When the British ruled over India, freedom and independence became a huge concern for the Indians. Their goal was to achieve liberty and home-rule, to overthrow the British ruling. The Indians were treated very poorly, getting taxed on their own resources – including salt. This angered a lot of Indians, and in order to stand up for his country and make things right, Gandhi proposed his idea of non-violence. In Gandhi’s first letter to Lord Irwin, his successful use of language and structure of letter helped present his idea of civil disobedience. This letter strongly symbolizes the power of language, as being an Indian; he portrays his intentions with fluent English. From the sophisticated use of language in his letter, Gandhi successfully expresses his idea for civil disobedience and nonviolence. Gandhi slowly brings in the idea of non-violence in his letter, in a peaceful and calm manner. By using his specific choice of words and a calm tone, he makes this new and unprecedented idea of civil disobedience easier for Lord Irwin to accept. He made it very clear from both the beginning and the end of the letter that he comes with no harm; as states that “[He] does not intend to harm a single Englishman or any legitimate interest he may have in India”. He reflects on the idea that he sees the British rule as a curse, but he doesn’t take it personally on the British Englishmen. By emphasizing this idea, Gandhi makes sure that he is not portraying personal hatred on the Englishmen; to show that he will never hurt them. This letter conveys Gandhi’s idea for finding a solution for this issue; that he doesn’t want to resort to civil disobedience. Throughout most of the letter, he conveys his wish to find a solution for this problem; yet at the same time, use factual numbers and information to show how big the gap between what Lord Irwin earns and what an average Indian earns. His use of examples and information help justify his idea of this Salt Satyagraha act of civil disobedience. Gandhi’s use of words and language also helped aid his preposition for an idea like civil disobedience. One of the most powerful significance in this letter is the fact that Gandhi – standing up on behalf of the Indians – is writing a prescriptive English letter to the British lord. In the letter, Gandhi states the fact that “[The curse] has impoverished the dumb millions by a system of progressive exploitation and by a ruinously expensive military…” using sophisticated prescriptive language, not only does he get his point across to Lord Irwin, he also uses the power of language to encourage his own people. By using fluent English, he shows that they have the power to stand up against the British too; that they don’t have to forever be looked down upon. Gandhi was also a very religious man and therefore made a lot of religious references. As mentioned in the letter, he believed that the English had “degraded us spiritually”. By using strong religious allusions, Gandhi portrays the importance of this issue in a more professional manner. Religion is a big part of India’s cultural belief, and to put this idea of civil disobedience on the same level means a lot. However, Gandhi also made sure that he wouldn't be misunderstood; that all he wanted was for the Indians to get what they deserved – basic freedom and equality. His choice of words like friend, and ‘gentlemen’, showed that Gandhi didn’t want any harm for the Englishmen. He didn't hate the British for doing this to his people, he just thought of the ruling as a curse. In this letter, Gandhi uses strategic choice of words and sophisticated language to help portray his idea of nonviolence. By starting the letter in a soft yet clear tone, Gandhi addresses Lord Irwin as ‘friends’, which creates a feeling that India is not just another stranger. With both the strong structure of the letter and his choice of words, Gandhi very successfully conveyed his plan and idea for a nonviolence civil disobedience.
You May Also Find These Documents Helpful
-
As a result, the impact of Gandhi's rhetoric in this letter continues to be felt by social justice and human rights movements across the globe, inspiring them to fight for equality and what they believe in. Although the contents of this letter were unable to single-handedly secure India’s sovereignty, Gandhi’s charged words to Lord Irwin paved the way…
- 1212 Words
- 5 Pages
Better Essays -
Mohandas Gandhi launched a policy of nonviolent noncooperation against the British following the Massacre at Amritsar in 1919 (Boss, 2012). He used his moral outrage guided by reason to effect change in the cultural norms of India and ultimately helped India gain independence in 1947. Gandhi’s efforts have greatly impacted social and political reform, and have influenced later civil rights movements.…
- 919 Words
- 4 Pages
Good Essays -
Mahatma Gandhi, Indian nationalist, and the man credited with liberating India from British rule led a campaign of non-violent, civil disobedience that made the continued stay in the country by the British colonizers politically and morally untenable. Imprisoned by the British for fomenting unrest, Gandhi confronted the colonizers’ force of arms with the power of his ideas, and the rightness of his cause, and by his act of courageous disobedience prevailed gloriously over the British in the end. Today, India is a vibrant democracy of 1.2 billion people, free because of the disobedience of one frail, unprepossessing man, Mahatma Gandhi.…
- 802 Words
- 4 Pages
Good Essays -
Gandhi began to preach these ideas, and began to gain favor with the Indian people, for violence would only create more violence and harsher rules from their imperialist rulers. This lead Gandhi to perform an act of civil disobedience by marching thousands of miles, with an equal amount of followers, to turn salt water into pure salt. Ignoring the tax and going around it resulted in Gandhi being arrested, but even then his followers continued to march to the ocean, continuing to follow Gandhi's teachings of civil disobedience. Because of this, British imperialists eventually lifted the tax on salt. The British could not harm the Indians in fear of a full fledged rebellion taking place, especially since the Indians were not acting out in a violent, but a peaceful manner. Mohandas Gandhi and his teachings not only helped to change the way the Indian people thought, of peaceful protest rather than violence, but also achieved a removal of the tariffs on…
- 822 Words
- 4 Pages
Good Essays -
The film I decided to watch was the film on the activist/lawyer Gandhi. He was most known for his non-violent ways of getting his point across when the United Kingdom’s takeover of his home country India. Gandhi first emerged this protest when he was on a bus and he was forced to move to the back of the bus because he was an Indian man. This is when Gandhi first entered into the activist world and began to merge his country together and fight back without literally fighting. I think Gandhi was one of the most significant persons in the 20th century. He was the one who proved that it is possible to fight very successful without violence. He fought his whole life with humanity, tolerance, ideas and without violence. He showed the way to a better world. And still today there are many people who love him and who use his philosophy to change the world. A very important example is the fight against wars. Usually people who fight against a war try to fight without violence. Gandhi is motivated by religious means; he believes that everyone is equal in God's eyes. “An eye for an eye, makes the whole world blind” He gets involved in several movements for equality, and he stresses non-violence very strongly. The Indians are very mad because British rule continues to limit their rights. They are supposed to all get fingerprinted, and their marriage laws are invalid. Gandhi's followers vow to fight their oppressors to the death, but he discourages them from violence.…
- 1047 Words
- 5 Pages
Good Essays -
In “Letter to viceroy” Gandhi states that, “I shall be running what might fairly be termed a mad risk.” This evidence shows that Gandhi also didn’t think it work about using nonviolence he thought it wasn’t enough to change the British’s point of view. This argument over the British government believes that nonviolence is not an active force because, it’s important to remember that Gandhi solved the problem without hurting one life while doing it, and also worked by the British getting rid of the…
- 555 Words
- 3 Pages
Good Essays -
He had demanded the release of the British rule over India. It was because of the discrepancies between India and the British that Gandhi decided to started the "Quit India Movement." It was through this that many people stood up to stop colonialism on India. Mahatma worked hard to enhance the status of the lower class people in society. He was a leader in trying for political independence(Hartman). His first campaign was called the satyagraha campaign. This campaign was built on the foundation of non-violent protest. The goal of this movement was to end a law requiring Indians living in Transvaal to get fingerprints. Their goal was met and Gandhi continued to push other protests and organizing resistances to his cause. After all of his works done in South Africa, he took what he had learned to India. There he continued to express his feeling toward the discrimination of his people. It wasn't too soon until his fight for Indian Independence had spread and people saw him as a hero(Mohandas). As you can see Gandhi worked as a very successful political leader doing anything in his power to do what was right. Gandhi, although claiming he was only an average man, had seemed to be more than that doing things people of little faith had doubted could be done. Gandhi makes these claims in his quote saying, "I claim to be no more than an average man with less than average abilities. I…
- 1080 Words
- 5 Pages
Better Essays -
The British were in control, but the people weren’t going to sit back and let it happen. This happened during the independence movement. This march began near the sea and the British monopoly on salt was one of the boldest act of civil disobedience yet against British rule in India. Gandhi would pray and speak his heart out to what was happening in his town. He wanted his followers to have some self-confidence to succeed in their struggle against the British.…
- 399 Words
- 2 Pages
Good Essays -
“Breaking News! Indian citizen Mohandas Gandhi is organizing a protest to reduce British taxes on salt, 36 years after he made a compromise with the South African government about Indian suffrage. This was accomplished by what Gandhi and what other Hinduist followers consider satyagraha; or civil disobedience.” I switched the small, tattered, black and white TV off. I was amazed how one leader could bring down a strong government with a big military force, just with civil disobedience. Ever since I was born, we were controlled over British colonial rule. My parents were forced to work as peasants, because all the high-paying jobs were taken by whites. Because of inaccessibility to medical assistance, my mom died. My father was so stricken with…
- 706 Words
- 3 Pages
Good Essays -
Document 1 is a letter from Gandhi to Lord Irwin, the English governor in India. The point…
- 548 Words
- 2 Pages
Good Essays -
Gandhi preached non violence at all costs, even in the face of harsh British retaliation in several cases. In this method, he created one of the largest protest movements of all time in support of Indian self rule. In his famous Salt March to the sea, Gandhi led hundreds of thousands of Indians in a 250 mile march to the sea against an extremely unjust salt taxation, and against the British rule as a whole. Hundreds of thousands joined, and despite harsh reactions by the British, was completely peaceful on the part of the protestors. This march gained international sympathy, and led to the dismissal of the salt tax by the British. Gandhi was eventually successful in making India self ruling, the entire time devoted to nonviolent methods. In this way, a new democratic society rose up through nonviolent…
- 681 Words
- 3 Pages
Good Essays -
Mohandas Gandhi was the leader of civil disobedience in India. Before the independence movement in India began, India was a British Colony since the 1760s. Prior to British imperialism and colonialism in India, many Indians hand craft their tools and clothes for survival. Since the British took over most of India due to the British’s commercial interests in the region of India. The British East India Company defeated the Newab of Bengal which…
- 903 Words
- 4 Pages
Good Essays -
The cruel treatment and salt monopoly inspired Gandhi to unify the people in “campaign of satyagraha, or mass civil disobedience.” Salt is a vital part of Indian diet recognized when the Salt Acts were enacted which put a “monopoly over the manufacture and sale of salt”. [1] Gandhi led nonviolent demonstrations as the people defied British policy by making salt from seawater. The British would soon respond by brutally beating the peaceful demonstrators bringing international outrage. By August 1947, Britain caved in to the pressure granting India its independence. Gandhi’s civil disobedience movement influenced India by putting it on the path to become the country we know today.[2] Detractors will say that the ends doesn’t justify the means. They claim that civil disobedience will set a standard for illegality and contempt for the law that others will follow. An example used occurred in 1999 in London where the ‘Carnival against Capitalism’ took place. What started as peaceful protest against economic policy devolved into “self-indulgent violence and destruction of property in the city, achieving nothing but notoriety for its cause.”[3] On the other hand if the law itself is unjust then the people should disobey in order to bring about the greater good not just for themselves but for future…
- 799 Words
- 4 Pages
Good Essays -
After World War I, many British colonies were ruling India, angering the natives and causing a sense of nationalism. Mahatma Gandhi took the matter into his own hands, using a surprising way to promote and fight for independence. Instead of being like many other revolutions and creating much…
- 516 Words
- 3 Pages
Good Essays -
Nevertheless, we find ourselves in the middle of a war. This war is the result of Axis powers wanting to conquer the world. Now, we are making a supreme effort to defeat those who want to take away freedom around the world.” And then later says this,”I hope that our shared interest in democracy will unite your countrymen and mine. We must join together to defeat our common enemy.” Meaning that he is conscious of what is happening right now and recognizes that they need to bring peace, freedom and order. Next, he knows that they need to do all they can in order to beat the enemies, and with this he will need to be allies with India, because then, his men and India’s men will unite to win. Kind of agreeing with the deal. After that, the main idea of the article is that Gandhi and President Roosevelt are discussing a way of becoming allies to win WWII but also have something in return, all of this is said through letters. I can prove this is the main idea because the article says that, Gandhi said,”Britain must immediately end its rule of…
- 560 Words
- 3 Pages
Good Essays