The film Gandhi
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The film Gandhi is a biography of the Indian leader, and historians have pointed out a number of ways in which the film distorts the historical record. Director Richard Attenborough has indicated his desire to be true to Gandhi as a human being, and yet this means something different to the filmmaker than it would mean to a historian. The latter would seek every scrap of information and include it as part of the picture, while Attenborough is interested more in the image of the man and in supporting that image with facts that do not really challenge the myth but extend it in some fashion for a new audience. A number of themes emerge from the way Gandhi is treated in the film.The central theme is the theme that was central to Gandhi's life as well, the theme of the importance and effectiveness of nonviolent protest. The development of the idea of protest begins with Gandhi's experiences in South Africa when he first encounters the discrimination of apartheid as a young lawyer and feels the need to protest such injustices even though told there is no way he can change the law. Part of his ability as a protester is his talent for organizing the movement and enlisting supporters. His message of nonviolent protest is disconcerting to police accustomed to something more direct. Gandhi's win in South Africa carries over to his return to India, where he finds the need now to use the same tactics against onerous British rule. The ills of imperialism are highlighted by Britis
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British policy made India a more rural country, increased poverty, and made the people more dependent (Reilly 126-128).
Similar issues faced other colonies, leading to more and more efforts to gain independence. An examination of the history of this century shows the decay of the colonial system, not just for British colonies but for those of France, Portugal, Germany, and so on. Most of the independence efforts involved violence. The French in Algeria used military might in a constant battle with the people to keep them subjugated to French rule. If the British could make India more rural, it was because the Indians did not fight back in any systematic way; similarly, the Portuguese in the Canary Islands met no resistance after the conquest of the islands. The Algerians fought back constantly right up until winning independence in a bloody civil war in the late 1950s:
Though much smaller and less valuable than India, this colony cost France far more to conquer than India cost Britain. The peoples of Algeria had a long, mostly hostile association with Europeans (Headrick 91).
This hostility was returned by the French, and there were ample guns on both sides to keep the fighting going.
The plight of the Third World tod
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Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 1693
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page)
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