The Wretched of the Earth

Fanon opens Part 1 with the assertion that “decolonization is always a violent phenomenon” and proceeds to explain why (27). He argues that decolonization means overturning a political and ontological system. In essence, it means elevating those who are at the bottom of the social hierarchy, or the “wretched,” to the top. Such a reversal is impossible to achieve without destabilizing the existing order, which can happen only by employing violence.

According to Fanon, the colonized world is divided in two opposing parts. The first is the “white” side, where everything is clean, calm, and prosperous. The second is the “black” or “Arab” part, which is poor, starved, and unsanitary. These two sides are mutually exclusive, or Manichean, and can only exist in opposition to each other. The people who inhabit the first side feel superior to and disregard the “natives.” The colonizers believe Western culture to be the pinnacle of human civilization and attempt to force it onto the native inhabitants by demeaning their beliefs and even substituting their language. They want to preserve the status quo. The colonized, in contrast, are dissatisfied with their conditions and feel envious of those in the “white” world. Consequently, when Westerners talk about the achievements of European cultures, the natives react negatively and aggressively as a way to protest and counteract the results of colonialism.