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Colonialism
The act of undoing colonialism, and for some of the countries mentioned in The Wretched of the Earth, the act of becoming an independent nation. Fanon is particularly concerned with decolonization, which he argues is always a violent endeavor that is driven by the peasant masses, especially the lumpenproletariat.
Decolonization Quotes in The Wretched of the Earth
The The Wretched of the Earth quotes below are all either spoken by Decolonization or refer to Decolonization. For each quote, you can also see the other terms and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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Chapter 1: On Violence Quotes
Decolonization, therefore, implies the urgent need to thoroughly challenge the colonial situation. Its definition can, if we want to describe it accurately, be summed up in the well-known words: “The last shall be first.” Decolonization is verification of this. At a descriptive level, therefore, any decolonization is a success.
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This quote occurs at the very beginning of The Wretched of the Earth, and it is important because it reflects Fanon’s aim in writing his book: “to thoroughly challenge the colonial situation.” Fanon maintains throughout his book that in order to truly decolonize and undo colonialism and the system of oppression and racism that goes along with it, the entire situation must be dismantled, which he proceeds to do throughout the book. Decolonization isn’t simply something that should be done eventually. Decolonization is “urgent,” Fanon says, and is not something that can be ignored. To challenge the colonial situation in Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi atque placeat. Molestiae earum eum. Libero
In its bare reality, decolonization reeks of red-hot cannonballs and bloody knives. For the last can be the first only after a murderous and decisive confrontation between the two protagonists. This determination to have the last move up to the front, to have them clamber up (too quickly, say some) the famous echelons of an organized society, can only succeed by resorting to every means, including, of course, violence.
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This passage also occurs in the beginning of The Wretched of the Earth, and it is important because it underscores Fanon’s primary argument that decolonization cannot be achieved without violence. In describing decolonization as something that “reeks of red-hot cannonballs and bloody knives,” Fanon implies the violence that is inherent to the practice of colonialism, and therefore, to the process of decolonization as well. Colonial power is assumed through violent military means, which is reflected in the “cannonballs,” and it must be overcome with similar means. Notably, the Algerians, whom Fanon mentions several times as an example of decolonization in Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi atq
Chapter 2: Grandeur and Weakness of Spontaneity Quotes
It is among these masses, in the people of the shanty towns and in the lumpenproletariat that the insurrection will find its urban spearhead. The lumpenproletariat, this cohort of starving men, divorced from tribe and clan, constitutes one of the most spontaneously and radically revolutionary forces of a colonized people.
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This quote also appears in Fanon’s chapter about the developing nation, and it is important because it identifies the lumpenproletariat as the most valuable members of the revolutionary forces. The lumpenproletariat constitute the very bottom of rung of society, and they are below even the peasant masses. The lumpenproletariats live in “shanty towns”—the crude makeshift homes constructed on the very edge of society—and they are made up of criminals and juvenile delinquents. They are avoided by the other members of society and given a wide birth, but Fanon insists they play a crucial role in the revolution. The lumpenproletariat is Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. E
The struggle for national liberation is not a question of bridging the gap in one giant stride. The epic is played out on a difficult, day-to-day basis and the suffering endured far exceeds that of the colonial period.
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This quote appears near the end of Fanon’s chapter about the developing nation, and it is significant because it reflects decolonization and liberation as part of a longer process that last much longer than the actual liberation struggle. National liberation is not achieved “in one giant stride,” Fanon says. Rather, it is achieved through a series of small steps, of which the liberation struggle is just one. The battle is “epic,” which reflects its importance within the colonial space, as well as its scope and the violence involved in the struggle. This also lays the foundation for Fanon’s upcoming chapter Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi a
The people who in the early days of the struggle had adopted the primitive Manichaeanism of the colonizer—Black versus White, Arab versus Infidel—realize en route that some blacks can be whiter than the whites, and that the prospect of a national flag or independence does not automatically result in certain segments of the population giving up their privileges and their interests.
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This quote, too, appears near the end of Fanon’s chapter on the developing nation and it is important because it reflects the racism present in colonial society, but it also implies that the previously colonized are not safe from oppression simply because the colonial power has exited. The concept of Manichaeanism divides the world into white and black (good and evil, respectively), and Fanon points out how ridiculous this blanket understanding of good and evil really is. The rules of Manichaeanism stipulate that black people are evil simply because they are black, but the decolonized nation has flipped this understanding Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi atque placeat. Molestiae earum eum. Libero sit beatae. At a deserunt. Sint aperiam co
Chapter 3: The Trials and Tribulations... Quotes
A country which really wants to answer to history, which wants to develop its towns and the minds of its inhabitants, must possess a genuine party. The party is not an instrument in the hands of the government. Very much to the contrary, the party is an instrument in the hands of the people. It is the party which decides on the policy enacted by the government. The party is not and never should be merely a political bureau where all the members of government and dignitaries of the regime feel free to congregate. Alas all too often it is the party which makes up the entire political bureau and its members reside permanently in the capital. In an underdeveloped country the leading party members should flee the capital like the plague. With the exception of a few, they should reside in the rural areas. Centralizing everything in the capital should he avoided. No administrative pretext can justify the bustle of the capital already overpopulated and overdeveloped compared with nine tenths of the territory. The party must be decentralized to the limit.
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This quote appears in Fanon’s chapter about the developing nation and neocolonialism, and it is important because it underscores Fanon’s argument that the government of a developing nation should be decentralized and established in rural areas. Fanon offers numerous ways in which a developing nation can fail and fall to the oppression of neocolonialism, but this quote outlines how to avoid such a fate. Fanon implies that the government often fails to work for the people because it doesn’t actually reflect the people and their needs. However, by turning into “the hands of the people,” the government can effectively work Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Du
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Decolonization Term Timeline in The Wretched of the Earth
The timeline below shows where the term Decolonization appears in The Wretched of the Earth. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 1: On Violence
Decolonization—the liberation of a nation and the restoration of that nation to the people—will, according to...
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During decolonization, Fanon writes, whenever the colonized begin to resist the colonists and rise up, they are...
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During decolonization, many colonized intellectuals have modified the demand that the last become the first and have...
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...is false. Comradery and brotherhood are forbidden by the colonialist bourgeoisie for a reason: during decolonization, the colonized intellectual will find power in the people and the notion of meetings and...
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...masses do not recognize colonialist bourgeoisie thought. The colonized intellectual easily forgets the purpose of decolonization—to defeat colonialism—and they forget the main question fueling it: “Bread and land: how do we...
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The Manichaeanism of colonial society is left intact during decolonization, only the colonists are the evil ones. The colonized are “penned in” by colonial society,...
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...deep possession—organized séances that include stories of vampirism and zombies—but these rituals are lost during decolonization.
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...and business elite that nonviolence is in everyone’s best interest, but nonviolence is ineffective in decolonization. Colonialism “is naked violence,” Fanon says, and it “only gives in when confronted with greater...
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...including the Cold War. The Americans closely guard international capitalism, and they recommend that Europe decolonize. But the greatest threat, according to the colonists, is socialism, and the colonized masses can...
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