Postcolonial Criticism to the Mosquito Coast by Paul Theroux

Mosquito Coast is about Allie Fox, a talented and brilliant character who has been able to reveal a variety of intriguing inventions. Allie's behavior and the way he treats his children are excellent examples of neocolonialism. He is unable to help his children transition to modern life, so he insists that they do not wear nice clothes and are instead dressed in rough, old garments. To stop having to conform to the new world, he forbids his children from having toys or even watching tv. Allie Fox is an antisocial individual who has been able to influence his life as well as the life if others through his decisions. He seemingly fears being invaded, mentally or behaviorally by the tenets of the immoral country he lives in, an issue that makes him moves his family to remote Mosquito Coast, a place that he aspires to establish a society of his own liking.
Facets of neocolonialism are brought out in the novel through Allie Fox’s opposition to the United States’ lifestyle. His observations of the government are one marred with corruption, and the religion of the land as useless endeavors. Mainstream life, with T.V included was mental poison to Allie. According to him, he was the only and last real man to live, and had to ensure that his children kept with his style. His way of life, especially after settling in Mosquito Coast led to his children being so Naïve to the ways of the modern world. This is evident in Charley, his son, who has suffered from the continual sheltering from reality by his father.
The setting of the story suffices in the neo colonialist approach to this discussion in that it is based on a period that saw vehement shifts in technology and way of life. Shifting from Massachusetts to rural Mosquito Coast was requisite for Allie Fox to adapt to his new found simple life. This paper analyses Paul Theroux’s “The Mosquito Coast” using Allie Fox as the representation of neocolonialism through his way of life. The essay will draw from Tyson’s Critical Theory Today, and the manner the author has approached the subject of neocolonialism. A great insight will be given into the way that Allie Fox exhibited neocolonialist tendencies in his new settlement of Mosquito Coast. Mosquito Coast is a non-existent establishment in modern day Honduras, and situated in the removed areas of the country,.
Othering
Tyson (419) states that colonizers saw natives as savage and people who were less human than themselves. The colonizers, in Tyson’s terms perceived their subjects as belonging to a different side of the divide. They viewed themselves as the true embodiment of the human being and that the other people differed from them (Tyson, 421). Othering was the act of viewing other human beings as less human and thus treating them as so. In this regard, othering puts a boundary between the civilized society belonging to the colonialist and the primitive locals. The concept of othering is clearly evident in Theroux’s Mosquito Coast in Fox’s fleeing of Massachusetts to the inhabitation of Mosquito Coast. According to Allie Fox, the main reason he fled America was the mode of life of the elite. He describes the political clout in the country as that laden with ills that make it awful.
The people in his American descent are selfish as it is evident through the assertions of corporate greed as showcased by dentists interested in candy factories, and doctors with their own hospitals (Theroux, 320). In his quest of freedom and saneness as a patriot, he decided to flee the country. Allie’s worries and sentiments are concomitant with the othering behavior of the neocolonist American society. The elite class does not regard the lesser people with dignity, and all they do is engage in selfish activities only meant to make them richer. Inasmuch as the state players are citizens as opposed to colonizers, they are behaving way the same as colonizers by disregarding the interests of the majority and only working to serve their interests.
Cultural colonization
Cultural colonialism can be described as the inculcation of people to an extent that they can adapt to the way of life and a culture of another community while seemingly dropping their cultural practices. This is an element of neocolonialism that can result in the people cultures becoming diluted in many aspects of the way through which people conduct themselves including language, dressing, physical appearance and various social aspects that define the identity of an individual. The migration of Allie Fox to the native Mosquito Coast has been driven by the need to prevent cultural colonialism affecting the lives of his children. This is a clear indication of the fact that he realizes that people in his community has been affected and considered it impossible for his children to avoid such cultural colonization.
The colonials are commonly left with a negative perception of themselves and their culture is perceived as weak when compared to the culture of the colonizing community. It is inevitable that Allie Fox will face the effects of negative perception about his cultural values if the effects of cultural colonialism will continue. While his behaviors can be considered as abnormal, the technological changes which he seems opposed to are some of the things that change the perceptions of people and create a negative physiological feeling about one’s culture. The element of cultural colonization in this case is presented as one which might occur without the affected individuals realizing its implication son their lives.
Cultural identity of people becomes the fundamental element which is affected by the cultural colonization. Culture plays an important role in defining the identity of people but following the impacts of colonization, the identity becomes lost. Allie Fox makes a decision to preserve his cultural identity and avoid the impact of cultural colonization on his life and that of his children. His avoidance of popular social behaviors like watching TV, is based on the realization that the adoption of such behaviors are the factors that cause the development of cultural colonization which causes individuals to reject their culture in favor of another (Theroux, 81).
Eurocentrism
Eurocentrism is an attitude that depicts European culture as the standard through which other cultures are taken, and incidentally negatively contrasted. The comparison of other cultures with the predominance of European culture in the European Era contributed to this terminology, and also gave birth to universalism, which denoted widely acclaimed tenets. Within Eurocentrism, the indigenous populations were subjugated by the settlers, who also infiltrated their land with their culture. In Theroux’s case, he seeks to transform Mosquito Coast to Massachusetts, a course that is evidently attributable to neocolonialism. Other than filling the remote part of Mosquito Coast with his ideas, through his wife and children, Allie Fox needed to change the area for his good. According to Charlie, his son, he made inventions that only suited him. He designed things that replaced what he did not like. According to Allie, he believed in a unifying technological theory that saw the world as full of imperfect products, which he only could improve. These sentiments ratify t earlier notions of othering, where Allie, irresponsibly states that most other creations are wrong, and he was the only one who would create the right objects.in his dreams of civilizing the Mosquito Coast, Allie Fox aspires to clean the rivers, tame the wild animals, and engage in other behaviors that were also evident in colonial ideologies. Eurocentism is, therefore, evident in his treatment of Mosquito Coast as an area that he should change in accordance to his ideals.
Colonialist ideology
This is terminology that has been adapted to with the implication of the ideas and line of thinking of the colonizers. In many cases, colonization begins with the perception and presentation of the ideology that the colonizers are superior to those being colonized. The colonizers make the assumption of their superiority over the native individuals as way of ensuring the natives gain the same perceptions about their own values and practices. Allie fox considered many Individuals within the society that he resides to have been affected by the colonialist ideology and thus resulting in the adoption and preference of the colonial practices as opposed to the native practices. The influence of the ideology has immensely affected the people as can be seen through the behavioral changes.
One of the fundamental elements which define the colonialist ideology is the perception of the natives as savages while the way of life of the colonizers becomes considered as civilized. When the ideologies become ingrained in the minds of the native people, behaviors changes occurs and people commonly drop their values in favor of those of the colonizers. The way of life of the colonizers becomes considered as the standard measure of human dignity and the way that people should live. The metropolitan lifestyle in modern societies can be considered to be influenced and highly affected by the colonialist ideology. The native culture and way of life of the people becomes inferior to that of the colonizers and hence people tend to prefer the colonialist life over their own.
Allie Fox has observed and experienced these effects of colonialist ideology and is even described as anti-social due to the fact that he seeks to prevent being affected by the colonialist ideology that has influenced many native people. His resistance to the elements that are considered as modern and civilized becomes the aspect that causes him to be considered as savage and uncivilized. Allie Fox seems to be resisting the colonialist ideology by seeking to hold on to his “savage” way of life when he resists technological changes and even resorts to moving to the native Mosquito Coast. Many of the individuals in the society in which he lives have been influenced by the colonialist ideologies and people have dropped their practices.
Colonial subjects
The development of colonial subjects can be considered to be the culmination of various actions of the colonizers to dominate the social systems of the native people that they sought to adopt. Colonial subjects were the natives who did not resist the subjugation of colonizers due to their belief in the colonialist ideologies. The fundamental reason for the failure to resist is the fact that these category of individuals believed that their cultural practices were inferior to those of the colonizers. As result of this belief the individuals imitated every aspect of the colonial lifestyle while rejecting their own. The development of colonial subjects can be considered to have come at the climax of the colonization and the perfect indication of successful colonization.
Allie Fox does not fall into the category of colonial subjects as he seeks to resist the colonial influence in his own way. He seeks to uphold the native moral value and cultural practices by failing to interact with the colonizers and even the natives who had become colonial subjects themselves. The becoming of colonial subjects is considered an acceptance of the way of life of the colonizers and rejection of the native cultures as the individuals seek to be accepted to the colonial culture. Fox remains resistant of the force of becoming a colonial subject himself after observing many of his native countrymen becoming colonial subjects. His fear remains that if he becomes a colonial subject, his children will also become such. While resisting the force of becoming affected by the colonial ideology, he is also careful to ensure that his children do not become subjects of colonial powers.
Conclusion
While the definition of colonization has been presented as domination of people by others who considered themselves superior, it is process which occurs over a period of time. The concept of colonization can be considered a psychological process r in which people are influenced through social settings and ideologies to adopt the cultural practices of other and dropt theirs. Neo-colonialism is not a forced kind of colonialism as people become influenced through interactions to gain the perception that their cultural practices are inferior. Once this ideology has been accepted across the society, the colonial culture becomes accepted as the standard and the natives become colonial subjects. Allie Fox has observed the occurrence of these neo-colonial elements and resists the influence through upholding his native cultural values to ensure that he does not become a colonial subject.
This paper has addressed various aspects of neocolonialism in Paul Theroux’s Mosquito Coast through the application of concepts found in critical theory today. Some of the aspects addressed are othering, cultural colonization, Eurocentrism, colonial subjects and colonialist ideologies. These subjects have been addressed and analyzed in the manner they are presented by Allie Fox in the Mosquito Coast. Inn essence, Theoroux, in his book has succinctly present post-colonial criticism astutely in his work, delving into the very core tenets of the discussion as has been seen in this essay. From his book, common postcolonial debate issues such as encounters with colonizers, the journey through the wilderness, othering, exile and the need for continuity, as outlined by Tyson, can be perceived very clearly.

Works Cited
Theroux, Paul. The Mosquito Coast. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2006. Print.
Tyson, Louis. Critical theory today: A user friendly guide. New York: Routledge, 2006. Print.