Colonial texts scripted the Orient as a passive mass awaiting Western direction

Evidence

Arabs could be swung on an idea as on a cord; for the unpledged allegiance of their minds made them obedient servants. None of them would escape the bond till success had come, and with it responsibility and duty and engagement. Then the idea was gone and the work ended—in ruins. — Edward W. Said, Orientalism, 612

Categorization

• DEFINE: Lawrence’s prose is a canonical specimen of Orientalist discourse treating colonized peoples as formless raw material for the European will.
• XREF: Connects to Fanon’s colonial psychology and the construction of the colonized as passive mass that later Islamophobia analytics will draw on.
• corroborated: 2 independent passages support this claim — Edward W. Said, Orientalism, 612