Tactics of Empire

In "The Man Who Would Be King," Kipling maps out the process of creating an empire. Both Dravot and Carnehan head out to rule pre- existing tribes and show their self righteousness throughout the story. For example, they say: "and it won't help us to know the names of their tribes" (p. 72). This was at the planning stage, and they already had dehumanized tribes to the point that their names were irrelevant to their plans. Their mind was set on having the ability to go to a foreign land, teach natives their waves, and fight whoever crossed their way. All of this was done with the purpose of power.

An interesting take on gender is their relation to the empire. The story began with Carnehan using the "pretty" women from the land as a factor in their decision to move there. Once they arrive, Dravot marries a karfir girl and this shows how women (especially women of color) are used as objects by colonizers. When I read this story I couldn't stop thinking about the narrative of Pocahontas. Disney makes it seem like she fell in love with an English man out of her own will. Once we look at history critically, we understand that she was kidnapped when she was 12, raped, and forced to assimilate to a different culture. This colonizing narrative has withstood time and there aren't many people who inquire about the actual life of Pocahontas.

One of my favorite things about this story is that a woman is the reason for the fall of this newly created empire. When Dravot's wife bites him, she proves that he is not a God and is able to take down the empire that he had created. To Dravot and Carnehan these people were nothing more than bodies that they could use for power. The narratives that they would give them are much like the narratives given to Pocahontas. They would use their bodies, exploit them, and make them assimilate to their ways. And at the same time affirm their self righteousness with their English heritage. This is a narrative that is found repeatedly in history, and it makes me question whether or not the author critiques empires with the story or empowers them. The author has an obvious understanding of how empires are created, but he also has an understanding of how empires could fall. This could be a warning for emperors or it could be a narrative to make people be critical of how empires come to be.