Comparing Gilgamesh, The Tempest, And Heart Of Darkness
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The post-colonial theory refers to the time period after a country is no longer governed by colonial power (Innes 1). In many cases, imperialism, which is a “policy or practice by which a country increases its power by gaining control over other areas of the world” (“Imperialism,” par.1), plays an important role in the post-colonial theory. Without having control over these certain areas of the world, the colonial power would not be able to increase their power in order to civilize the people of that country. The action of increasing power to civilize a country is seen many times throughout history and literature. Viewing literature through the imperialism lens of the post-colonial theory allows the reader to observe the influence of different countries and characters on each other, as we see in The Epic of Gilgamesh, The Tempest, and the Heart of Darkness.…show more content… Gilgamesh inflicts fear on the people of Uruk as one man describes in the epic, “Gilgamesh sounds the tocsin for his amusement, his arrogance has no bounds by day or night” (p.1). Gilgamesh’s control over the city by the fear he has influenced upon the people shows the presence of imperialism. This control allowed Gilgamesh to change the way the people of Uruk lived in their daily lives. Instead of going through their daily routine, these people lived in fear that Gilgamesh would rape their women or take their sons. The people of Uruk did not agree to any of these changes. These changes were focused upon them and they simply had to comply since Gilgamesh increased his power. This imperialism lens allows the reader to observe the control within this story and how it impacts the