Psychological study of ' The Black skin and White mask'.

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Name: Gohel  Ankita  Kishorbhai

Roll no: 12

Course : M.a Sem-3

Year:- 1216-17

Paper name:  The Postcolonial Literature

Professor’s name: Dr.Dilip Barad

Topic: Psychological study of “The Black Skin and White Mask”.

Submitted by:Department of English, M .K. Bhavnagar University.

Introduction:-
                            

Ø About the author:-

                           Frantz Fanon was born in the French colony of Martinique on July 20, 1925. , Fanon left the colony in 1943, at the age of 18, to fight with the Free French forces in the waning days of World War II. After the war, he stayed in France to study psychiatry and medicine at university in Lyons. The theory which he gave this book is his own experience as a psychiatrist. He was a scholar psychiatrist, but being a black he was always known as a black thinker or Negro intelligent. He himself felt this kind of insult.

Ø    His idea in this book:

                        He gave several ideas in this book and at length he talks about the mentality of the black people. His basic idea is to understand the colour of the skin and the race. “Sometimes people hold a core belief that is very strong. When they are presented with evidence that works against that belief, the new evidence cannot be accepted. It would create a feeling that is extremely uncomfortable, called cognitive dissonance. And because it is so important to protect the core belief, they will rationalize, ignore and even deny anything that doesn't fit in with the core belief.”  (Chandler, 2007) This quotation is taken from his book. We can understand that if the people around you create an identity of yours then it will be very difficult for us to break it. And even if we try to break it with the new evidences then they will not allow us to come out from that. If we try to look at this idea with the racism then we can say that ‘Black’ is the identity created by the white. And though the black people tries to come out from this they will be not able to come out from this CONSTRUCTED identity, or rather we can say that they are not allow to do so.

“What does a man want?”

“What does the black man want?”

“The white man is sealed in his whiteness, the black man in his blackness.”
 If we tries to look at this ‘Blackness’ and ‘Whiteness’ as a concept then we come to know that there is always a men’s wish to be a white. If tries to see it from the psychological point of view that it is called as a ‘Desire’. Desire to be white and desire means you do not have that, it is lacking in you. When a black sees him he feels ‘State of Being’. State of being means when a Negro see, Negro sees the white face not the way they are. Means they try to find out the whiteness in them. Now this blackness or whiteness belongs to their skin colour and they wish to change it they can’t.

Ø Psychological study of black man:-

                               Here we see the mentality of the black people. In this novel we see that how skin colour is more impotant than a man. The people not satisfied what we have but they want much more in his life .After world war -2 the Black people marginalised from their place and they become inferior fellow of the white people .In this novel we see the skin colour marginalised from the society. Fanon talk about how the black man’s mentality has change  when he goes to a white world and behave like white man and  he adopt everything of the white man like their behaviour and their language etc.The black man come their community he feel himself as a superior from  other the black people and his behaviour totally change toward the other black people.

Ø Psychological study of white people:

                                    When we see the white man that how they see the black man has inferior of them and they looks ugly and behave like an animal .here we apply the master -slave mentality in this novel .the white people  like master of the black people and they consider black people as a  servant of them and so they getting stated to they are more educated and well behave person than the black people .

                                  Here we give the reference of the novel like ‘ The White Man Burden”. in this novel we see that how the white man knowingly and unknowingly harm the other peoples culture and their identity. They not give a respect to them but they feel hatred towards  them and they feel that they are burden of our society. They consider black people as  a inferior of them and they are hunger of the white man body  because they want to be a superior from he white people .

                          Here I give the example of the play like  “ The Tempest” Which is written by William Shakespeare. In  this play Prospero tries to save her daughter Miranda from Caliban who is a black slave. Prospero thinks that Caliban is hungry for his daughter and Miranda herself was also so much afraid by Caliban because of his look and color.  In this play we see that the caliban has marginalised from their place and he become slave of the Prospero. The Caliban wants to marry with the daughter of Prospero but his master not accept their because he is black slave of the master of prospero.  In Amie ideas and how Caliban has centre of the play and Shakespeare play ‘The Tempest’ in marginalized Caliban and he becomes black slave and rebels of Prospero. Here not fault of Caliban but fault of Prospero and how white men think about that black man are devils and evils it may be that their mind already accepted to evils are only black.

Ø Psychological study of black women:

                             Fanon as a psychiatrist he studied black women case named Mayotte. She wish to marry to the white people because she highly  attracted towards the white people and she want status in the white world .she also  aware about the fact that she is a black women and she cannot marry with the white man. Here we see the problem of the ‘’ Desire “.Every women wanted to be  a white  women and she was behaving like them ( The White Women).she also aware about the fact that the society will not accept their marriage.

                     

           Civilization is based on two ideas: 1) Incest Taboos and 2) Kinship Rituals. Here I would to talk about only Incest Taboos. Incest Taboos are created to avoid some situations, situation like mingling of the race, or blood.we can not stop that kind of Tabbo by the Law because its prevailing all over in the world.we can not stop someone’s DESIRE. We see that how that the black women desire to marry to the white man and  breaking the rule which is made by a society.here we see that how the idea of ‘’desire” has loose their identity.

                            I give the example of the novel “ The Biust Eye” which is written by Toni Morrison.she was also a black women and she also give iea that how someone desire destroyed their life in this novel the Pecola Breedlove is protagonist and she  highly attracted with  the bluest eyes of the whiteman.  So she wanted to be marry with the white man because  the white people never give the respect of the black people  and her mother also wanted to be that her child also looks white like a white people.so in this novel we see that pecola has need love some from thire parent but her mother highly attracted towards the white women . so she will not give much impotant to thire daughter but she give much impotant to the white girl where she was woring as a sevants.so the pecola will waiting for the white man has  come and   marry with her and  her problems will sloved.    

              

Ø Psychological study of Black skin White masks:

                           

                    Here I also would like to mention Mulatto also known as Creole. They are the child of mixed race. Fanon studies their mindset also. How they are humiliated and abused in the society. He says that their condition is worse than the black people. They feel superior to the black people but they are also afraid again being black. As I above said that when a black man visits the white world, the black man’s world changes totally.

                              Here Fanon says that a black man has two dimensions one with his fellows, the other with the white man. When the black master the white men’s language he behaves differently with another black person. In the white men’s world he tries to be a white means black skin, white mask. He tries to put the white mask on his black skin.

Ø Conclusion:

                          Fanon resists many questions but he also tries to give answers to those questions also. He says that black skin or white skin is something which if the fellow wants to change then also he can’t change. And that is why Fanon says that, know your lack, face your limitation and be happy with your being. He says that it is social problem that is why white people can’t be happy with whiteness and black people with blackness. Rather becoming upset with whiteness or blackness celebrates yourself as you are.

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