March 13, 2012
Dear
Alejo Carpentier,
Hello there I have recently been reading your
book A Kingdom of this World. Within
the book I see there is a heavy emphasis on being the oppressor rather than the
oppressed. When there is revolution in your book the ones who were before
suppressed and ruled in some way take power, and in the cyclical manner that
appears in the book, the ruler becomes corrupted. They start out with maybe less
than pure ideals, but none the less they are setting out to try and make things
a better. The ideas of the revolution and the next ruled become twisted and the
oppressed continue to be oppressed.
Take for example the original ruling class
within the book. The French, who were there under the ideas of imperialism,
which means they came along with the idea and the notion that they must “save
the savages” that by being there they would somehow be benefitting those poor
people.”…M. Lenormand de Mezy in his nightcap commented with his devout wife on
the Negroes’ lack of feelings at the torture of one of their own—drawing therefrom
a number of philosophical considerations on the inequality of the human races”,
de Mezy is clearly within the same school of thought, thinking of them as
lesser and therefore creatures in need, as a “good christian” would. They
thought that by bringing them what they considered civilization they were
helping them. And all they asked for in return was all of their land, their
labor, and their resources. Because within the ideas of imperialism, the idea
of colonization there was the need to have more than other countries, in the
book you even state that the Spanish would be willing to help a revolution because
of their fierce rivalry with that of the French.
Henri Christophe has the same thing happen to
him as the others who ruled. He was
before the oppressed being nothing more than a cook to the French when they
ruled the island and the people, but somewhere along the way he became a king.
And as a king, as a ruler he fell into the same trap that those before him did.
Ti Noel was in awe of his palace and the equality of black men in the church, of
black men as the overseers. But he realized, too late, that it was worse than
it was before. That there was still no equality and now even less care taken
for those who worked. Ti Noel when he is freed from having to work sings a song
to insult a king “That was the important thing: to a king.” It is that idea that no matter who is ruling and how
they got there, that nothing will change. That there is just a cycle, an as
long as there are those who are vying for power so that they can be the
oppressor before they can get oppressed well, then nothing will ever change. At least that was something that I took note of within your book.
Sincerely, Alex Dorner
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