In a chapter
entitled "The Feast, and After", Haggard depicts the invitation of the group
of explorers to a feast hosted by the Amahaggers. Haggard uses this scene
to contrast the two races and to assert British superiority over an inferior
and uncivilized 'other'. This comparison acts to justify and legitimize
British colonization of nations that were viewed as requiring the intervention
of 'civilized' rule due to their primitive states.
Throughout the passage, the Amahaggers are depicted
as inferior. Holly refers to them as "barbarians" and the vessels they drink
from are described as decorated with "childlike" pictures (96-7). The purpose
of the feast is to kill the explorers' Muslim guide and consume his flesh.
The English condemned cannibalism in the savage 'other' and utilized its
practice as a reason for British intervention. When the people at the feast
break out fighting, the Amahaggers move with a pack-like mentality, demoting
them to the status of animals. Later in the passage they are described as
"wolves" (104). Haggard elevates his three white explorers above the tribe,
thereby demonstrating British views of their own position as superior to
the black 'other'.
The passage continues to contrast the two races through
describing Leo in terms of brightness: his golden locks and lit eyes shine
in the dim cave (103). Leo's golden aura draws on the common analogy of
England as the sun lighting the darker regions of the globe[1].
Haggard, through Leo, continues a literary tradition that constructs the
white explorers' mission as the penetration of the dark continent of Africa
with the light of their own supremacy[2].
Even Haggard's description of the explorers' guns serves as evidence of Britain's
superior technology while the act of discarding them illustrates how their
conduct is always dictated by a 'civilized' code of ethics. Haggard uses
the scene to directly contrast the explorers' superiority, both socially and
morally, with the 'primitive' nature of the Amahaggers.
Haggard's depiction of the threatening 'other' is built
upon the assumptions of early anthropology, a popular social science that
grew rapidly in the nineteenth century[3].
Anthropology used the supposed weight of objectivity associated with science
to assert its claims. Biology was used as a premise to categorize cultures
in terms of the degree of their sophistication and progress. Britain was
ranked in a superior position over the dark 'other' whose practices and relationships
were deemed inferior. Imperialism became a form of ideology for the British
people; hence, its perceived collapse would mean the decline of Britain herself[4].
Haggard uses "The Feast, and After" to assert British superiority over an
inferior and less developed 'other'; this acts as an empowering tool affirming
Britain's categorization as progressive and mightier.
[1]
John Ruskin, "Conclusion to Inaugural Lecture" (1870) in Elleke Boehemer
(ed.) Empire Writing: An Anthology of Colonial Literature 1870-1918
(Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1998), p.19.
[2]
P. Brantlinger, Rule of Darkness: British Literature and Imperialism,
1830-1914 (New York: Cornell University Press, 1988), p.192.
[3]
For a description of the growth of anthropology during this era see: Stott,
Femme Fatale, pp.17-18.