Practicing Success
Consider the following statements about the depiction of massacre of Cwanpore (Kanpur) in the newspaper ‘Punch’: |
1 2 3 4 |
4 |
As waves of anger and shock spread in Britain, demands for retribution grew louder. Visual representations and news about the revolt created a milieu in which violent repression and vengeance were seen as both necessary and just. It was as if justice demanded that the challenge to British honour and power be met ruthlessly. Threatened by the rebellion, the British felt that they had to demonstrate their invincibility. In one such image we see an allegorical female figure of justice with a sword in one hand and a shield in the other. Her posture is aggressive; her face expresses rage and the desire for revenge. She is trampling sepoys under her feet while a mass of Indian women with children cower with fear. There were innumerable other pictures and cartoons in the British press that sanctioned brutal repression and violent reprisal. |