of cultures, traditions, and views is evident as the locals try to retain their values and adopt the western style at the same time.

Conflicting Values in Postcolonial Times

The two stories are full of conflicting values as the Native Americans attempt to embrace the culture of the West instilled in them during the colonial period (Ina, 102). The conflicts contribute to the theme and character development especially regarding religion, modernity, traditions, and other issues such as relationships. For instance, in the story by Alexie, the Native Americans are torn between living according to their Indian culture and adopting luxurious modern life. Some enjoy drinking alcohol, owning gadgets such as television, and fancy cars (Alexie 24). These styles conflict with the Indian tradition that involves simple traditional family life and submission by women. In the story of The Man to Send Rain Clouds, the theme of religion is clearly developed, and the characters find it challenging when they have to face difficulties in burying their relative (Silko 91). Leon and the priest argue about burial rites according to individual beliefs bringing out the contrast between post-imperialism culture and that of the Indians (Silko 95). These cause confusion to the new generation that is torn between adopting their inherited culture or that of the Europeans. The conflicts leave the locals confused since they are divided between retaining the values and adopting the new style of life governed by modern values.

Superiority and Identity

The postcolonial era carried along with it the colonial perception for both the imperialist and its subjects. By this, it meant that doing away with such inclinations and the matured mindsets will not be simple (Amritjit & Schmidt 65). The underlying issue of inferiority complex still instigates the rift between the two, whereby the imperialist culture was superior to the native cultures. Sherman Alexie’s tried to illustrate the superiority of the colonizer when he presented “Three mounted soldiers played polo with a dead Indian woman’s head (Alexie 24).” It signified the imperialist power exercised over their subject which went far to killing human, and to any account, it was viewed as a normal occurrence to them as the soldier went ahead to play with dead woman’s head. Contrasting Sherman depiction, “The Man to Send Rain Clouds,” portrays the preservation of life even during the event of death. In the case where Teofilo’s sons-in-law found him lying dead, they handled the body with respect, as they found it indispensable to cover it with a red blanket. Other than covering him, Leon ceremoniously attached a feather in the hair of the old man and painted his face with blue, white, green, and yellow lines (Silko 91).

Identity and Cultural Pollution

The conflict in post-colonial times was mostly related to identity. When countries become independent, individuals too are emancipated, this would time and again head start confrontations of the development of a new identity for a person and the nation as a whole (Sanjay, 210). Primarily the outcome of independence is pervasive to own self-confidence and consciousness. In the Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfights in Heaven, the author has apparently brought out the partialities where he displays the identity of native populations as the “Indians” comparatively to the “whites (Alexie 24).” He adeptly related the prowess of the white kid in the basketball pitch and the Indians who played alongside him which furthers the conflict in the book. The self-realization raised by the author depicted the sensitivity of distinctiveness across an independent frame of mind. In Silko’s the general identity is with the cultural practices of the native Indians as their way of life. This form of identity is what results in conflict between tradition and the aftermath of post-colonial period. Christianity poses’ discrepancy which remains unresolved since one cannot replace the other in the society (Silko 91). Although not all part of the culture is evil, the post-colonialism considers it as uncivilized, which for the matter of fact is an imposition of Christianity to the ways of the native Indians. The syncretism of cultural identities and the merging of the complex diversity will for long remain a challenging aspect of the post-colonial attitudes (Amritjit & Schmidt 65).

Cultural Contamination and Mimicry

Reclaiming history for cultures in postcolonial consistently embraces an extensive seat of consciousness in the history of the natives, so contamination is inevitable. Corruption of culture most of the time is through mimicry, which exhibits uncertain connection linking the imperialist and their subjects (Sanjay, 210). The subjugated ape the imperialists by espousing their social lifestyle, language, dressing mode, prototypes, and practices. Furthermore, mimicry traces fissures in the conviction of imposing authority, an ambiguity in the behavior of the colonized. Sherman depicts the inevitability of cultural pollution in a dream where a native Indian war chief fell in love with a missionary’s wife in a secret affair but eventually realized and killed by the whites (Alexie 24). It has caused uproar within the tribe mate along with missionaries, and altogether the whole of the United States troopers who joined in the battle (Ina 102). On the other hand, Silko’s revelation of the inexorableness of corruption of culture was displayed by Louise who insisted that her grandfather Teofilo should be sprinkled with holy water to quench his “thirst” and by that it will bring rain. This exhibition shows a duly compromised situation where native Indian tradition and Christianity is subjected to one another keenly to bring about cohesive interactions (Sanjay 210).

Conclusion

In conclusion, postcolonialism analyses the transcendental, moral and political anxieties regarding cultural identity, femininity, and masculinity, race, civilization, prejudice, language and supremacy. Reading the two stories helps to understand the challenges faced by nations after the European colonialists invaded countries such as America. For instance, the Native Americans found it difficult to choose the life they want to live. On one side they want the fancy lifestyle of the Europeans while on the other they want to retain the rich Indian Culture bringing out the real theme of conflicting views. The two stories bring out the post-imperialism conflicts that were experienced by the Native Americans and the whites who wanted to instill their current viewpoints to the people. The stories are quite educative and informative to the modern generation that needs to understand the source of lifestyle and richness of their cultural heritage.

Works Cited

Alexie, Sherman. The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven. Open Road Media, 2013.

Kerner, Ina. “Differences of Inequality. Tracing the Socioeconomic, the Cultural and the Political in Latin American Postcolonial Theory.” (2013).

Seth, Sanjay. Postcolonial theory and international relations: A critical introduction. Routledge, 2013.

Silko, Leslie Marmon. “The Man to Send Rain Clouds.” Imagining America (1991): 91-96.

Singh, Amritjit, and Peter Schmidt. Postcolonial theory and the United States: race, ethnicity, and literature. Univ. Press of Mississippi, 2000.