To what extent did caste system affect the relationshipsbetween the various classes of people aboard the Ibis Do you think that the East India Company officials were unnecessarily harsh and vindictive with the Bengali Baboosin dealing with their private tradein Calcutta Among the several characters aboard on Ibis which character appeals to you the most
The Ibis was depicted in the novel as very popular ship which serves as a carrier and transporter of slaves during the 1800s. The Ibis usually runs the coasts of Africa from where it gathers migrants who were not really different from slaves. These people were then taken to British shores that, during that time, still honored slave trade as a major industry. However, come 1830, slave trade suddenly became prohibited along the British shores. The government finally went against the trade and announced that no activities involving such kind of exchange shall be honored in their lands. Thus, the Ibis and its slave trading feat got banned. However, it so happened that an Englishman got interested in the banned ship. As he carried his business of trading Opium in India, he decided to utilize the Ibis as a transporter of his products to places in Great Britain. Thus, the Ibis then became a carrier of Opium. The ship was renovated in order to enable it to carry loads of Opium instead of human cargo. However, although the Ibis then became known as a transporter of Opium, it still held some service to slavery. Although it was apparent that the Ibis no longer holds slaves, it was also undeniable that the kind of slavery associated to trading Opium was just enough to create some other form of slavery within the ship. And this is where the ideal of the caste system enters the scene.
It has been understood earlier in this course that the caste system has been implanted within the roots of the Hindu civilization long before slave and opium trading even began. In this story, especially at the part which involved the Opium trade and the Ibis, ideals about the caste system has been very observable. However, in order to better explicate things, it is first necessary to recall what the caste system is. As per what has been discussed in this course, the caste system is a kind of hierarchy, where in people (Hindus or Indians) are being ranked or groups depending on the kind of life they live. This kind of leveling of categorizing slaves or outcastes form the lowermost part, and on top of them lay the sudras or the laborer next in ranking comes vaisyas or the farmers, merchants and artisans, and on top of this level lay the ksatriyas or the warriors. The topmost level is consisted of the Brahmins or the priests and educators. As what has been mentioned earlier, although the Ibis was not directly associated to slave trading during the leadership of the English businessman, it was nonetheless observable that slavery was still evident on how the officers of the English firm treated their native workers. In the story, before the ships venture of transporting Opium to China, it settled for a while on the Island of Mauritius, across the Indian Ocean, where it was able to gather natives, who were bound to serve as workers. At this part of the story is where the main point of the author, on deeming these people as a sea of poppies, starts. The author tagged the crew of the Ibis as a sea of poppies.
Every slave, ship crew, mechanic and other staff in the ship were all deemed as poppy seeds. Each person, like a seed, has its own identity, personality and place in the fields. Each seed moves and lets itself get carried away by the wind to places yet unknown. Thus, when gathered together in one ship, the author tagged such a flock as a sea of poppies.
On the ship, the natives with other ship workers are put in one place, one vessel, one world, where they discover the different sorts of inequalities that the world was able to create among them. Some people in the ship have been very discriminate about race and color. Some were discriminate towards gender. However, one of the most dramatic and captivating acts of discrimination happens among slaves and this has been particularly brought by their knowledge of the caste system.
Considering the fact that the caste system has really been implanted in the awareness of Indians, it was not surprising that people in the Ibis were not able to escape such an ideal despite being able to escape the Indian lands. In the ship, stories about change and transformation from an identity to another dominate, as a lot of slaves wanted to start a new identity which will take them away from the kind of identity the caste system has imposed upon them. People on the ship were portrayed to have learned what it actually means to be in one place where no rules and no caste system exist. This allowed them to actually feel that on that ship at least, they are equal that no one is ever above everybody and that everybody must deserve equal privileges and chances.
Through the Ibis, the reader is also allowed to escape a world where caste system dictates the destiny and the success of an individual. In this ship, the all the kinds of differences, may it be caste, race, gender or skin color has been disregarded. At one point, the workers were actually able to feel that they are equal with other people on the ship. Aside from this, the huge implication of the caste system in this story can also be seen through the desperation of the Indian peasants. It was apparent that the major source of poverty of the peasants during that time was the domination of British power in their lands. However, it was also undeniable that the caste system also had something to do with this situation. The slaves found it difficult to plant grains and vegetables in lands during that time since most territories have already been marked by wealthy British people and some of the wealthy natives.
Because of this, insufficient sources of food are left for the families of the peasants which just made them more helpless. And to make things worse, they could not easily get help from their own government since the caste system categorizes them as outcasts, and impure citizens. The ideal of the caste system has also been very significant in this part of the story since it gives readers an idea of how different the lives of earlier Indian civilizations could have been like without the restrictions made by the caste system. In some ways, the concept of the caste systems also aided in differentiating the kind of freedom that the people in the ship enjoyed than with what the people from the village actually experienced during that time. Through this novel, the author brings the readers into a historic and at the same time spiritually enriching journey which lets people realize how the society can sometimes be unnecessarily restrictive.
Aside from this feature, the novel also focuses on the relation between the British traders and the natives. Since foreign traders have tendency to be looked high upon by the natives, they were also given free passes to boast around and be dominant and superior over the native people. The novel pays significant emphasis on the ideals of freedom and slavery, and these ideals are very much apparent on the part where arguments between the foreign traders and the natives sparked. At this point, readers get to immerse to some interesting arguments between British businessmen and locals about slavery and freedom. In such conversations, the superiority and arrogance of British traders in one part of the story, the author reveals how cruel and unkind the officials of the East India Company has been to the locals. Though the locals tried to argue back, they appear to be helpless against the wealth and influence of the British traders. An exchange of arguments which presents such a scenario is what follows
Dyou mean to use the Ibis as a slaver, sir But have not your English laws outlawed that tradeThat is true, Mr Burnham nodded. Yes indeed they have, Reid. Its sad but true that there are many wholl stop at nothing to halt the march of human freedom.Freedom, sir said Zachary, wondering if he had misheard.His doubts were quickly put at rest. Freedom, yes, exactly, said Mr. Burnham. Isnt that what the mastery of the white man means for the lesser races As I see it, Reid, the Africa trade was the greatest exercise in freedom since God led the children of Israel out of Egypt. Consider, Reid, the situation of a so-called slave in the Carolinas - is he not more free than his brethren in Africa, groaning under the rule of some dark tyrant (Ghosh, 2008)
This clearly presents how cruel the thinking of such British officials was. Freedom for these people is all about being unrestricted to do what they think will give them the most benefits, and this comes with disregarding the truth that they were actually abusing other weaker individuals also like the native peasants. Aside from this argument, the unjust perception of these foreign officials about trade was also presented in the following exchange of views
No one dislikes war more than I do - indeed I abhor it. But it cannot be denied that there are times when war is not merely just and necessary, but also humane. In China that time has come....Quite right, sir said Mr. Doughty emphatically. There is no other recourse. Indeed, humanity demands it. We need only think of the poor Indian peasant - what will become of him if his opium cant be sold in China Bloody hurremzads can hardly eat now theyll perish by the core. (Ghosh, 2008)
Clearly, this presents how British domination made the life of such peasants a lot worse. Since the British Empires only concern was to grow richer in terms of trading power in Calcutta and territorial powers, they will really tend to care less of the peasants idea of freedom and equality since it will not have to matter with their objective to grow stronger and wealthier instead, they will just block their way. Hence, the British literally gets all of what they can get from such pitiful locals, and such peasants are left like literal poppy seeds without the control and knowledge of going anywhere else but where the wind takes them to.
In going through the interesting voyage of the Ibis through this novel, readers are introduced to a number of very interesting characters as well. One of the most interesting would have to be, Zachary Reid, who is an American sailor who has also been very interesting on the eyes of the natives. He became interesting as per the natives since he was born by a peasant woman and an American male. Thought his heredity is interesting enough, what made his individuality more interesting was on how he faced his adventures on the Ibis. Reid was one of the many people who faced arduous labors at the ship. Reid also became a good portrayal of the reality that slavery is not just all about a specific society-imposed system which will identify an individual as one instead, he considers slavery as a choice. Based on how he dealt with his grueling tasks on board, it appears like Reid thinks that a man can be a slave of his own ideals, his own problems, his own fears and his own dreams. It is just up to that person whether or not he will overcome or succumb to such dreams. Reid clearly appeared to choose overcoming his own slavery when he became the second in command of the ship. This, and his quite surprising roots make Reids character a catchy and notable character in the story.
The Ibis was depicted in the novel as very popular ship which serves as a carrier and transporter of slaves during the 1800s. The Ibis usually runs the coasts of Africa from where it gathers migrants who were not really different from slaves. These people were then taken to British shores that, during that time, still honored slave trade as a major industry. However, come 1830, slave trade suddenly became prohibited along the British shores. The government finally went against the trade and announced that no activities involving such kind of exchange shall be honored in their lands. Thus, the Ibis and its slave trading feat got banned. However, it so happened that an Englishman got interested in the banned ship. As he carried his business of trading Opium in India, he decided to utilize the Ibis as a transporter of his products to places in Great Britain. Thus, the Ibis then became a carrier of Opium. The ship was renovated in order to enable it to carry loads of Opium instead of human cargo. However, although the Ibis then became known as a transporter of Opium, it still held some service to slavery. Although it was apparent that the Ibis no longer holds slaves, it was also undeniable that the kind of slavery associated to trading Opium was just enough to create some other form of slavery within the ship. And this is where the ideal of the caste system enters the scene.
It has been understood earlier in this course that the caste system has been implanted within the roots of the Hindu civilization long before slave and opium trading even began. In this story, especially at the part which involved the Opium trade and the Ibis, ideals about the caste system has been very observable. However, in order to better explicate things, it is first necessary to recall what the caste system is. As per what has been discussed in this course, the caste system is a kind of hierarchy, where in people (Hindus or Indians) are being ranked or groups depending on the kind of life they live. This kind of leveling of categorizing slaves or outcastes form the lowermost part, and on top of them lay the sudras or the laborer next in ranking comes vaisyas or the farmers, merchants and artisans, and on top of this level lay the ksatriyas or the warriors. The topmost level is consisted of the Brahmins or the priests and educators. As what has been mentioned earlier, although the Ibis was not directly associated to slave trading during the leadership of the English businessman, it was nonetheless observable that slavery was still evident on how the officers of the English firm treated their native workers. In the story, before the ships venture of transporting Opium to China, it settled for a while on the Island of Mauritius, across the Indian Ocean, where it was able to gather natives, who were bound to serve as workers. At this part of the story is where the main point of the author, on deeming these people as a sea of poppies, starts. The author tagged the crew of the Ibis as a sea of poppies.
Every slave, ship crew, mechanic and other staff in the ship were all deemed as poppy seeds. Each person, like a seed, has its own identity, personality and place in the fields. Each seed moves and lets itself get carried away by the wind to places yet unknown. Thus, when gathered together in one ship, the author tagged such a flock as a sea of poppies.
On the ship, the natives with other ship workers are put in one place, one vessel, one world, where they discover the different sorts of inequalities that the world was able to create among them. Some people in the ship have been very discriminate about race and color. Some were discriminate towards gender. However, one of the most dramatic and captivating acts of discrimination happens among slaves and this has been particularly brought by their knowledge of the caste system.
Considering the fact that the caste system has really been implanted in the awareness of Indians, it was not surprising that people in the Ibis were not able to escape such an ideal despite being able to escape the Indian lands. In the ship, stories about change and transformation from an identity to another dominate, as a lot of slaves wanted to start a new identity which will take them away from the kind of identity the caste system has imposed upon them. People on the ship were portrayed to have learned what it actually means to be in one place where no rules and no caste system exist. This allowed them to actually feel that on that ship at least, they are equal that no one is ever above everybody and that everybody must deserve equal privileges and chances.
Through the Ibis, the reader is also allowed to escape a world where caste system dictates the destiny and the success of an individual. In this ship, the all the kinds of differences, may it be caste, race, gender or skin color has been disregarded. At one point, the workers were actually able to feel that they are equal with other people on the ship. Aside from this, the huge implication of the caste system in this story can also be seen through the desperation of the Indian peasants. It was apparent that the major source of poverty of the peasants during that time was the domination of British power in their lands. However, it was also undeniable that the caste system also had something to do with this situation. The slaves found it difficult to plant grains and vegetables in lands during that time since most territories have already been marked by wealthy British people and some of the wealthy natives.
Because of this, insufficient sources of food are left for the families of the peasants which just made them more helpless. And to make things worse, they could not easily get help from their own government since the caste system categorizes them as outcasts, and impure citizens. The ideal of the caste system has also been very significant in this part of the story since it gives readers an idea of how different the lives of earlier Indian civilizations could have been like without the restrictions made by the caste system. In some ways, the concept of the caste systems also aided in differentiating the kind of freedom that the people in the ship enjoyed than with what the people from the village actually experienced during that time. Through this novel, the author brings the readers into a historic and at the same time spiritually enriching journey which lets people realize how the society can sometimes be unnecessarily restrictive.
Aside from this feature, the novel also focuses on the relation between the British traders and the natives. Since foreign traders have tendency to be looked high upon by the natives, they were also given free passes to boast around and be dominant and superior over the native people. The novel pays significant emphasis on the ideals of freedom and slavery, and these ideals are very much apparent on the part where arguments between the foreign traders and the natives sparked. At this point, readers get to immerse to some interesting arguments between British businessmen and locals about slavery and freedom. In such conversations, the superiority and arrogance of British traders in one part of the story, the author reveals how cruel and unkind the officials of the East India Company has been to the locals. Though the locals tried to argue back, they appear to be helpless against the wealth and influence of the British traders. An exchange of arguments which presents such a scenario is what follows
Dyou mean to use the Ibis as a slaver, sir But have not your English laws outlawed that tradeThat is true, Mr Burnham nodded. Yes indeed they have, Reid. Its sad but true that there are many wholl stop at nothing to halt the march of human freedom.Freedom, sir said Zachary, wondering if he had misheard.His doubts were quickly put at rest. Freedom, yes, exactly, said Mr. Burnham. Isnt that what the mastery of the white man means for the lesser races As I see it, Reid, the Africa trade was the greatest exercise in freedom since God led the children of Israel out of Egypt. Consider, Reid, the situation of a so-called slave in the Carolinas - is he not more free than his brethren in Africa, groaning under the rule of some dark tyrant (Ghosh, 2008)
This clearly presents how cruel the thinking of such British officials was. Freedom for these people is all about being unrestricted to do what they think will give them the most benefits, and this comes with disregarding the truth that they were actually abusing other weaker individuals also like the native peasants. Aside from this argument, the unjust perception of these foreign officials about trade was also presented in the following exchange of views
No one dislikes war more than I do - indeed I abhor it. But it cannot be denied that there are times when war is not merely just and necessary, but also humane. In China that time has come....Quite right, sir said Mr. Doughty emphatically. There is no other recourse. Indeed, humanity demands it. We need only think of the poor Indian peasant - what will become of him if his opium cant be sold in China Bloody hurremzads can hardly eat now theyll perish by the core. (Ghosh, 2008)
Clearly, this presents how British domination made the life of such peasants a lot worse. Since the British Empires only concern was to grow richer in terms of trading power in Calcutta and territorial powers, they will really tend to care less of the peasants idea of freedom and equality since it will not have to matter with their objective to grow stronger and wealthier instead, they will just block their way. Hence, the British literally gets all of what they can get from such pitiful locals, and such peasants are left like literal poppy seeds without the control and knowledge of going anywhere else but where the wind takes them to.
In going through the interesting voyage of the Ibis through this novel, readers are introduced to a number of very interesting characters as well. One of the most interesting would have to be, Zachary Reid, who is an American sailor who has also been very interesting on the eyes of the natives. He became interesting as per the natives since he was born by a peasant woman and an American male. Thought his heredity is interesting enough, what made his individuality more interesting was on how he faced his adventures on the Ibis. Reid was one of the many people who faced arduous labors at the ship. Reid also became a good portrayal of the reality that slavery is not just all about a specific society-imposed system which will identify an individual as one instead, he considers slavery as a choice. Based on how he dealt with his grueling tasks on board, it appears like Reid thinks that a man can be a slave of his own ideals, his own problems, his own fears and his own dreams. It is just up to that person whether or not he will overcome or succumb to such dreams. Reid clearly appeared to choose overcoming his own slavery when he became the second in command of the ship. This, and his quite surprising roots make Reids character a catchy and notable character in the story.
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