Critics of Modern Civilization in India

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Table of Contents

Critics of modern civilization in India
Kim’s identity
Works Cited

Critics of modern civilization in India

Gandhi presented his critics of modern civilization in Hind Swaraj book, which most people opposed even without reading it. Majority disagreed with the issues that Gandhi discussed, and regarded the book as ridiculous. Jawaharlal was one of the close followers of Gandhi, and he disagreed with the views of Gandhi.

Some people considered Gandhi as a representative of the old ages. The few people, who were interested with the book, did not get a chance to analyze it, as the government banned it as soon as possible (Gandhi 13). During the congress rule, the book was then revived in the market.

In the book, Gandhi concentrated on various issues that were affecting the contemporary society. He wanted to realize the reason behind the increment of violence and terrorism trends. This issue had attracted international attention, as everyone looked for violent revolution in India as it was highly increasing.

According to Gandhi, in his book, he said that the future of India was interconnected with peaceful events. This idea led to his strong opposition against the growing terrorism and violence. His intention was to introduce an alternative to replace violence and chaotic acts. During this period, British had dominated the Indian land, in efforts of spreading their way of life to the Indians (Gandhi 21).

The introduction of formal education with regard to the British system, use of railways, medicine, and the incorporation of the legal system brought much change to the Indian society. Gandhi says that, he decided to examine further, the nature of British colonialism, and he realized the cause of all the problems was the modern civilization. According to his views, he defined modern civilization as more dangerous than colonialism. Adoption of modern civilization was the cause of the problems that Indians faced.

Gandhi tried to compare the modern civilization with the ethical practices of the Indian people, and discovered that the strength of the Indian people depends on their ethical living. Gandhi confessed that, his main theme was preserving the moral characters of the Indians.

The question, of successfully convincing the Indians about the negative effects of modern civilization was extremely challenging him. Even the educated people, who could easily understand the evils of modern civilization, were already brainwashed.

At one point, Gandhi tried to argue and to convince other Indians how the country was degrading, due to accepting the western institutions, and their way of life (Gandhi 35). Gandhi was convinced that the acts of western civilization and the increased cases of violence were inseparable. The only solution according to him was to eradicate the influence of British for the well-being of the Indians.

The use of dialogue in Hind Swaraj helped him to convey the message of evils of civilization. The dialogue was between a reader and the editor. He considered the use of dialogue of two equal partners to air the views of challenges faced by the contemporary society, as the most effective.

His efforts were to put India in its prominent position with other nations. Gandhi made some arguments of the fact that, the strength of India did not rely on the work of its military, but in Indians ethical behaviors (Gandhi 57). Although, he thought politics played a significant role in solving peoples problems, politicians were supposed to serve people, but not to dominate. Gandhi honored the strength and powers of nationalism, due to its capability in solving the Indians problems.

Gandhi made people understand that modern civilization was based on acquiring material wealth, and hence could not give ethical living a chance. Indians could not stick to their ethical practices, as they used to rush regularly to grab wealth. The greed for wealth affected the development of the individual’s personality, ethical practices, and moral values, which are relied on promoting peace and cohesion in the society.

Gandhi claimed that moral values and admirable qualities were not present in the modern western civilization. The quality of lives for Indian people was to be emphasized through embracing ethical and moral moorings. He emphasized on culture more than civilization, as it was considered the cause of all problems that Indians faced. Factory civilization that resulted from modern civilization affected the value of a human being negatively (Gandhi 61)

The introduction of industrialization widened the gap between the wealth people and those below the average. In addition, industrialization resulted to hatred and discrimination among the Indians. Modern civilization led to alienation according to Gandhi. On the other hand, it was also raised that, through class struggle, there would be a high likelihood of violence and hatred among the Indians.

Centralization of power was also believed to result to some evils, as only few who will acquire power and dominate the rest. Through industrialization, the cities were believed to grow and expand, hence destroying the harmonious lives in rural areas. Exploitation and acts of inequalities were high in cities and towns than in rural surroundings.

Nevertheless, Gandhi still knew of positive effects of western civilization such as the introduction of law and constitutionalism. Western civilization also entailed some positive impacts such as civil liberty, and economic development. On the other hand, Gandhi discovered western civilization mainly resulted to competition and becoming rich, and greed for power (Gandhi 69).

This analysis brought the conclusion that; positive impacts of western civilization were small, compared to the problems it brought. The improvement of people’s quality of life was Gandhi’s principal concern, as opposed to the quantity development aimed by the British. The introduction of modern civilization was making machines overtake men; hence, the human labor was acting like slavery.

According to Gandhi western civilization was based on animosity, he declared that even for West modernization was wicked. The views of Gandhi proved that colonialism was one of the many fruits of western civilization. In his book, Gandhi requested the Indians to adopt technology only suitable to their needs (Gandhi 71). He focused his interests mostly about the youths and concentrated much on educational reforms.

Kim’s identity

Kim is a very intriguing book and most people prefer reading it. The people, who read this book outside India, always developed an urge to visit the place. Kimball O’Hara is the main character in the book, mainly known as Kim. He appears in the first page of the book sitting on enormous cannon in the middle of the city of Lahore. The author of the book portrays Kim fighting other boys, who intended to take his position.

On this very day, Kim starts a journey that shapes his life fully later. The hero of the author was this young boy known as Kim. Kim looked and behaved like any other normal Indian. His father was an English man, who died and left Kim with notes specifying his identity. Kim always carried with him those notes concerning the secret of his identity (Kipling 11).

Kim was a knowing young boy and ever searching for his identity. Kim accompanied Iama, a Buddhists priest, who wanted to be shown his way to wonder house. It was a fantastic opportunity for him to search what his father had indicated in the notes. Kim’s father had indicated that one day; Kim would be befriended by a red bull on a green environment, accompanied by colonel on his horse in a group of nine hundred devils (Kipling 39).

The definition that his father had given was not clear to Kim about what he meant. It did not dawn on Kim that his father referred to his old Irish regiment, its ruling officer, and its followers of nine hundred men. When Kim found this group of people, he became a player in the great game of Indians spying. He got an opportunity to learn crucial skills such as map reading and map making in st. Xavier, as preparation for his role in Indians exciting game.

Kim disclaims the racist modes of characters and shows the future racial harmony. The identity of Kim is used in the book as the bridge between the colonizers and the colonized. The author of the book tries to demonstrate Kim’s identity crisis and his chameleon like characters (Kipling 66).

This is well demonstrated through Kim’s relationships with the natives. The culture aspect of Kim was significantly affected through the interaction of Asian and European practices. Kim’s identity crisis is because of native culture, which he feels being part of it. At a point, Kim considered Mahhub Ali as a traitor, because he betrayed him back to the British. Although Kim felt more superior to other Indians, he demonstrated feelings of closeness to the Indians.

The author describes Kim as a “Friend of the entire world”, which is seen as ironic, as he related with natives in a hatred way. He treated his friends and other natives in a negative attitude, except for the Iama to whom he showed love.

Although Kim insisted of perfect equality, he acted negatively when he removed the Indian boys who had occupied his place. He did this because he was English, and English people were superior. Despite that, Kim was a poor boy; the Indian boy whose father was rich could not manage to take Kim’s position.

Kim’s identity crisis was felt in all aspects of life. For instance, in st. Xavier where he considered himself a sahib, things were exceedingly different. Other children in school discriminated Kim and gave him unwelcoming response (Kipling 27). In this school, Kim learnt how to behave in a more superior manner over other natives by force.

What helped him most throughout the school life was that, he believed he was better compared to other Indians. The blood of white in Kim was seen to prevail, when he decided to join British secret service, and contribute to the fight against Indians. This aspect enforced the author’s belief of genetic differences between races.

When Mahbub Ali asked Kim who is exactly his people, Kim responded just like any other colonizer, and declared that great and beautiful land was his answer. The answer, which Kim gave, was a clear show, of the division between him and the natives. It was clear that it was not possible for Kim to do away with his white culture.

Kim severally showed fear of snakes, some of the incidences that proved that it was impossible for Kim to escape his British blood (Kipling 45). Other incidences, which portrayed Kim’s identity crisis, were how his mind functioned. For instance, when he was relaxed his mind functioned like a Hindi. When situations of confusion arose and needed to think deep, Kim’s mind functioned like an English person.

In several occasions, his mind shifted from the darkness that was burying it, and took refuge in English thinking. Although Kim had lived among natives for many years, the superiority of white blood and culture, could not allow him to believe the illusions of natives. Kim’s identity became questionable, when at times forgot he was a sahib he would later recall that he is a white.

For instance, when Kim was in Jain temple he bent down forgetting st. Xavier, forgetting his superior white blood, and even great game. He was in a status of confusion, and could not determine who he was. He went to the extent of asking, “Who is Kim-Kim-Kim” (Kipling 54).

In the same incidence, Kim is heard confessing to a shamlegh woman how he wrestled with his soul until he was strength less. It was clear that, it was not easy for Kim to handle the conflicting cultures and identities that existed in him. There were no fixed contours to define the identity of Kim, because his skin color was undecided, as he was black like any other native, although not very black.

Kim was Irish by birth the culture that was dominant in him was Asiatic, but he received treatment of an Englishman. His personality entailed conflicting characters. In addition, Kim did not have a well-defined or social identity, because at a point in the book he is heard asking, whether he is a Hindu, Jain, or Buddhist (Kipling 19).

Mahbub Ali who was acting like his biological father could also not define the real identity of Kim. The most confusing point is when Kim could not decide whether he would like to be a sahib with dignity of education or to be a colonized native. He later managed this status of choosing his identity by becoming a colonizer.

Works Cited

Gandhi, Mahatma. Hind Swaraj. New Delhi: Rajpal & Sons, 2010. Print.

Kipling, Rudyard. Kim. New York: Create Space, 2009. Print.

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Critics of Modern Civilization in India

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