Sadder Than Septimus

I would describe Leonard Woolf's "Pearls and Swine" as making me sadder than Septimus. And he made me sad. For some reason, attitudes such as those of the stock-jobber are extremely disheartening to me. Although I have encountered such opinions before, each time I become more and more unsettled.

Orientalism offers explanations for the unsettling opinions of the stock-jobber. The Western identity, as Orientalism describes, is shaped by the subaltern or otherness of the orient. Otherness permits the stock-jobber to make the statement, "I'm a white man, you're black, I’ll treat you well, give you courts and justice, but I'm the superior race" (31). He uses the presumed inferiority of the orient to define his superiority. This statement is ironic considering that race has been proven to be a societal construct and not biology. Though, during this time the stock-jobbers views were held as a general belief. Still, the irony is too perfect. The stock-jobber has placed himself in an authoritative position based on an arbitrary construction. Leonard was ahead of his time and probably didn't know it!

Woolf excellently highlights the insanity of the leadership from a man who has never been to India. The commissioner’s Tamil proverb shows how those who are of the land and lived there for many years do not know all there is to know about the country. Yet, the stock-jobber knows exactly enough about the country to solve all its problems. What is even more disheartening is how the stock-jobber behaves after hearing the commissioner’s story. As a means to conceal how the story affects him, the stock-jobber tries to “look bored” (42). Woolf conclusion does not offer hope for the future. Instead, he emphasizes the ignorance surrounding the ideals of empire with the Tamil proverb: “When the cat puts his head into a pot he thinks all is darkness” (42). Ah humanity!