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Section one
1 OPPGAVE
EN-103 13.05.16 - general information
Course code: EN-103
Course name: British Studies
Date: 13 May 2016
Duration: 0900-1300
Resources allowed: English-English Dictionary
Notes: None
----------------------------Sometimes professors ask for exam answers that can be used for teaching purposes, but in order
for this to take place, the university needs your consent.
Do you grant the University of Agder permission to use your exam answer for teaching
purposes?
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2 OPPGAVE
EN-103 13.05.16 - exam question
Write your answer here
BESVARELSE
Question 2)
An Exploration of the Colonies
The dream of a better life and the miscommuncation in getting there
For centuries, the British colonies existed as a hope for the downtrotten and the asipiring souls of the soonto-be United Kingdom. From the 17th century, the North American colonies became a land of hope and
dreams, attracting many émigrés from all over Europe, and later from Asia. Once the Revolutionary War
ended with an independent United States, Britons had to look elsewhere for their fortunes. Although the West
Indies had for a long time been a gold mine to many wealthy men, with the profits off slavery's sugar
plantations filling the aristocracy's and merchants' pockets, the 19th century put a new spotline on the
eastern colonies, such as India. The short story "The Outstation" by W. Somerset Maugham and Jean Rhys'
Wide Sargasso Sea both take place in these colonies, respectively in the 20th and 19th century, the former in
Borneo and the latter in the West Indies. It is said that these stories regard the issue of acquiring a better life,
but how and where? Is it that these colonies are the answer to the characters' misfortunes, or are they a
means to an end? At the same time, both texts are filled with the characters' problematic communication with
each other, which in turn can be said to get in the way of their search for a better life. I will look into if and
how this can be seen in the texts, and whether there are any similarities or differences between them.
First of all, there must be a reason to want to better one's life. Mr Warburton is a gentleman, who at a young
age inherited a great deal of money from a wealthy - but not aristocratic - relative. This fortune opened a
great many doors for him, allowing him to attend the public school Eton and acquaintance himself with the
rich and the lords of Britain. He looked up to these aristocrats, and was regarded as a snob who would rather
be snubbed by a lord, than complimented by a commoner. He lived a lavish life, and was the source of help
to anyone who needed a little money to get out of a bind. This, combined with a good deal of gambling, led
him to lose all of his fortune. Refusing to lament and complain over this, he set out to make a living for the
first time in his life, and left England for Borneo, where he would live among the Malays and lead the work
there. Borneo would be his home for the next twenty years, which is when "The Outstation" begins.
Is Borneo the means to an end for Warburton, a stop on the road back to civilized England, or is it the final
answer? From the minute he steps on to the soil, Warburton makes no attempt to "go native" and fully adapt
the way of life in his new home. He makes a point out of going on with this life as if it was England. He has
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his clothes laid out for him by an almost makeshift valet - the native servants - and wears a boiled shirt to
dinner every day, compromising with a lighter dinner jacket. He has the chef prepare a meal and a menu for
him (in French), saying it is to keep them alert and prepared. He keeps up with the latest from England,
receiving The Times six weeks late, but reads them every day without opening the next day's paper, and
writes his greetings and condolences to friends and familiars in England. He refuses to take a native wife,
because although he has respect for the natives, he still thinks himself above them and would not
compromise his civility to marry below him - to a native. Albeit with so much time spent alone - in the respect
that he is separated from civilzed Englishmen, while being surrounded by natives - being around his peers
frightens him. In Borneo, he has become the king on the hill, the lord of the land, where the servants obey
him and his orders are followed. He is respected, and although he claims to rather be snubbed by a lord, the
respect and love he shares with the Malays indicates that Warburton very much enjoys the life he has
acquired in the colony. He even says that, wherever in the world he ends up dying, he would like to be sent
back to Borneo to be buried there. This in itself indicates that Warburton might not even want to move back to
England permenantly. At the age of fifty four, his better life ends up being in a very unlikely place: In a colony,
away from civilization, the western world, and the English aristocracy.
However, Warburton is not the only one in "The Outstation" who wants to better himself. The arrival of Allen
Cooper causes quite a stirr in the village, when Warburton has been living in Borneo for twenty years, rarely
meeting anyone English. In one respect, Cooper's arrival does not bring him this solace. Cooper represents
the "funny kind of Englishman" (to quote Hanif Kureishi's The Buddha of Suburbia) who is English, but not
English. Born in Barbados and serving in Africa during the Great War from 1914-1918, Cooper has suffered
discrimination and hatred towards his creole self, being denied rising in the ranks in the military and being
looked down on as a colonial. Being stationed in Borneo is his opportunity to rise, having been given a
chance despite being described as a rough diamond. A rough diamond indeed, Cooper orders his servants
around like dogs, having no love nor resepect for them, and forces them to work under inhuman conditions,
e.g. longer hours for the prisoners, denying the servant Abas his salary, and treating them with such
disrespect that they would rather run away than work for him. Borneo is then not the final stop in Cooper's
search for a better life, rather a means to an end. He might hope to rise enough to be restationed somewhere
else, and perhaps one day make it to England, but obviously his murder prevents that from ever becoming a
reality.
The failure and success in bettering their lives is largely dependent on communication, and the problematic
communication exhibited in this short story proves to be vital for the results. In fact, from the beginning,
communcation between Warburton and Cooper is strained. As a gentleman, Warburton allows Cooper to
make a second impression at dinner, but neglects to inform him of the dress code and standards he expects.
Cooper, used to Africa, war, and uncivilized society, puts little stock into keeping up English appearances,
perhaps because he has never been to England himself. This allows for them to view each other as a snob
(Warburton) and an uncivilized fool (Cooper). The following weeks proves that it is mostly in their free time
that their communication is lacking, as Cooper proves himself to be a competent worker and leader in the
beginning. It is when Cooper's hatred for "niggers" becomes apparant that their lacking communication seeps
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into their work, which is more of a problem than their social life. At one point, Warburton attempts to get rid of
Cooper by sending a letter to the men who stationed him there, but only emphasises that they do not get
along. Known as a snob by almost everyone, this description of Cooper is seen as Warburton exhibiting
snobbery, rather than concern for the Malays who suffer under Cooper's rule. A more fitting description of
Cooper mistreating the natives and the consequences that might (and would) happen, might have ended the
entire conflict. Furthermore, as men from different social standings, they both showcase British passive
aggressiveness in their conversation. With glimmers of laughter in their eyes at the other's claims and
condesending responses fuel the tension between them. When Cooper orders the prisoners to work longer
hours, he does so without consulting his superior, and Warburton gives no notice to Cooper when he
counteracts that order. They talk over and across each other, but rarely directly to one another.
Their problematic communication is not only rooted in an inability to speak directly to each other, but also in
them being unable to listen and understand. This concerns mostly Cooper. As a colonial, he has been
discriminated against and viewed not as a true Englishman for his entire life, surpassed in ranks by lessdeserving men in the military. Instead of being at all sympathetic with the native Malays in Borneo, he has no
love for the peoples he has been compared to and treated as. His anger brings him to treat them worse than
he has ever been treated himself. Cooper is then the bad sort of colonial superior. Warburton listens,
understands, and treats the natives with respect, even if he does see them as the exotic other and inferior
people. To him, their royal blood and aristocracy is to be honored and appreciated, but Cooper views them as
a single unit of dirt. The lack of cultural understanding unables Cooper to fully consider Warburton's warnings
towards the end of the story. Of course, Warburton only warns him from a sense of responsibility, but feels no
remorse nor grief when Cooper is found dead. He only calls him a fool. Why? Because he did not listen or
communicate. Because the two of them, two men from different social standing, were unable to see each
other as peers and find a way to live their lives together.
Across the Atlantic, a century prior to Warburton and Cooper, Mr Rochester in Jean Rhys' Wide Sargasso
Sea enters into marriage with Antoinette Mason, the step-daughter of a wealthy Englishman. The novel is a
re-writing of Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë, focusing more on the colonial life of Bertha, or Antoinette, her
childhood and her descent into insanity as she marries Rochester. The theme of searching for a better life is
prominent in this text. It appears in several instances. Annette, Antoinette's mother, is the widow of a former
slave owner, a mad man who died after the emancipation of slaves in the British empire. Living in civil
unnrest, hated by the now-free slaves and their fellow creoles, Annette finally has the life she once had - the
financial part - with the Englishman Mason. But the death of her crippled son Pierre pushes her into insanity,
and the life she once loved is lost in her mind. Her daughter, on the other hand, has a chance.
Antoinette Mason dreams of a life away from the West Indies, and is infatuated with the idea of England and
Europe. To her, fortune might be found across the ocean, in contrast to how many viewed the American
colonies as their opportunity. Her chance of a better life arrives with Rochester, whom remains unnamed
throughout the novel. Only, she cannot truly imagine what it would be like. The description of a concrete
jungel is unnatural and incomprehencible to her, and she escapes into her own vivid imagination. But why
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would Antoinette need a better life? Her father was a slave owner until the abolition of slavery in the British
empire, and as a young girl, she was subjected to maltreatment from the community and was ignored by her
own mother. Her mother, more concerned with her crippled son, Pierre, shows her no love or compassion,
leaving Antoinette alone. For her entire life, after her brother dies, her mother is locked away with her
madness, and she is placed in a school, Antoinette is lonely. Only when her step-father Mr Mason comes to
bring her out into society does her life seem to have a glimmer of hope. Marrying Rochester would provide
her with the love she was denied as a child, and she desperately tries to attain that love. And he does love
her in a way. In the beginning they are infatuated with each other and appear to be happy, but her childhood
has marred her with doubt and insecurity. Her life never gets better, but worse, trapped in a marriage with a
man who resents her and her family, and slowly slips into the same madness that killed her father and her
mother. And, of course, she herself causes her own death, setting the house on fire and dying in the same
setting as Pierre.
Rochester is a young man who has always known that his life had little prospect in England. As custom
dictated, the younger son of a wealthy man could not inherit any land or money upon his father's death, and
would have little help in sustaining a wealthy lifestyle from his brother. Coerced and pressured, he is sent off
to the West Indies by his family, where he would be introduced to the creole step-daughter of a wealthy
Englishman. This was to be his salvation. Only the turn of events finds that the colonies is not the final
answer for Rochester, but indeed a means to an end. This is because Rochester, born into English nature
and English concrete jungles, finds everything in his wife's homeland to be unnatural. There are too many
trees, too much nature, too much magic. To him, the West Indies are too uncivilized to live in, and in his
attempt to try to make things work, he choses to domesticate Antoinette. He calls her Bertha, wishes her to
stop using scented oils in her hair, and proposes going back to England. He struggles to find any connection
with the people he finds himself surrounded by. Antoinette is creole and has experiences very different from
his own, having survived attacks on her life, being called "white nigger", being hated by the blacks, resented
by the creole, and not truly accepted by the white. The servants are former slaves, but act with resentment
and disobedience. Before the Masons, the servants were very much in control in the family, and that control
is not entirely gone. Antoinette is dependent on them, and not the other way around, and this is completely
foreign to Rochester. He resents being tricked into marriage with a girl who turns out to be from a mad family,
who is impressionable, and has a vivid imagination. Believing she tried to poison him, he distances himself
from her and sleeps with the servant Amelia, while Antoinette is in the other room and can hear everything.
Indeed, the colonies is a means to an end for Rochester. The Masons represent money and a life he would
be without in England, although his brother dies before his father, leaving him as the heir of Thornfield Hall.
His better life ends up being in Europe, as he seldom stays at his estate in England, to get away from
Antoinette. In the end, in Jane Eyre, his better life ends up being with Jane, dependent on her and her
money.
Antoinette and Rochester are from two very different worlds, from the natural and unnatural, and their views
of the world clash in a way that makes them incompatible. Their first real point of communication was on their
wedding day, when Antoinette has doubts of getting married and Rochester goes to speak with her. He does
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not wish to persuade her, only speak to her. This is an example of good communication between them, but
once they are married, this willingness to sit down and listen to each other disappears. Antoinette wants to
impress Rochester and make him proud, and relents in her scented oils and her customs. But she is too
afraid to truly let him in, accustomed to be alone in the world with only her imagination to escape into. So
instead of communicate, she begs Cristophine to make a love potion, which only makes things worse. And
Rochester, accosted by Antoinette's bastard half-brother Daniel and told of her family's history with mentall
illness, does not go to his wife to find out the truth, but bottles it up until he loses his temper, moves his new
little family back to England, and locks his mad wife in the attic.
In both "The Outstation" and Wide Sargasso Sea, a better life is often associated with physical places,
although it is largely dependent on financial status. Warburton's misfortune is rooted in his overly generous
nature and gambling problem, and Rochester, as the youngest son, has no chance of a properly good life,
unless he finds a rich woman to marry. Both cases underline the importance of money in order to have a
good or better life, but they also showcase the difference in where this fortune is regained. Rochester, altough
with the backing of his wife's money, gets a much better life - if one can call it that, with a mad wife stashed in
the attic, the attempted polygamistic marriage to a young governess, losing your eyesight in a fire, only to be
immasculated, and saved by said governess in the end - when he inherits his father's estate and money and
moves back to England, whereas Warburton is much more satisfied with living in Borneo, although his former
grand fortune may never be fully regained. But in both cases, the lack of money is the beginning of their
problems, making both of them travel to find a solution in the British colonies. And it seems that these are the
characters who have the most luck, arguably with Warburton coming out on top of the two of them.
Meanwhile, Antoinette and Cooper, the ones born in the colonies and raised in societies where they have
been discriminated against, are the ones who end up dead, both somewhat by their own hands; Cooper
pushing Abas to kill him and Antoinette going mad, lighting the house on fire and jumping off the roof.
However, most of these issues presented after they have arrived in the colonies, could have been resolved
by a little communication. But the lack of cultural understanding by all parties, and the inability to truly sit
down and speack to each other, allow them wander off in different directions, ignoring each other, believing
half-truths and their own imaginations, leading to the death of Cooper, Antoinette's madness, a miserable
Rochester, and a once-again alone Warburton, who is stripped of his only English presence in Borneo.
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