Four Feathers Extra Credit Quotes

1) “God has endowed the British race with a worldwide empire that

they may execute His sovereign purpose in the world. The victories you will have over the

heathens are the victories of the nobler soul in man.”

This quote portrays the British as above everyone else. They appear to be gifted, or more worthy than the world, and to them, colonizing is a great deed that they are doing. This is not valid, because all people are equal, and gifted in different ways, and the British are in no way more special than the rest of the world's population.

2) “I sometimes wonder what a godforsaken desert in the middle of nowhere

has to do with Her Majesty the queen.”

Harry does not want to participate in the war, and the only reason he is even in the army is to please his father, so he therefore questions the motives that have sent him to fight in the desert against his wishes. His belief against the army leads him to quit the army, but after feeling like a coward, he later rejoins.

3) "Avoid drinking local water and spirits "avoid local barrooms and

brothels and, above all, remember, you're a Christian soldier."

Africa has many different customs and values, for it has many of its own cultures for each group of people, and the British soldiers had to learn to acknowledge but not participate in all of these customs. Instead, it was their duty to focus solely on colonization and British customs. A main British custom was their religion, for it played a huge role in their lives, which is why it was brought into question.

4) “They're like children. They have no concept of gratitude or loyalty.

That's something you British don't understand. You come here, trying to civilize them with your

Christian values.”

This quote is demeaning all of the people in colonized areas, for it is saying that they are no smarter and have no more manners than children. This also puts the British in a higher, more "civilized" genre than the colonized people, which is wrong. Some drawbacks were that the British had to teach the natives everything about life, and how to succeed the "British way". The British felt the "white mans burden", which was where they thought it was their duty to civilize and "help" all of the savage people of the world.

5)“You English walk too proudly on the earth.”

Abu means that the British are very condescending, and think that their way is THE way. They do not realize that the supposed "savage" people they are "helping" have been doing perfectly fine with their way of life for many years. He does not look at Harry as a typical Englishman, for Harry is working to reclaim what he lost instead of simply trying to colonize the world for his own glory. He does not agree with the British's actions, for the Africans did not ask for help, they were doing fine on their own.

Critical Thinking:

The boy did not understand what Jack was saying, so he did not know that he was being told to put the gun down. The boy probably did not expect to die by loading the gun, he expected to save himself from all of the men pointing guns at him. It was common self defense. I also think that Jack was justified, for the boy raised his gun and pointed it at Jack, so he was also defending himself. If someone had pointed a gun at me, I am sure I would have shot them first before they could shoot me. Jack felt remorseful because he probably realized that the boy did not know what was going on, and was defending himself. I think at the surface, it was for the boys killing, but the throwing of stones more deeply represented the anger of the people of having their land and way of life invaded by foreigners. All in all, this entire situation was completely unfortunate, for both parties were confused because of the language barrier, and both were simply defending themselves, although Jack was more successful than the young boy.