Wednesday, September 22, 2010

Tale of the Tikongs analysis

Part III:

In its depiction of colonialism and foreign pressure to change and conform, the first half of Tale of the Tikongs seems to reveal a kind of mistake that can easily be made by travelers. Developed nations including Australia, New Zealand, America, and those of Europe are trying to “help” Tiko by modernizing all aspects of its society. These countries consider themselves to be experts on what makes an economy effective, how education should be conducted, and how to best run a country because they all are successful nations that have grown a great deal since their beginnings. They view Tiko, on the other hand as stagnant and needing to be developed in the same way that they are now are. While it may be true that the developed nations are well traveled, both in their physical exploration of other countries and in their own paths by which they became successful, it does not give them the right to assume that they know best.

The Tikongs undoubtedly need to explore their own country so that they can fully understand what they do and don’t want their nation to become and what aspects of their identity are important and what needs to be changed. However, it is a mistake for the more developed nations to think that they can make these decisions for Tiko without ever having explored and understood it themselves. I think that travel provides the insight necessary to both develop oneself and understand others, however, I think it is important to note that there is always more paths to explore and journey along and there can never be an all knowing person or group. This work seems to suggest that simply by being worldly or traveled, one cannot have all of the answers or truths in the world and also that one should never stop looking for new understandings and viewpoints because there is always more to be discovered.

No comments:

Post a Comment