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The White Man’s Burden

As Kipling’s title and refrain both indicate, the poem’s central symbol is “the White Man’s burden.” This burden refers to the thankless role that Western imperial powers believe they should play in the liberation and development of non-Western nations. This symbol has a surprisingly complex status in the poem. On the one hand, Kipling frames this burden as a symbol of white nations’ willingness to sacrifice their own well-being to lift up those they consider less fortunate. Such a framing powerfully affirms the project of imperialism. But on the other hand, it’s also possible to view “the White Man’s burden” as a symbol of how white Western nations view themselves. After all, this so-called burden is a matter of self-selection rather than a role that non-Western nations have asked Western nations to play. On this reading, the concept of the burden reflects a Western idea of “the White Man” that is characterized by nobility of spirit. Situated in relation to those the speaker refers to as “sullen peoples, / Half devil and half child” (lines 7–8), the white man appears both heroic and morally superior. This second framing therefore shows how the symbolism of “the White Man’s burden” is related to the ideology of white supremacy.

The Egyptian Night

Late in the poem, the speaker invokes a stirring image that depicts non-Western peoples as being enamored of the “Egyptian night,” which symbolizes their history of bondage. The speaker references this image in the fifth stanza, where they describe how “the White Man” must prepare himself to be resented for the good work he does (lines 33–40):

     Take up the White Man's burden—
         And reap his old reward, 
     The blame of those ye better, 
         The hate of those ye guard— 
     The cry of hosts ye humour 
         (Ah slowly!) toward the light— 
     “Why brought ye us from bondage, 
         “Our loved Egyptian night?”

Here, the speaker insists that it’s part of “the White Man’s burden” to be hated by those who most directly benefit from their help. The reason the white man must face such hatred is that, perversely, “those ye guard” would prefer to remain bound to their awful conditions. Thus, the speaker imagines these wretched people complaining, “Why brought ye us from bondage, / Our loved Egyptian night?” The phrase “Egyptian night” is a biblical reference to the Hebrew people, who were held as slaves in Egypt. But whereas the Hebrew people were eventually liberated by the Prophet Moses, the speaker of Kipling’s poem imagines the colonized as unwilling to seek their freedom. The Egyptian night is therefore a powerful—and profoundly troubling—symbol of what could be described as the “slave mentality” of colonized peoples. The speaker uses this notion of colonized people’s wayward affection for their own bondage to further legitimize the project of “the White Man’s burden.”

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