to the person sitting in darkness by mark twain

“To the Person Sitting in Darkness,” which Mark Twain published in the North American Review in 1901, attacks Western imperialism as it was manifesting itself in South Africa, China, Cuba, and the Philippines. In this article, Twain especially targeted Ament. Kipling had used the image when he wrote of the: The cry of those ye humor (Ah, slowly!) toward the light:- ' Why brought ye us from bondage, Our loved Egyptian night?' The satire is incredibly dark and Twain does not hesitate to taunt those whom he considers to be immoral including McKinley as the 'Master of the Game,' the missionaries, and the trusts.' The title of the article is 'an ironic reference to Matthew 4:16 - 'The people who sat in darkness have seen a great light'', 'and used by the Christian missionaries when referring to the “savage,” “heathen,” “uncivilized” populations of the lands the imperialists were conquering.' It was also a reaction to the intervention philosophy of British writer Rudyard Kipling's pro-imperialistic February 1899 poem.'The White Man's Burden', The title was 'a play upon the idea of western civilization being 'enlightened'. 'Without any doubt 'To the Person Sitting in Darkness' is Twain's most famous anti-imperialist piece. According to Foner, Twain used the conduct of Ament to 'drive home the point that the missionary movement served as a front for imperialism. 'Twain lampooned missionary morality and likened it to questionable American activities in the Philippines'. Twain decided to use the Sun article as the basis of a sustained attack on both the missionary enterprise and its imperialist tendencies. Mark Twain was 'an outspoken critic of American involvement in the Philippines and China', and 'one of the mammoth figures in anti-imperialism, and certainly the foremost anti-imperialist literary figure' of his days, having become in January 1901 a vice president of the Anti-Imperialist League of New York. Mark Twain: “To The Person Sitting in Darkness” (February 1901)

To the person sitting in darkness by mark twain