Colonial subjects act out violently to end unbearable psychological tension

Evidence

In the end, Bigger Thomas acts. To put an end to his tension, he acts, he responds to the world’s anticipation. So it is with the character in If He Hollers Let Him Go28 –who does precisely what he did not want to do. That big blonde who was always in his way, weak, sensual, offered, open, fearing (desiring) rape, became his mistress in the end. The Negro is a toy in the white man’s hands; so, in order to shatter the hellish cycle, he explodes. — Frantz Fanon, Constance Farrington, Black skin, white masks, 553

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Colonial hysteria manifested in murderous acts for settlers but suicide-like self-exposure for the colonized; Fanon argues colonial subjects show psychotic-adjacent symptoms.; Colonial troops faced a forced choice between joining insurgents or dying (+16 more)

Related

• Fanon argues colonial subjects show psychotic-adjacent symptoms. (similarity 0.90)
• Colonial hysteria manifested in murderous acts for settlers but suicide-like self-exposure for the colonized (similarity 0.88)
• Colonial violence created a spiritual void more powerful than class conflict. (similarity 0.82)

Broader Connections

• Colonial oppression transforms the colonized psyche wholesale rather than adding to it #expands (0.60) — Frantz Fanon, Constance Farrington, Black skin, white masks, 347
• Colonial dispositions are trained, contested, and deliberately interpreted #complicates (0.50)