Colonial Fiction: Mister Johnson Essay -- Essays Papers

Colonial Fiction: Mister Johnson The relationship between Rudbeck and Mister Johnson is extremely revealing with regards to the experience of the European administrators and the co-operation of the Nigerians in the colonial endeavour. Johnson is keenly aware that superiority for natives directly depends upon being on good terms with the coloniser. He consistently emphasises his belief that Rudbeck is his ''good friend'', and how he is ''mos' indispensable to ... His Majesty's service'' (85). It could be argued that this should not be passed off as simple native fantasy, put in for the amusement of the European reader. In many cases, Johnson is ''indispensable'' to the inexperienced Rudbeck, and throughout the novel, Johnson is constantly seen as the innovator in the relationship. In two important and inextricably linked areas, finances and roadbuilding, it is not the colonial government which responds to the needs of Rudbeck, but Johnson. As if to push this European dependence on the native a little further, Cary suggests that Rudbeck relies on Johnson in his personal life as well. For example, while Rudbeck is working on the road, Johnson is left to entertain his wife, Celia, an act of trust that both shocks and impresses the natives. We are told that ''this greatly increases [Johnson's] prestige in Fada, where the Emir does not even trust his chief eunuch with his wives'' (87). Concern over finances is a predominant theme throughout the novel, both for Johnson who constantly seems to be in debt, and Rudbeck who, due to the stringency of the Treasury, never has sufficient money or resources to carry out developments to the extent he would like. The reader is given the impression that, if he could , Rudbeck would be doing much more with Fada. He is a man of action, who longs to get out on the roads, working hard physically. Yet his ambitions are constantly frustrated, and he is left ''suffering'' (57) in his office, itching to get out again. On many levels - financial constraints, inexperience, communication difficult - his hands are tied. Johnson's personal finances never seem to pose the same extent of problems to him as do Rudbeck's. When dealing with finances, Rudbeck's ''many sudden depressions'' (77) often climax, and he simply concedes that everything is ''all damn nonsense, anyhow'' (53). Rudbeck knows only too well that he can expec... ... basics of what he expected from them. However, they are intelligent enough to let Rudbeck do ''most of the work himself'' (55) in the blistering African sun. Cary is hinting that the natives are not as gullible as the coloniser would like to believe. In reality, they are much more subversive. Indeed native subversion and resistance could be seen as one the key themes throughout the novel. In other cases, for example, Cary is not so subtle. He openly portrays Waziri offering Johnson favours and bribes to keep him informed about the contents of Rudbeck's safe, which contains all the papers and information sent from Britain, communications which were essential for indirect rule - a role Johnson carries out without a second thought concerning any moral loyalty to Rudbeck. As Cary sees it, in the colonial project, personalities and individuals are of no concern. In the imperialist longing for supremacy and the natives' response to this, people are used and discarded at will. Cary gives every indication that the problems faced by Rudbeck are universal throughout the colonial project. The plight of the colonial administrator seems doomed to a life of confusion and disillusionment.