Eyeballing Imperialism

I couldn't help but think about the words at the beginning of Spivak's essay. I never really thought about how novels of the same time period as Jane Eyre could have been influenced by imperialism and allowed it to affect the story. As Spivak says, "the role of literature in the production of cultural representation should not be ignored" (WSS, 240).

How does society affect how people are portrayed in stories like Wide Sargasso Sea and Jane Eyre. Spivak's argument seems to be that you must take into account where a novel is written before you can really analyze it. A novel written in England for readers there is going to portray England in a good light, and often could end up leaving out the ugly details of what really might have happened.

If we look at novels more closely like this we could see how a story like Jane Eyre could leave out enough that Jean Rhys could create an entire story based on the Bertha character. Wide Sargasso Sea shows the racial struggles that occurred on the island of Dominica and how many whites were discriminated against after the abolishment of slavery. You would most likely not have read about the events of the burning of Antoinette's house and the acting out of the blacks on the island if it were a novel written by someone who was born and lived in England. I can understand why British readers would not want to see whites put down by other races, they are used to novels that show the positive aspects of imperialism and colonialism, that Europeans are superior and are going to Caribbean islands to bring prosperity and salvation to the natives. After all, authors want to sell their novels, so they want to appeal to their audience.

I know now that I will really look at the perspective given by a novel and who wrote it before I read it. You cannot take one story as an entire account as to what happened in an area at the time, you must look at both sides before you can truly understand.