The Wretched of the Earth

The Wretched of the Earth is structured around the unifying theme of violence. The argument for its necessity in the decolonization process is present in all chapters, in one form or another. Fanon sees violence as an essential tool in excising and reversing the detrimental effects colonial rule exerts on the native population. He repeatedly argues that using violence in the struggle for liberation benefits all aspects of a colonized society, from political structures to artistic production to mental illness. Violence serves as a unifying force in destroying the artificial racial segregation imposed by the settlers and as a catalyst for social upheaval, during which an unjust system can be replaced with something new and beneficial to all.

The idea of overthrowing the extant social order for a better one through violent class struggle is a recurring theme in the works of Marx and Engels, as well as Lenin. In the colonial context, however, Fanon sees economic inequality as synonymous with racial discrimination. In other words, class and race become superimposed, which is one of the main differences between colonized and Western or socialist societies. Decolonization is not simply a shift in the power imbalance between different social classes but a deconstruction of racial difference.