THE WHITE HEGEMONY THROUGH CHRISTIAN MISSIONARY
IN E. M. FORSTER’S
THE LIFE TO COME
AN UNDERGRADUATE THESIS
Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements For the Degree ofSarjana Sastra
In English Letters
By:
MILA MARIANA WULANDARI
Student Number: 014214053
ENGLISH LETTERS STUDY PROGRAMME
DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LETTERS
FACULTY OF LETTERS
SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY
THE WHITE HEGEMONY THROUGH CHRISTIAN MISSIONARY
IN E. M. FORSTER’S
THE LIFE TO COME
AN UNDERGRADUATE THESIS
Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements For the Degree ofSarjana Sastra
In English Letters
By:
MILA MARIANA WULANDARI
Student Number: 014214053
ENGLISH LETTERS STUDY PROGRAMME
DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LETTERS
FACULTY OF LETTERS
SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY
YOGYAKARTA
2008
iv
Wahai waktu
yang pulang – pergi tanpa bicara.
Ketahuilah hari masih terlampau pagi
buat berhenti.
Belum lekah harapan menjelma suatu arti.
v
To
myself
and
vii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
First of all, I am deeply grateful to the Almighty God that I have been able to walk for this long and complete this chapter of life.
I would like give my appreciation to all lecturers of English Letters Department, who feed my brains and my life with knowledge. I would like to thank Ms. Sri Mulyani for introducing E. M. Forster and his works to me. I am thankful to Ms. Maria Ananta for encouraging me to continue my study after long break. My deepest gratitude is for Mr. G. Fajar Sasmita Aji who always reached me back when I was out of the path. I was grateful to Mrs. Ni Luh Putu Rosiandani and Mrs. Elisa Dwi Wardani.for the advice and critique. Thanks to all the staffs of English Letters Department for always smiling behind that clear partition, your smile has made these last few days in this university seems much easier for me.
I would like to thank my father, Agus Hartono for introducing me to knowledge and diversity that I hardly understood at the beginning, and to my mother, Hanna Nainggolan for love, patience and understanding. Thanks to my sister Mariani Larasati for finally standing by my side at the last moment of my thesis writing. My deep appreciation goes to Julius Tejo Wiratmoko for his critique, discussion, loyal assistance and companionship. I am grateful to Michel Paris for always encouraging me to keep moving forward. I would like to thank my sister Yuli and my big family for the financial support. I was grateful to Tobing family for the shelter during my thesis writing. Thanks to my sister, Systra Tobing for the discussion that let my brain keeps working.
Thanks to my dearest friends, Farrah Mardiyati Soeharno and Danang Guntur Setyawan for always with me along the way, singing “Three Little Birds” aloud. I would like to thank Eka Dina for these two semesters that we could share and run together in completing this final paper. I was very thankful to all friends from English Letters Department; Vembri, Denny, Yoseph, Fariz, Ikhsan, Garry, Petrus, Imelda Isem, Margareth, Lydia Ardita, Citra Yudith, Liza Halim, Agnes Yudita, Olin and many others for our friendship and incredible moments. Thanks to all the girls in Rumah Biru for being my family during my study in Yogya. I would like to thank all my colleagues and friends: Danto ‘Gendhut’, Dik Priadin, Daniel Garnier, Sasmoyo Hermawan, Fajar Nirwan, Dwi Yuni Hartanti, Ms. Yanti ‘Chipmunk’, Ms. Tanti ‘Chipmunk, Heni ‘GJB’, Toto ‘GJB’, Diah ‘GJB’, Puput ‘GJB’, Kristin ‘PBSID’, Teguh “SIND 99”, Maria “PBI’99”, Hasna Sekaryani, Amalia Soemantri, Ade Fatimah ‘BP’, Utia Suarma ‘BP’, Andi ‘BP’, Singgih Purnomo, W. Sigit Masanto, Dyah Palupi Normalasari for their loyal supports and for always pushing my back when I paused completing this writing process. Thanks to all children in Pondok Baca Manggung, Pondok Baca Kasongan and Chipmunk Education Center for sharing dreams, spirit, knowledge and love with me.
viii
A. Background of the Study ... 1
B. Problem Formulation ... 4
C. Objective of the Study ... 4
D. Definition of Terms ... 5
CHAPTER II THEORETICAL REVIEW ... 7
A. Review of Related Studies ... 7
B. Review of Theory Character and Characterization ... 8
C. Review of Theory Postcolonialism ... 10
D. Review on Theory Representation ... 14
E. Theoretical Framework ... 15
CHAPTER III METHODOLOGY ... 16
A. Object of the Study ... 16
B. Approach of the Study ... 17
C. Method of the Study ... 17
CHAPTER IV ANALYSIS ... 19
A. The General Characteristics of Paul Pinmay ... 19
1. European... 19
B. The Qualities of Paul Pinmay as the Representation of Colonizer ... 28
1. Racial Superior ... 29
ix
C. The Qualities of Paul Pinmay as a White Christian Missionary in Representing
the Idea of Superiority ... 37
1. Converting People into Christianity... 37
2. Establishing Educational System ... 40
3. Introducing New Social and Cultural System... 42
4. Imposing the Modern Civilization ... 44
CHAPTER V CONCLUSION ... 49
BIBLIOGRAPHY... 52
x
ABSTRACT
MILA MARIANA WULANDARI. The White Hegemony Through Christian Missionary in E. M. Forster’s The Life To Come. Yogyakarta: Department of Engish Letters, Sanata Dharma University, 2008.
The Life To Come is an interesting literary work. There are many issues that can be observed further in the work. White hegemony is one of the topics revealed in the work through the representation of a Christian missionary. The main character of the work is a Christian missionary sent to a rural island to convert the people into Christianity. The settlement of the missionary in that island brought complex impacts to the native society under the name of god and progress. The impacts of missionary’s contacts with the native, which show the western hegemony, are analyzed further in this thesis.
The objectives of the study are finding out the general characteristics of Paul Pinmay as the main character of the story, showing the qualities of Paul Pinmay as the colonizer, and revealing the qualities of Paul Pinmay as the white Christian missionary in representing the idea of superiority.
The writer used library research as the method of the study. The writer gathered the data collection from published books and internet source. Postcolonial approach is applied to reveal the idea of superiority represented in the qualities of the main character.
xi
ABSTRAK
MILA MARIANA WULANDARI. The White Hegemony Through Christian Missionary in E. M. Forster’s The Life To Come. Yogyakarta: Jurusan Sastra Inggris, Fakultas Sastra, Universitas Sanata Dharma, 2008.
The Life To Comemerupakan karya sastra yang memiliki banyak isu menarik untuk diobservasi lebih lanjut. Hegemoni kaum kulit putih merupakan salah satu topik yang muncul dalam representasi tokoh utamanya. Tokoh utama dalam karya ini merupakan seorang misionaris Kristen yang dikirim ke sebuah pulau terpencil dengan tujuan untuk mengarahkan masyarakat lokal untuk memeluk agama Kristen. Penempatan misionaris di pulau tersebut dengan mengatasnamakan Tuhan dan kemajuan telah mengakibatkan keadaan kompleks bagi masyarakat setempat. Kontak antara misionaris dan masyarakat setempat yang menunjukkan hegemoni kaum kulit putih akan dianalisa lebih lanjut dalam skripsi ini.
Tujuan dari penulisan skripsi ini adalah untuk menunjukkan penokohan dari tokoh utama Paul Pinmay, menunjukkan nilai-nilai yang ada dalam tokoh utama sebagai seorang penjajah, dan yang terakhir menunjukkan nilai yang ada dalam tokoh utama sebagai seorang misionaris Kristen kulit putih dalam menampilkan ide superioritas yang dimilikinya.
Penulis akan mengunakan penelitian pustaka. Penulis mengumpulkan data dari buku-buku yang telah diterbitkan ataupun lewat sumber-sumber yang didapat melalui internet. Pendekatan poskolonial diterapkan dalam penilitian ini untuk dapat menunjukkan ide superioritas yang nampak dalam nilai-nilai tokoh utamanya.
1
CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
A. Background of the Study
People may comprehend a literary work through many possible views using several methodologies. People can read a work and find the literal meaning, or go further to the implicit meaning that the author tries to imply. Wellek & Warren in Theory of Literaturestates that literature is a social institution and social creation. It says that a literary work represents the reality, social reality, even though the natural world and the inner or subjective world of the individual have also been objects of literary imitation (1956: 94).
Many critics note most of Forster’s works as the criticism toward the Victorian age, since Forster has foregrounded the issues which are considered “taboo” at that time, such as talking the different point of view on sexuality, science and religion from the social construction at that time.
European countries were world-wide known for their expedition and exploration to other countries in Asia, Africa and America, bringing the jargon of universal civilization. This exploration had so many goals, such as converting people into Christianity and civilizing people in the other countries, looking for the new raw materials for developing the industry, creating new markets for their products, and a settlement area for their over-blowing population.
Those objectives meet the same important need of new places. The mission needs new people to convert. The industry needs the new resources and market. The people need the new land. The civilization jargon somehow needs the ‘uncivilized’ people in the new area.
The Christian mission itself is based on its teaching that is found in the Holy Bible:
And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned. And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues (St. Mark 16: 15-17)
This teaching becomes an important factor in Christian mission. Later on, it also becomes a justification for the western countries on their whole actions in colonizing the other countries.
There are several main teaching in Christianity such as love and salvation. The teaching of love is that human being has to love each other as a God’s creature. In this teaching, there is also a basic issue of equality, that all the man in the world is the same in front of God. That is why they must love each other. It is more obvious in the quotations taken from the Holy Bible: “And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. (St. Matthew 22: 39)”
The concept of salvation means that all Chrisitans will be saved by Christ. It is related to the concept of ‘life to come’ or the life after death, which mentions that the Christians will be granted for eternal life after death.
The characteristics of the white expansion also appear in the qualities of Paul Pinmay as a colonizer. He is not only teaching the Gospel to the local people, but also colonizing them in certain ways. In his practice, he is imposing the western values to the native people by using his authority as the missionary. On its implementation, Paul put his steps further using his role as a Christian missionary to justify his actions toward the native.
monotheistic religion (Christian) and modern development, which represented the universal civilization.
The writer cannot ignore that the white superiority is behind all of these processes because it enables the white to impose their hegemony in other countries. This superiority is constructed by the racial concept that divides human being into some groups based on their race or skin color. The superiority sets the white as the dominant class that gives them the opportunity to rule over other race and colonize them.
All these issues will be further analyzed using postcolonial approach in order to show the white hegemony through Christian missionary revealed in E. M. Forster’sThe Life To Come.
B. Problem Formulation
From the background above, the problems can be formulated as follows: 1. What are the characteristics of Paul Pinmay depicted in E. M. Forster’sThe Life
To Come?
2. How do Paul Pinmay’s characteristics represent his quality as the colonizer? 3. How does Paul Pinmay’s quality as a Christian missionary represent the idea of
superiority?
C. Objective of the Study
their dominancy overseas. This novella shows the significance of the Christian mission in the colonial situation. The mission itself becomes the justification for the expansion toward the non-Christian country. It also becomes the means of imposing the ideology or values toward the people in the new places. For these objectives, the role of Christian missionary becomes very important at that time.
By analyzing E. M. Forster’s The Life To Come, the writer is trying to find out the significance of a Christian missionary in a practice of its mission, colonialism and imposing the white hegemony in the non-Christian society.
D. Definition of Terms
The writer will use some particular terms in this thesis which are necessary to be explained.
1. The Colonizer
Some characteristics of being a colonizer are a group of dominant alien minority, which is racial and cultural superior to a group of native majority. This superior group has acquired the machine-oriented civilization with Christian origin. It comes from the Christian country origin. It has a powerful economic system and rapid rhythm of life (Sills, 1968: 1).
2. White Hegemony
aspects, such as social order, stability, and advancement, which is defined by the colonizer (Ashcroft, 2000: 116).
3. Christian Missionary
Christian mission is based on the god’s command in the Holy Bible to spread the Christianity all over the world. Later on, it becomes the tools of Western-country government and instruments of Western infiltration and control toward non-Christian country (Neil, 1996: 12).
It is very difficult to separate the colonialism and the Christian mission because Christianity expands its power overseas by having the mission in colonized countries. Even tough, the missionary may refuse to be involved in a process of colonization, but he cannot neglect his duty as the missionary to spread the Christianity to worldwide (Delavignette, 1964: 50-51).
4. Superiority
7
CHAPTER II
THEORETICAL REVIEW
A. Review of Related Studies
Forster is a prolific writer produces among others A Passage to India, Maurice, Howards Endand many short stories. Most of his writings have become a controversial topic in Britain. He foregrounds controversial topics at that time like homosexual in several works, such as Maurice, Howard’s End, and The Life To Come.
His works is influenced by his personal faith in individual life and human nature as seen in the following quotation.
From the first he showed such an inability to take for granted many of the values of the period and society in which he found himself that his expressed dissatisfaction may be called revolutionary. Regarded as a whole, his work presents an original and remarkably consistent view of human nature. To religion his attitude became that of declared agnostic and anticlerical; politically his views, though liberal and democratic, were always individualistic. (Benton, 1970: 631)
Oliver Stallybrass in the introduction of E. M. Forster’s The Life To Come states that Forster’s works can be categorized into two groups; the first group contains of works about the heterosexual world in general or specific targets of human beings and the second group are mainly about topics of love, death, social and racial differences. He added that Forster’s The Life To Come can be put into the second group of works (Forster, 1975: 17-18).
one among other works which also raises this issue, yet this work also shows his belief in the supremacy of personal relationships and his dislike of faith and dogma.
Faith, to my mind, is a stiffening process, a sort of mental starch, which ought to be applied as sparingly as possible. I dislike the stuff. I do not believe in it, for its own sake, at all. Herein I probably differ from most people, who believe in Belief, and are only sorry they cannot swallow even more than they do. (Morris, 1964: 187)
Forster often criticized in his books Victorian middle class attitudes and British colonialism through the character in his works (http://www.online-literature.com/forster/).The Life to Comeis also a criticism toward the social values existed in the British society at that time. Even though, he is a British writer, but the content of the work is criticizing the colonialism conducted by the British Empire and for those that put the Christian mission and Gospel teaching as the justification of the colonialism.
B. Review of Related Theories
1. Theory of Character and Characterization
Abrams in A Glossary of Literary Terms defines characters are the persons presented in a dramatic or narrative work, who are interpreted by the reader to have moral and dispositional qualities expressed in what they say and what they do (1981: 20). It is often called as dialogue and action.
Murphy’sUnderstanding Unseenmentions several ways in understanding the characters as follows:
a. Personal description.
The author can describe a person’s appearance and clothes. b. Character as seen by another.
Instead of describing a character directly the author can describe him through the eyes and opinions of another. The reader gets, as it were, a reflected image. c. Speech
The author can give us an insight into the character of one of the persons in the book through what that person says. Whenever a person speaks, whenever he is in conversation with another, whenever he put forward an opinion, he is giving us some clue to his character.
d. Past life
By letting the reader learns something about a person’s past life the author can give us a clue to events that have helped to shape a person’s character. This can be done by direct comment by the author, through the person’s thought, through his conversation or through the medium of another person.
e. Conversation of others
f. Reactions
The author can also give us a clue to a person’s character by letting us know how that person reacts to various situations and events.
g. Direct comment
The author can describe or comment on a person’s character directly. h. Thoughts
The author can give us direct knowledge of what a person is thinking about. In this respect he is able to do what we cannot do in real life. He can tell us what different people are thinking. In the novel we accept this. The reader then is in a privileged position; he has, as it were, a secret listening device plugged in to the inmost thoughts of a person in a novel.
i. Mannerism
The author can describe a person’s mannerism, habits or idiosyncrasies which may also tell us something about his character (1972: 161-173).
C. Review on Theory of Postcolonialism
The western people bring the concept of universalism during the process of colonization, but the postcolonialism study rejects the concept of universalism that places the white and Eurocentric norm to have the elevated status, while the other is considered as marginalized (Barry, 1996: 192). The universalism does not admit cultural difference and it sees the Eurocentric values as universal. In other words, the concept of universalism classified the white and European as the superior side and the non-white as the inferior one.
The classification obviously occurs based on the racial differences as well. Race or skin color becomes a significant factor in constructing human being identity (Loomba, 2000: 121).
`‘Race’ is a term for the classification of human beings into physically, biologically and genetically distinct groups. (Ashcroft, 200: 198).
This concept of race by the colonial practice is used to form the hierarchy of human being variation and place their own race (white) on the top. As a way of thinking racism would link the physical appearance with the psychological and intellectual characteristics of a human being. This is the basis to define who is called superior and inferior (Ashcroft, 2000: 199).
In a concept of race, there is also a binarism that means a duality or combination of two distinctive things, as the race is then differed into white or black. In this study then, the race or skin color may associate with some other things. White is associated to colonizer, beautiful, human. It is opposed to the black, which is associated to the colonized, ugly, and bestial (Ashcroft, 2000: 25).
The ideology of racial superiority translated easily into class terms. The superiority of the white race, one colonist argued, clearly implied that ‘the black men must forever remain cheap labour and slaves’. (Loomba, 2000: 126)
The white race becomes the dominant class that has power to control others in several aspects of other race’s life, such as social order, manners, etc. This dominant class has a huge chance to impose their hegemony to or colonize the other.
The concept of power and knowledge influences the relationship of the colonized and colonizer. Michel Foucault in the colonial discourse theory states that the idea of inferiority of the colonized and the hegemony over them is created by the colonial system (Ashcroft, 2000: 78).
Consequently, colonial discourse is the complex of signs and practices that organize social existence and social reproduction within colonial relationships. (Ashcroft, 2000: 42)
The practices can be in the way of imposing knowledge to the colonized one using the colonial power. The Europeans expand the dominant control over the world by imposing their hegemony, which is much more effective compared to colonization in the form of physical occupation.
It constructs the colonizer with its instruments like culture, history, language, art, political system and many others as the superior-civilized one. In the opposite, the colonized will be the inferior-uncivilized people. It gives reason for the colonizer to raise up the colonized civilization trough the colonial contact (Ashcroft, 2000: 41-42).
through trade, administration, cultural and moral improvement (Ashcroft, 2000: 43).
Homi K. Bhabha explains about hybridity that can be defined as a cross-cultural exchange or transcross-cultural forms as the result of a contact with colonization (Ashcroft, 2000: 188-119). It is closely connected with the theory of ambivalence and mimicry (Ashcroft, 2000: 12). Ambivalence is used to show the relationship of the colonizer and colonized which is very complex. Mimicry means the colonized will mimic the colonizer through the process of adopting the values, habits, etc (Ashcroft, 2000: 139).
Edward Said in orientalism states that Eurocentrism not only influences others, but also produces other cultures. It shows the dominant relation of the western over the orient as mentioned in the following quotation “Orientalism as the corporate institution for dealing with the orient ‘dealing with it by making statements about it, authorizing views of it, describing it, by teaching it, settling it, ruling over it: in short, Orientalism as a Western style of dominating, restructuring, and having authority over the Orient’” (Ashcroft, 2000: 167-168).
Edward Said’s Orientalism (1978) which is specific expose of the Eurocentric universalism which takes for granted both the superiority of what is European or Western, and the inferiority of what is not. Said identifies a European cultural tradition of ‘Orientalism’, which is particular and long-standing way of identifying the East as ‘Other’ and inferior to the West (Barry, 1995: 192).
1999: 266-267). Antonio Gramsci defines hegemony as domination by consent (Ashcroft, 2000: 116).
The term is useful for describing the success of imperial power over a colonized people who may far outnumber any occupying military force, but who desire for self-determination has been suppressed by a hegemonic notion of the greater good, often couched in terms of social order, stability and advancement, all of which are defined by the colonizing power (Ashcroft, 2000: 116).
Hegemony is understood as an occupation of others without any physical force. This process is very efficient and effective to control others. It is also possible to use any medium to impose the hegemony. The less-dominant class will be in a condition of receiving or adopting the hegemony.
D. Review on Theory of Representation
Andrew Gibson in his book Towards A Postmodern Theory Of Narrative differs theory of representation into two; surface and depth representation. Surface representation is associated with the visual things. It may include what is felt by our senses. Even though, it emphasizes the visible things or direct findings by looking at a thing (1996: 81-82).
On the other hand, the depth representation is going deeper than the surface representation. It is more understood as a way of penetrating the visible thing. It reveals the essence behind the visible things.
It pierces through the veil of the visible to what the visible supposedly secretes or embodies, capturing that distilled essence and saturating language in it (1996: 82).
E. THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK
Those theories mentioned above are used by the writer to analyze the work. The review of related studies gives a background on the work and the author. The theory of character and characterization are used to answer the first question about the general characteristics of the main character, Paul Pinmay.
16
CHAPTER III
METHODOLOGY
A. Object of the Study
The object of the study is E.M. Foster’sThe Life to Come. This novella has two versions. The first version has numerous autograph corrections, and the other is a copy that introduces the mistakes and corrects them as well. In his letter to Siegfred
Sasson dated 21 July 1923 Forster said that he might have another ending for this story showing the dead Pinmay meet his god. His god has pitied him for being killed
by Vithobai but he cannot do anything for Pinmay. This version cannot be found in the published text.
The Life to Come and other stories were published by Penguin Books in 1975.The Life to Comedescribes the life that a missionary should face in converting
the natives into Christianity. Paul Pinmay, a young missionary sent to convert the native people, including the chief. Paul finally succeeds in converting the chief and
making all the natives embrace Christianity. Then, he uses the chief’s authority to control and set the native society. He imposes the western values through many
ways, such as religion, language, education, industry, health campaign, etc. He reduces the chief’s power and authority by imposing a new social order into the native society. His arrival in that place became more than just doing the Christian
B. Approach of the Study
The writer will use the postcolonial approach in analyzing the work. There are many explanation and definition of the scope of this approach. In general, it is defined that this theory concerns on what the effects of cultural clash, on the ideology impowers and one places themselves superior from others (Bressler, 1999: 265).
There is also one major topic that obviously seen in this approach which is emphasizing the struggle that may occur when someone is oppressed by the others (Bressler, 1999: 266). Most of these critics state that the European colonialism did occur in several place and the colonial not only conquered and exploited the land, but also imposed the western hegemony and ideology to the native people (colonized) and its effects are still found until present day (Bressler, 1999: 266-267).
This approach talks the effects of colonialism in various issues, such as education, language, representation, culture, etc.
C. Method of the Study
Secondly, the writer had to find out the intrinsic elements of the novella used in analyzing the story, particularly the elements that supporting the topic chosen by the writer. The thesis used the character, characterization of the story to analyze the main character, Paul Pinmay.
19
CHAPTER IV
ANALYSIS
The writer will analyze the main character of E. M. Forster’s The Life To Come in order to answer the problem formulation mentioned in the previous part. The analysis will be divided into three parts. In the first part, the writer will give an analysis on the characterization and general characteristics of the main character, Paul Pinmay. The second part of analysis will go deeper to the quality of the main character as a representation of colonizer. The third part will be the analysis of the quality of the main character as a white Christian missionary to represent the idea of superiority.
A. General Characteristics of Paul Pinmay
There are some general characteristics of Paul Pinmay as depicted in the work. The writer examines the character using Murphy’s theory of character and characterizations.
1. European
That quotation is not the only clue to identify the main character. The writer identifies from the way he dressed up, which is a typical of European fashion style as seen below.
The missionary was now wearing a suit of ducks with shirt, vest, pants, and cholera belt, also sun-helmet, starched collar, blue tie spotted with white, socks, and brown boots (Forster, 1975: 100).
The name given to the main character is also typical of European name, Paul Pinmay. This may support the idea on the origin of the main character as a European man.
And Paul Pinmay (for this was the young man’s name) was at that time a very young man indeed, and had partly been sent in order that he might discover his own limitation (p. 95).
Forster’s works are widely known as the criticism toward the British Empire. Considering that Forest also has talked so much about British Empire in most of his works; it may give a clue that the main character is apparently a British man.
There is a direct comment from the author mentioning that the main character and the colleagues are not Roman Catholics missionaries. It is another statement that supports this idea. There is a possibility that he is from Britain, a country in Europe whose people do not convert into Roman Catholic.
2. Christian Missionary
Paul Pinmay is a Christian missionary as seen from the direct comment as mentioned in sentence below.
When he reached the coast, the other missionaries there saw at once from his face that he had failed. Nor they expected otherwise. The Roman Catholics, far more expert than themselves, had failed to convert Vithobai, the wildest, strongest, most stubborn of all the island chiefs (p.95).
He is sent in a mission with the objective to have the native chief converted into Christianity. The writer can call say that he is a Christian missionary because there is a statement in the quotation not refers to Roman Catholic Church.
In addition to the statement above, the following quotation will be supporting the idea that he is a Christian missionary.
He explained No, his name was not Christ, although he had the fortune to be called Paul after a great apostle, and of course he was no god but a sinful man, chosen to call other sinners to the Mercy Seat (p.96).
The name of the character refers to a former Christian missionary, Apostle Paul, who had given a great contribution to the first Christian community. “To call other sinners” is his duty as a missionary of converting people into Christianity.
As a Christian missionary, Paul introduces the teaching of love to the native chief. Paul even uses the verse taken from Holy Bible to explain about this teaching to the chief. It shows the love in universal meaning, the love of God and the love of human being in Christ.
to forgive the chief. He promised to bring the victory to the church as the compensation of his deed.
And having reached this point he found that he was able to pray, he confessed his defilement (the very name of which cannot be mentioned among Christians), he lamented that he had postponed, perhaps for a generation, the victory of the Church, and he condemned, with increasing severity, the arts of his seducer. On the last topic he became truly eloquent, he always found something more to say, and having begun by recommending the boy to mercy he ended by asking that might be damned (p.97-98).
In fact, this practice of having sexual intercourse with the chief has been granted with the conversion of the chief and his followers. This situation places Paul Pinmay as a successful and respected man by the other missionaries.
They rejoiced one another and rebuked their own hardness of heart and want of faith in the Gospel method, and they thought the more highly of young Pinmay because he was not elated by his success, on the contrary, he appeared to be disturbed, and felt upon his knees in prayer (p.98).
His success mission of converting the hardest chief of the island is celebrated by his society. For it is not only Paul’s victory, but also the victory for the whole society.
Mr Pinmay’s trials, doubts and final triumphs are recorded in a special pamphlet, published by his Society and illustrated by woodcuts (p.98).
Besides love, salvation is one of the teachings in Christianity. The concept of forgiveness and salvation are reflected through Paul’s speech with the chief. At the end of the story, he finally told the truth to the chief about their mistake of having sexual intercourse. He also told him that God might forgive Paul and the chief for their bad deeds in the past.
‘I waited until I could forgive you and ask your forgiveness. It is the hour of your atonement and mine. Put away all despair, forget those wicked flowers. Let us repent and leave the rest to God.’ (p. 109)
‘Kiss my forehead – no more – as a sign that I am forgiven. Do not misunderstand me this time … in perfect purity … the holy salutation of Christ. And then say with me: Our father which art in Heaven, hallowed by Thy name ….’ (p. 110)
The life to come is important for Christian people. It is related to the salvation concept saying that those converted into Christianity will be saved and granted for a life to come. It was mentioned too by Paul Pinmay when he convinced the chief to repent.
‘God’s mercy is infinite, and endureth for ever and ever. He will give us other opportunities. We have erred in this life but it will not be so in the life to come.’ (p.110)
Paul Pinmay is a faithful Christian missionary as reflected in his speech and deeds referring to God’s command or Christian teaching. Even though, he broke once, he tried to go back to the path of life as a Christian missionary.
3. Young
It is strongly felt that Paul has been underestimated by the other missionary because of his age and the lack of experience. He is less expected to have a successful mission as appeared in the following quotation:
When he reached the coast, the other missionaries there saw at once form his face that he had failed. Nor had they expected otherwise (p.95).
The other personal description on Paul Pinmay that shows this quality appears in this sentence, “Young Mr Pinmay saw it all.” (p.97). The writer notices this quality as well through author’s direct comment in the first chapter of the work, “… and they implored their young master not to resist, but to hide in the brushwood …” (p.95).
From the conversation of other missionaries, the writer also can imply this characteristic of Paul Pinmay when they heard of Paul’s success in converting the chief.
And the second: ‘Here we have the triumph of youth, oh it puts us to shame.’ While the third exclaimed alternately ‘Praise be to God! And ‘I beg your pardon.’ They rejoiced one with another and rebuked their own hardness of heart and want of faith in the Gospel method, and they thought the more highly of young Pinmay because he was not elated by his success, on the contrary, he appeared to be disturbed, and felt upon his knees in prayer (p.98).
By having a successful mission, Pinmay now has all the respects and acceptance from the other missionaries.
4. Naïve
His faith has motivated him to do the mission, though he knows he is lack knowledge about the native.
At the first meeting with the chief, Paul has explained to him about the teaching of love in Christianity, the love of god and love among human beings. He was so excited of seeing the chief interested in the teaching.
Oh how delighted he had been! Oh how surprised! He had scarcely recognized the sardonic chief in this gracious and bare-limbed boy, whose only ornaments were scarlet flowers. Vithobai had laid all formality aside. ‘I have come secretly,’ were his first words. ‘I wish to hear more about this god whose name is Love.’ How his heart had leapt after the secpondency of they day! Come to Christ he had cried, and Vithobai ha said, ‘Is that your name? (p.96).
This excitement has brought the two of them to be involved in sexual intercourse. It is something that actually does not have any relation with the teaching of love or even mission.
5. Ambitious
Paul Pinmay is an ambitious man. This characteristic constantly appears from the beginning till the end of the story. He is very ambitious to reach his aims to convert the native people. It appears at the beginning when he is going to have sexual intercourse with the chief. He has a desire to sexually ‘win’ the chief. It motivates him to be further involved into sexual intercourse.
Paul does not stop there. He is continuously having more desire. He would like to convert the chief and all the people in that island. He also aims to prove his capability as young missionary to others.
And another: “Your intention, I think, when you left us, was to get into touch with this unapproachable Vithobai personally, indeed you declared that you would not return until you had done so (p.96).
As seen in the first part of the work, the other missionary underestimated his capability for it was the first and hard mission for him.
When he reached the coast, the other missionaries there saw at once from his face that he had failed. Nor had they expected otherwise (p.95).
So, when his aims of converting the chief comes into reality, the other missionaries begin to pay more respect on him and even call him as the sole victory of the Gospel. And the second: ‘Here we have the triumph of youth, oh it puts us to shame.” While the third exclaimed alternately ‘Praise be to God!’ and ‘I beg you pardon.’ They rejoiced one with another and rebuked their own hardness of heart and want of faith in the Gospel method, and they thought the more highly of Young Pinmay (p. 98).
His ambition to control others explicitly is depicted in the second part of the work, particularly his ambition to have control over the chief as the man who holds the highest authority of the island at that moment. He sees the chief as a change to get power and authority over the native society.
6. Powerful
At the beginning, Paul Pinmay is a sincere man. He is simply just a Christian missionary sent for his first mission of converting the native. After being installed for the new district, he gains the authority as the man in charge of the island.
Since Mr Pinmay was the sole cause of the victory, the new district naturally fell to his charge (p. 98-99).
He becomes the new leader of the new converts. This position gives huge opportunities for the missionary to control over the native, including the chief. It was reflected through his speech to the chief.
Mr Pinmay disengaged himself and said in a trembling voice: ‘In the first place send your people each to his home.
‘In the second place, let no one come before me again until he is decently clad’ he continued, more firmly.
‘Yes, like me, he said. ‘And in third place are you decently clad yourself, Barnabas?’ (p.100).
His position enables him to give such orders to the chief, which is something impossible to do before the conversion for the chief was considered as the unapproachable and strong. However, everything seems to be easy now.
Barnabas (for such was the name that the dusky youth received at his baptism) – Barnabas proved an exemplary convert. He made mistakes, and his theology was crude and erratic, but he never backslid, and he had authority with his own people, so that the missionaries had only to explain carefully what they wanted, and it was carried out (p.98).
Paul can use the chief’s authority to influence the whole community because the chief still has the highest authority among his people at that moment.
There are several general characteristics of Paul Pinmay as the main character in The Life To Come. He is a European man and apparently British as seen from the personal description and author’s direct comment. He is a Christian missionary whose duty of converting native people into Christianity. This characteristic of Paul Pinmay is obviously seen in the work from the author’s direct comment about the character, personal description, and conversation of other characters. He is young and naive as described at the beginning of the work, where he faces his first and hard mission. It appears through the personal description and conversation of others. He is a kind of ambitious man who wants to reach his aim in order to show his qualification as a successful missionary. He is powerful after his settlement, in which he has the authority over the native community.
B. The Qualities of Paul Pinmay as the Representation of the Colonizer
There are some qualities of Paul Pinmay that represent the idea of colonizer. The previous part has analyzed the general characteristics of Paul Pinmay that leads to some findings. The writer finds out that he comes from a western country and acts as a Christian missionary, sent to a rural island to convert the native into Christianity. He is an ambitious man and powerful religious leader. The writer will penetrate those visible qualities that may represent the idea of colonizer (Gibson, 1996: 82).
them (Sills, 1969: 1). Those features appear in the qualities of Paul Pinmay that have been discussed in the previous analysis. Paul Pinmay is a man with Europe origin. In addition, he is also a Christianmissionary sent to convert the native people.
There are two qualities of Paul Pinmay that show the representation of a colonizer as explained in the analysis below.
1. Racially Superior
Race becomes a significant aspect in constructing human identity (Loomba, 2000: 121). It has been world-wide discussed in scientific and social life as well. Race is often associated with the skin color, which are various all over the world.
Loomba adds in her book Colonialism/Postcolonialism that there are three major things in the discussion of race. The first one is the contradiction between the concept of racial differences and the concept of equality of all mankind in the Bible. Second thing, the scientific discussion on race like Darwinian Theory has extended the stereotype of the savagery and barbarism. The third one, science has extended the meaning of race into nation (Loomba, 2000: 116-118).
The concept of race has classified human beings into groups of certain race, which is often associated with skin color or nation.
Today, skin colour has become the priviledged market of races. While colour is taken to be the prime signifier of racial identity, the later is actually shaped by perceptions of religious, ethnic, linguistic, national, sexual and class difference (Loomba, 2000: 121).
This following quotation taken from Loomba’s Colonialism/Postcolonialsm has shown the category that differentiates some races by their physical appearance, mainly the European characteristics as European.
European. Fair, sanguine, brawny; hair yellow, brown, flowing; eyes blue; gentle, acute, inventive. Covered with close vestments. Governed by laws (p. 115).
These characteristics are matched with Paul Pinmay’s characteristics as described in the work through the physical description, “… and the golden ruffled hair of young man (p.94).” It appears as well trough the way he dressed himself, which is European style, “The missionary was now wearing a suit of ducks with shirt, vest, pants, and cholera belt, also sun-helmet, starched collar, blue tie spotted with white, socks, and brown boots (p.100).”
Paul Pinmay is a European and apparently British as mentioned in the previous part. He is racially superior to the native. This superiority is related to the term of being “civilized”. The whites see themselves as the civilized one. This position gives them a privileged position to “civilize others”.
Edward Said’s Orientalism states that Eurocentric universalism has defined the superiority for the European or western and the inferiority for what is neither European nor Western (Barry, 1995: 192).
The objective of western expansion to the world is their concept of universal civilization. It was supported by the following quotation.
Then, the concept of race is also strongly connected with the progress of colonialism since the term of “civilizing the other races” becomes one reason for doing the expansion overseas.
These then are the primary impulses of imperialism; to colonize, to civilize, to spread one’s culture, to expand. And colonization was the ‘power’ of a people to “reproduce” itself in different spaces. The humanitarian argument whereby the “superior races” must fulfill their duty with regard to the “inferior races” who have not yet started on the road of progress (Ferro, 1997: 11).
Therefore, the concept of superiority and inferiority will develop into the relation of colonizer and colonized people. The white argues that it is the duty of the superior race to ‘civilize’ the other group of races trough colonial contact.
At the beginning, people will define the colonizer as the master and the colonized as the slaves. However, the definition goes broader as it mentioned below:
Both the colonised and the colonizers moved, the former no only as slaves but also as indentured labourers, domestic servants, travelers and traders, and the colonial masters as administrators, soldiers, merchants, settlers, travelers, writers, domestic staff, missionaries, teachers and scientist (Loomba, 2000: 4).
As seen in the analysis in the first part, Paul Pinmay is Christian missionary. He is sent to that rural island in a mission of converting the native people into Christianity. Seeing the quotation above, the writer can include Paul Pinmay as the colonizer too.
When the western civilization expanded abroad, the Christianity went along with it as mentioned in this quotation, “But history and Western law had codified what civilization was and also what its connection was with Christianity (Ferro, 1997: 20)”.
Her remembered all that the had heard of the antique power of evil in the country, the tales he had so smilingly dismissed as beneath a Christian’s notice, the extraordinary uprushes of energy which certain natives were said to possess and occasionally to employ for unholy purposes (p.97).
He may talk about superstition that usually associated as the characteristic of the native people. It just strengthens the gap between the missionary and the native into a binary position of a civilized European and uncivilized native.
The colonial desire obviously appears when the missionary decides to have a sexual intercourse with the chief. It does not merely mean as it seems, but it is a tool of conquer the chief.
And he saw how intelligent the boy was and how handsome, and determining to win him there and then imprinted a kiss on his forehead and draw him to Abraham’s bosom. And Vithobai had lain in it gladly – too gladly and too long – and had extinguished the lamp. And God alone saw them after that (p. 97).
Later on, this affair later becomes very important key for the missionary to reach his aim to convert the native in that island. It becomes a way to make the chief to obey the missionary’s orders.
There is a view in the work that shows the idea of white superiority over the native group as described in the sentence below.
There is a picture called ‘What it seemed to be’, which shows a hostile and savage potentate threatening him; in another picture, called ‘What it really was!’, a dusky youth in western clothes sits among a group of clergymen and ladies, looking like a waiter, and supported by under waiters, who line the steps of a building labeled ‘School’ (p.98).
Conversion is the main objective of Paul’s settlement in that island, including converting the chief. This conversion will be identified by baptism, an initial rite for being a Christian.
He had managed to postpone it until the day of his installation by the Bishop, and of the general baptism. The ceremonies were over, and the whole tribe, headed by their chief, had filed past the portable font and been signed on the forehead with the cross of Christ (p. 99).
The baptism also shows the superiority of the missionary for he will have the privileged right to “give” them a new Christian name as seen in, “Barnabas (for such was the name that the dusky youth received at his baptism. (p.98)”
Thenceforth conversion to Christianity became identified with the duty of civilize, for civilization could not be other than Christian (Ferro, 1997: 11). When the chief is already baptized, there is still a gap between the missionary and chief based on their race. The missionary sees himself superior to the chief, which appears several times in the work.
He would say: These people are so unlike ourselves that I much doubt whether they have really accepted Christ. They are pleasant enough when they meet us, yet probably spread all manner of ill-natured gossip when our backs are turned. I cannot wholly trust them (p.99).
As reflected through the quotation, the missionary and the native are all Christian now. Still, the missionary still exclude himself by saying that the characteristics of the native are not like us. The word “ourselves” refers to the white people or in this story it can be Paul and his colleagues. The writer can see that Paul tends to highlight the difference between himself and the native in order to show his superiority over the native.
As a rule he did not choose to be seen pleasuring with a native – it undermined his authority – but his was a special occasion (p.103).
The superiority of the white over any other race will develop to the dominant relation that will be further discussed in the following analysis.
2. Dominant
The racial and class concept are correlated one another as mentioned in the quotation taken from Loomba’s Colonialism/Postcolonialism, “Having established that racial construction are shaped within particular historical context and alongside other social hierarchies, we can examine more specifically, the relationship between race and class.” (2000: 123)
The concept of racial differences has set the white on the top of its hierarchy. It means the white becomes the dominant class over any other race. In The Life To Come, Paul Pinmay is included in this category. As a white man and Christian missionary, he has the authority and control over the native people, including over the native chief.
It is also related to the concept of power and knowledge as well. Someone who has power can impose certain knowledge to others and someone who has knowledge can have power over other. Michel Foucault has introduced the theory of power and knowledge as mentioned below.
The colonizer has the power to control what kind of knowledge that can be imposed to the colonized people. The colonizer has the privilege to choose the instrument used to impose the knowledge.
In The Life To Come, Paul Pinmay has quite deep knowledge in Christianity as the Christian missionary. This knowledge put him as the dominant class over the new convert. He can impose the knowledge of Christianity to the native people. His position as the religious leader gives him the power over the native people using the Christian teaching as the social control. He makes the people obeying his commands, which are given through the chief.
These actions may occur because of the dominant position of the Christian missionary as seen below.
‘He orders me to refrain.’
‘How can hat be, when God is Love? ‘I have served him the longer and I know.’ ‘But this is my palace and I am a great chief.’ ‘God is greater than all chiefs.’ (p. 101)
He put the statement of his dominant position as the Christian missionary that enable him to give command on the behalf of Christianity. As the Christian missionary, he is somehow on a higher level over the chief. He can give knowledge and order to the chief as well. The position of the chief now becomes powerless in front of the missionary because he is just a subordinate to the missionary in a religious life.
use any physical force, but it is imposing the social and cultural hegemony that much more efficient to control the majority native society.
The term is useful for describing the success of imperial power over a colonized people who may far outnumber any occupying military force, but whose desire for self-determination has been suppressed by a hegemonic notion of the greater good, often couched in terms of social order, stability and advancement, all of which are defined by the colonizing power (Ashcroft, 2000: 116).
It appears through Paul’s speech with the chief as seen in the following quotation.
‘Arise, Barnabas … We do not want your kingdom. We have only come to teach you to rule it rightly. And do not speak of what happened in the hut. Never mention the hut, the word hut, the thought, either to me or to anyone. It is my wish and my command.’ (p. 101)
The words ‘come to teach’ show the domination of the missionary toward the native. It seems that the missionary tends to impose the white values through a leaning process. It emphasizes the civilized-uncivilized relation that gives the reason for the white to ‘civilize’ the native.
After having his success in converting the chief and all the followers, Paul becomes very dominant at the rest of the work. He is in charge for that new district (p.99) and he is able to control the chief using this new authority. He even uses the chief to expand his own authority over the native community.
Barnabas (for such the name of that dusky youth received at his baptism) – Barnabas proved an exemplary convert. He made mistakes, and his theology was crude and erratic, but he never backslid, and he had authority with his own people, so that the missionaries had only to explain carefully what they wanted, and it was carried out (p.98).
His dominance goes stronger by his settlement in that area. He is in charge of giving orders and commands toward the chief. Now, he places the chief more subordinate to him, just like his own slave or worker. Paul uses the chief’s obedience as an opportunity to make all his plans work out.
The retreat of Barnabas relieved him. He saw that he had gained an ascendancy over the chief which it was politic to develop. Barnabas respected him, and would not willingly do harm – had even an affection for him, loathsome as the idea might seem. All this was to the good (p.100).
Like many other western man, Paul Pinmay is considering himself as a civilized man, whose duty is to civilize the other or the ‘uncivilized’ people. He imposed the idea of civilization and put himself as the cause of the progress occurs in the island. The analysis of imposing the white hegemony through the role of Christian missionary can be seen in the following section.
C. Paul Pinmay as the White Christian Missionary Who Represents the Idea of
Superiority
On the surface level, Paul Pinmay seems to be a modest and faithful Christian missionary. He always speaks on the behalf of God, such as God’s love and God’s command. As a Christian missionary, he practices its teaching and brings the enlightenment toward the native society through several aspects as explained further.
1. Converting People into Christianity
And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned. And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues (St Mark 16: 15-17).
Christianity carries the value of universalism and equality. There will be no social stratification like castes. Its teaching supposes to treat every human being as the same creature. There is also one important teaching in Christianity, the teaching of universal love, that people must love one another.
At the beginning, he is so ambitious in reach his aim of converting the chief. He uses the teaching of love to approach the native chief.
And he had opened the Bible at I. Cor. 13, and had read and expounded the marvelous chapter, and spoke of the love of Christ and love for each other in Christ, very simply but more eloquently than ever before, while Vithobai said, ‘This is the first time I have heard such words, I like them,’ and drew closer, his body aglow and smelling sweetly of flowers (p.97).
Paul explains about the love of God and the love between human being. He foregrounds the idea of equality that attracts the chief. In the extreme point, he even takes a challenge to do a sexual intercourse with the chief.
Baptism is the signifier for the new convert entering the new life of being a Christian. It unites the human beings into Christ and the church (Fitzmyer, 197: 86). Here is the description of the baptism as mentioned in the work:
He had managed to postpone it until the day of his installation by the Bishop, and of the general baptism. The ceremonies were over, and the whole tribe, headed by their chief, had filed past the portable font and been signed on the forehead with the cross of Christ (p.99).
It is mentioned also in the work that new convert will receive a new name after baptism as seen in “Barnabas (for such was the name of the dusky youth received at his baptism) (p.98). The writer notices that it is process of reidentification of the native.
Christian teaching is often associated with the enlightenment and freeing human being from sin. The enlightenment may mean the improvement or progress that may happen along with the arrival of Christianity. The improvement or progress in that island is seen as the result of the Christianity. Christianity replaces the local belief that already exists before.
There is a prejudice toward the local belief about the superstition and evil power. According to the white, that must be washed by converting them into Christianity.
Young Mr Pinmay saw it all. He remembered all that he had heard of the antique power of evil in the country, the tales he had so smilingly dismissed as beneath a Christian’s notice, the extraordinary uprushes of energy which certain natives were said to posses and occasionally to employ for unholy purposes (p. 97).
Those processes above, conversion, baptism and renaming the new convert are the initial rites in Christianity. It shows the progress and enlightenment from the Christian view, yet it also shows the superiority of the white and western people toward the religious aspect of the local society.
2. Establishing Educational System
Education becomes very important tools for colonizer to impose their hegemony. Some people argued that the education is for the goodness of the native in order to be able to run their own governance and administration life. So, there are several objectives for establishing the school, but the certain one is for imposing the values from the colonizer to the colonized one.
Education, whether state or missionary, primary or secondary (and later tertiary) was a massive cannon in the artillery of empire. The military metaphor can however seem inappropriate, since unlike outright territorial aggression, education effects, in Gramsci’s terms, a ‘domination by consent’. This domination by consent is achieved through what is taught to the colonized, how it is taught, and the subsequent emplacement of the educated subject as a part of the continuing imperial apparatus – a knowledge of English literature, for instance, was required for entry into the civil service and the legal professions. Education is thus a conquest of another kind of territory – it is the foundation of colonialist power and consolidates this pwer through legal and administrative apparatuses (Ashcroft, 1997:425).
Education becomes a technology of colonialist subjectification in two other important and intrinsically interwoven ways. It establishes the locally English or British as normative through critical claims to ‘universality’ of the values embodied in English literary texts, and it represents the colonised to themselves as inherently inferior beings –‘wild’, ‘barbarous’, ‘uncivilised’ (Ashcroft, 1997: 426).
It also appears in the work, when the missionary build an education system as seen below:
There is a picture called ‘what it seemed to be’, which shows a hostile and savage potentate threatening him; in another picture, called ‘What it really was!’, a dusky youth in western clothes sits among a group of clergymen and ladies, looking like a waiter, and supported by under-waiters, who line the steps of building labeled ‘School’ (p.98).
People know that school is an institution where they get their formal education. In The Life To Come, school may also mean as an institution of imposing the western or Eurocentric values and culture to the native. Transfer of cultural values may occur in a learning process at school, such as learning the language and constructing a new way of thinking. Most of this learning process happens in the western institution such as school.
Language is also an important element of human identity. For language is not only a chain of words. English is one of the colonial languages, which is taught to the native as a part of the new education system.
English became the measure of intelligence and ability in the arts, the sciences, and all the other branches of learning. English became the main determinant of a child’s progress up the ladder of formal education. Literary education was now determined by the dominant language while also reinforcing that dominance (Ashcroft, 1997: 288).
Therefore, by learning this colonial language, the native people has been separated from their native language that carries their own cultures and histories for generations.
Language as culture is the collective memory bank of a people’s experience in history. Culture is almost indistinguishable from the language that makes possible its genesis, growth, banking, articulation and indeed its transmission from one generation to the next. Language as communication and as culture are then products of each other. Communication creates culture: culture is a means of communication. Language carries culture, and culture carries, particularly through orature and literature, the entire body of values by which we come to perceive ourselves and our place in the world (Ashcroft, 1997: 789-790).
In the work, the writer notices that Paul has made the chief speaking the new language, English.
The chief had developed into an affable and rather weedy Christian with a good knowledge of English (p. 102).
In this case, the chief has adopted the language and speak English for communication with the missionary.
3. Introducing New Social and Cultural System
same. It appears too in the work, when the missionary is preaching about the teaching to the chief.
By converting people into Christianity, the missionary introduces a kind of awareness on the equality among the native society. The effect of this action is the reduction of former leader’s authority and role in the semi-modern society. The native has received the western education that enables people to have vertical social mobilization, no more limited in horizontal mobilization. The vertical social mobilization does not highlight the blood-line, but more to the education and economic wealth. It appears in the work as seen in the quotation below.
He seldom met Barnabas now. There was no necessity for it, since the chief’s usefulness decreased as the community developed and new men pushed their way to the top (p. 106).
The arrival of the missionary also brings some changes on fashion style of the native. As the writer can identify, there is an original fashion style that can be seen trough the appearance of the chief at the first time, “He had scarcely recognized the sardonic chief in this gracious and bare limbed boy, whose only ornaments were scarlet flowers. (p. 96)”. The clearer image of the chief is also seen in the second part, when he is attending the general baptism.
The chief was wearing but little. A cincture of bright silks supported his dagger and floated in the fresh wind when he ran. He had silver armlets, and a silver necklet, closed by a falcon’s head which nestled against his throat (p.100).
The term of “decently clad” is defined by the missionary as the superior one. He is the one who has the authority to consider what to be proper and not. The writer cannot ignore that the native indeed has their own culture that represented on they way they originally dress themselves. Then, the missionary imposes a new fashion style which actually does not belong to the native.
There is also the extinction of the tribal organization, local culture, custom, and local belief after the settlement of the missionary on that island. Installed as the man in charge, he has powerful position that he can control the society using the Christianity as the justification.
He paid no respect to local customs, suspecting them all to be evil, he undermined the tribal organization, and – most risky of all – he appointed number of native catechists of low type from the tribe in the adjoining valley (p.99).
The missionary has replaced the local belief with the monotheistic religion or Christianity. The missionary has uprooted the native from their own culture, since the local belief is a part of native culture.
The cause of Christ had progressed greatly in the interval. Dancing had been put down, industry encouraged, inaccurate notions as to the nature of religion had disappeared, nor in spite of espionage had he discovered much secret immorality (p.102).
Dancing is a part of native culture too. The progress of Christian mission has omitted the former culture of the native people.
4. Imposing the Modern Civilization
western exploration and colonization (Ashcroft, 2000: 144-145). Their acquirement of science technology has motivated them to expand abroad and spread it in term of universalism and modern civilization. Universalism does not admit the cultural difference and diversity. Universalism refers to the western values that the western people want to set it up all over the world. In the other word, the western want to make their own civilization and values as the model for others. Modern civilization is often identified by the infrastructure establishment and technology acquirement. The infrastructure may consist of public building, transportation facilities, energy resources and administrative system (Oxford, 1995: 611-612).
The Life To Come also reveals this issues in which by the settlement of the missionary in that island, there are some “progress” in the meaning of physical development as seen in the quotation, “Civilization tapped and clinked behind them, under a garish sun” (p.105). Another example has been mentioned in the previous part, which the education system or school.
Industry is also obvious in modern civilization since it has closely relationship with the acquirement of technology. The writer find it in the work as seen in the quotation “Dancing had been put down, industry encouraged, …” (p.102). It appears in the following sentences too.
They moved briskly through the village, Barnabas driving to show the paces of the horse, and presently turned to the woods or to what remained of them; there was a tolerable road, made by the timber-fellers, which would uphill towards a grove (p.103).
resources of the island. It also needs workers taken from the native people. At this moment, the native people become the labour or the working class.
For, it is mentioned in the work that the owner of the company in industrial sector is white. In this case, they are the missionary’s colleagues and brother in law as seen in this sentence, “He was marrying one of the medical missionaries, a lady who shared his ideals, and whose brother had a mining concession above the village.” (p.102). So, there is masters-slaves or owner-labour relationship as the result of industry in that island.
Health promotion is another issue raised in the modern civilization. There are some inventions in health sector in forms of curing some illness using certain methodology or modern medicine. As seen in the work, there is an increasing number of diseases among the native along with the progress of industry as seen in the chief’s statement, “I am also told that disease among them increases” (p.103). Then, the missionary made an excuse that there are hospitals that will take care of this problem, “It does, but then so do our hospitals” (p.104).
All those processes above may happen as the good side of Christianity that brings enlightenment and progress for the native society. It is the duty of a Christian missionary to bring the people into better condition in the term of Christian teaching. However, all those practices have become the media for the white people to impose their hegemony and to set themselves as the superior one. Those practices, which are conducted, just want to reveal the idea of superiority.
