THE WHITE MAN

By Rudyard Kipling
Diego Ruiz Ley A00755760
David Ramos A01561088
1. Paraphrase your stanza
The author talks to somebody about sending the best of his people to colonize and
feed and heal the ones colonized. He talks about taking the burden of the white
people up.
2. What stereotypes does this Kipling have about white people? What
stereotypes does he have about groups colonized by Europeans? Please
support your answers with quotations from the poem.
Kipling stereotypes the White men as intelligent, bight and overall more evolved
people. He also talks about the colonized groups; he says they are brute, bad
tempered and less intelligent.
3. Think back to our discussion of stereotypes. We noted that some
stereotypes are positive ( for example, the stereotype that Mexicans are fun
to be around or the sterotype that Asians are intelligent). Based on this
poem, why might positive stereotypes be dangerous?
They may be dangerous since positive stereotypes in some situations can be
turned around and affect the persons that enter in the category of that stereotype.
For example an Indian person that isnt good in mathematics and probably isnt an
engineer, would go against him since most people wouldnt hire an Indian that
doesnt know mathematics.
4. Some people call this form of racism "the missionary mentality." Why do
you think that phrase is used? Do you think it is an apt title?
I believe that `missionary mentality is a good and fit name to describe the type of
racism that happens when countries colonize other countries or regions. This
phrase is used because its normal for the colonizers to feel superior to those who
they are colonizing.
5. As you read Things Fall Apart, keep this poem in mind. How does the
African perspective of European colonialism differ from Kipling's European
perspective?
The perspective from the author in the book (The Devil We Know) describes that
Americans think Iranians are all the stereotypes they know like They are all
terrorists. The author describes Tehran like a city with good neighborhoods; In the

words of the author Iranians watch our movies, read our books, listen to our
music.(Bauer, p.8). Based on this we can asume that Iranians are just a
developing country that has internet and other technologic advances Americans
dont even imagine they have.
In the poem the author describes White man as a colonizer type and stereotypes
the colonized population as wild and savages that need to be in some way
educated.