King Solomons mines
Science becomes increasingly a metaphor for the explanation of why things are as they are: people look to science to explain the origin of human character and institutions; science becomes an important part of ideological argumentation and a means of social control. European scientists from late 18th to 19th century developed scientific theories to explain the racial differences. The attempt to cast a theory of race in biological terms was the product, in part, of the growing of science in European culture. In America, scholars following in the tradition of the Europeans attempted to prove the intellectual inferiority of Indians, blacks, and women through the size of their skulls. Many believed and followed these theories assuming that most of the degenerate characteristics are inborn and genetically linked to certain races especially Africans. In Race and Gender, Nancy Stepan explains that many 19th-century scientists and laypeople viewed Africans as a "degenerate" race; Haggard's representation of the Kukuana demonstrates that he did agree with this view.A classic in its day, King Solomon's Mines is one of the more famous titles from the Victorian eras. It is very much a classical boys own adventure typical of the genr
e. The story revolves around a group of three Englishmen searching for the lost brother of the three. The story is narrated by one of the three, Allan Quatermain, who is something of a big game hunter type of adventurer. Sir Henry Curtis has a lead that the missing brother is somewhere in the interior of Africa lost on his own quest for King Solomon's mines. While this essay proves that Haggard agreed with the 19th-century scientists about viewing Africans as a degenerate race, his opinion about Africans are extremely moderate when compared to the opinions of his contemporary scientists who were so biased that they contrived ways of perfecting the human race by practicing eugenic The fact that the tribesmen then think that these white men must be from another planet can not have been too far from reality and must have been a source of terror and awe for millions of black Africans. Reading this book enables the reader to look at the world through a typical nineteenth century mindset. The concepts expressed of fair play and philanthropy make very uncomfortable company with the racist commentary that can be detected throughout the book. This superiority complex of whites over blacks almost seems to find an exception in the budding romance of one of the heroes with a black woman who cares for him when he is injured, and ultimately dies protecting him. However, just in case any nineteenth century reader was concerned at any such interracial behavior, Haggard reasserts the inadvisability of such an occurrence with the heroine utterance: "Can the sun mate with the moon, or the white with the black?" In fact, just in case one misses this warning, he goes on to repeat it later. It is always easy to condemn an earlier generation by today's standards. And besides, am I a gentleman? What is a gentleman? I don't quite know, and yet I have had to do with niggers „o no, I'll scratch that word "niggers" out, for I don't like it. I've known natives who are, and so you'll say, Harry, my boy, before you're done with this tale, and I have known mean whites with lots of money and fre
Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 1415
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)
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