In the novel Small Island by Andrea Levy, Gilbert Joseph is a member of the Royal Air Force in World War II. Portrayed as a friendly and compassionate airman, he is continually discriminated against by white GIs and civilians because of his Jamaican descent. These conflicts highlight a problematic discrepancy that has pervaded throughout history—the incongruity between colonial soldiers’ tireless support and patriotism for their “Mother Country” and England’s unfaltering discriminatory treatment toward their colonial soldiers. When a white man asks Gilbert why he volunteered when he did not have to, Gilbert responds, “To fight for my country, sir” (Levy 138). The old man’s disdain after hearing his response, “Humph. Your country?” shows Empire’s continued rigidity regardless of time. When Gilbert raises the question, “How come England did not know me?” (Levy 141), he highlights the Empire’s exploitation of its colonies, bleeding them dry of their resources and personnel and neglecting the fact that these
colonies are places with real people, cultures, and customs. The one-sided support system was palpable when I visited theImperial War Museum in London. When I asked a person at the info desk if there were any exhibits dedicated to the soldiers from the British colonies who contributed to the war effort, she sheepishly smiled and shook her head. She then suggested that I checked out the World War I exhibit, saying it was comprehensive and would maybe mention a thing or two about the colonies’ contribution.
As soon as I walked in, there was a quote in bold from The Times(1914), “England and the Empire were never greater than they are to-day,” with a subsection stating that “Britain’s empire was a force for good.” Seeing this, I braced myself for a biased and one-sided presentation. In the first room, there is a portrait called “Types of Our Empire’s Defenders,” which shows soldiers from various colonies in their respective uniforms, standing upright—strong, proud, and dignified. This portrait accurately represents the glorified and distorted notion of Empire as a strong and united front, obscuring the oppression that goes on behind the scene. There is also a painting of
“Postmen of the British Empire” set in Barbados. The postman is wearing a clean-cut uniform, with glaringly colorful scenery in the background. The painting shows a one-dimensional portrayal of a British colony through the lens of the “Mother Country”, showing a romanticized picture of the West Indies.
In the section about the recruitment for war, there is a poster calling for “Young Men of the Bahamas” to join in the war effort, attempting to appeal to their patriotism. In an hour of desperation, the Empire exploits these men by dangling the idealized notion of inclusiveness, saying “Never in the History of England, never since the Misty Distant Past of 2,000 years ago, has OUR beloved Country been engaged in such a conflict…” Using “our” to acknowledge the claim the colonies have on this country, the Empire attempts to bridge the gap for its own benefit, just in the meantime. But when the war is over and England no longer needs its pawns, discrimination and bigotry are reinstated, as seen in Small Island.
~Natty Maneerit ’18
Levy, Andrea. Small island. London: Tinder Press, 2014. Print.
