"They're not like us, and for that reason deserve to be ruled". This statement from Edward Said seems to be a recurring theme through history when it comes to colonizing previously uncolonized territories. Literature has been one method of exposing these attitudes, and Shakespeare does just that in Act 2 of The Tempest.
Throughout what I have read of The Tempest so far, it seems to me that Shakespeare is creating a "native people" character through Caliban. I am not sure if I would necessarily call it "unfair", but he is intended to be a native of the island. I feel that Shakespeare over emphasizes the justifications the other characters use for making Caliban their servant, which makes me think that in actuality, he is sympathetic towards Caliban's character and making an argument against colonization.
Shakespeare shows how entirely anxious people can be to take over a group of people (or in this case 'beings') that are unlike them, to make them serve their own purpose. Stephano says, "If I can recover him and keep him tame and get to Naples with him, he’s a present for any emperor that ever trod on neat’s leather." referring to Caliban. This is one of the first impressions we have of Stephano, implying they have not been on the island for very long at all, and the first thing he thinks of doing once he sees something different than himself is how he can train him to be a servant.
This text draws exteme parallels to the video about Native American's portrayal in Hollywood. In the beginning, many Americans held the belief that anything other than themselves was 'bad' or 'inferior'. Hollywood only aided in this belief by using Native Americans as antagonists in almost every film they were represented in. It fueled the colonization beliefs of the superior white male, and greatly hindered America's tolerance for "others".
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