THE VOICE OF THE COMMON SOLDIER
In contemporary times, much criticism has been placed upon Rudyard Kipling for his support of British Imperialism; George Orwell went so far as to call him the "prophet of British Imperialism during its expansionist phase." To be sure, a considerable portion of Kipling's works were written in celebration and support of Imperial expansion, but it is short-sighted to simply label him as an Imperial propagandist or apologist. Two of his most oft-condemned poems, Recessional and The White Man's Burden, actually were used by both sides of the colonial issue at the time.1 A reading of Recessional, taken in the context of the prevailing attitudes of the time, seems to indicate that it is a piece about hubris rather than a promotion of the Empire. And the "burden" that Kipling writes on, while patronizing, was indeed a genuine burden.2 The fact that the British Empire went far in alleviating famine and disease in the conquered territories should not be ignored. It is beyond a doubt, however, that Kipling was convinced of Britain's superiority in the world. In For All We Have and Are, for instance, the reader is convinced with the last two lin
Tommy endures to this day as the best commentary on the relationship between the soldier and the non-combatant public:I went into a theatre as sober as could be,They gave a drunk civilian room, but 'adn't none for me;They sent me to the gallery or round the music-'alls,But when it comes to fightin', Lord! They'll shove me in the stalls!. "Did France's Colonial Empire Make Economic Sense?" The Journal of Economic History. And the river's clean where the raw blood flowedWhen the Widow give the party. I've waited on 'till 'e was dead(Which couldn't 'elp 'im much),But many grateful things 'e's saidTo me for doin' such. Not only does Kipling create a brutal contrast between the soldier's description (a party) and the battle that actually took place, he injects a small amount of disgust that good young men died, all for the purpose of expanding the Empire into some godforsaken land that few in England had ever heard of. From a Twenty-first Century viewpoint, many of his ideas seem absolutely barbaric. A collection of poems written in the voice of a London cockney, they display Kipling's remarkable breadth of understanding of soldiers and soldiering during the Victorian era.
Common topics in this essay:
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British Empire,
Barrack-Room Ballads,
Twenty-first Century,
Mornin' An',
Lord They'll,
Widow's Party,
Light Brigade,
British Soldier,
Widow Windsor,
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an' tommy,
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white man's,
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white man's burden,
1990 pp,
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Acceptance Essays
