Language Invasion

Language Invaders

            “A man to be converted has to give up his will, his ways, and his thoughts. You cannot find, I believe, a case in the Bible where a man is converted without God’s calling in some human agency – using some human instrument.” Dwight Lyman Moody’s quotes exemplify the power a stronger culture can have on another culture, often resulting in the weaker culture’s submission to the practices and beliefs used by that stronger group. When a pushier language and culture encounters and dominates a lesser culture, that smaller culture adopts religion, language and other cultural aspects that often create divisions between the groups that could result in violence, death, and differences resulting in the weaker culture’s submission. The opposing cultures can combine through religion, language, and culture and the effects that their introductions bring about.

            When an established, stronger religion reveals itself to a weak culture, a culture that eager to experience others, the already superior religion tends to overshadow the beliefs held by the less superior. In the movie Hawaii, the Reverend Hale introduces the inhabitants on Oahu to Christianity and the idea that one God exists who contains immeasurable power. To the natives, who have practiced their own polytheistic religion for years, the idea sounds important. They see the white people as superior because they possess ships, money, and bring exotic items to the islands, therefore associating their beliefs, religion, and culture with power, power that they also wish to attain. Over time, Hale builds a church on Oahu and teaches its inhabitants about the new God, while ushering out the old traditions with distaste and vengeance. He destroys the idol’s temple and baptizes Oahu’s leaders, resulting in the acceptance of his own religion. Through this mass conversion, the Hawaiian people forget their old ways, losing cultural information to the power that Christianity presents while, at the same time, becoming more and more accustomed to the Christian practices. Soon, the very Hawaiian religion either vanishes altogether or becomes so smothered by Christianity that their remaining value system begins to crumble. The natives submit to a higher and more forceful religious entity.

            Language plays a vital role in a culture’s submission to a more dynamic force. After seeing the success and wealth that Christians and English speakers have, the Hawaiians attribute this to language. As the languages blend from dual usage, both cultures adopt aspects from each other’s languages. For example, English has many new words that are borrowed from other countries through exposure, like pineapple, French words surrounding medicine and warfare, or even Native American words like prairie or raccoon. However, the more dominant language carries more meaning in both cultures. Upon greeting the English missionaries, the leader demanded to be taught how to write and speak English at once. After learning, she then transferred this information to her subjects who in turn adopted it for their own, seeing it as a necessity for life. Eventually, the entire town spoke, wrote, and presented ideas in English, abandoning their first Hawaiian language. Just like their religion, the language fades into non-use and the Hawaiians again submit to a more prevalent means for communication, disregarding their own as unworthy or inferior.

            Culture, a people’s sole representation, also fails through constant conflicts between the two groups and belief adoption. When Reverend Hale first learned that the Hawaiians had sex with their own siblings or others without marriage, killed impure or deformed babies, committed adultery, and worshiped multiple Gods representing different natural aspects, he condemned the “violent savages” to Hell because he could not understand their opposing beliefs. Over time, his own beliefs, originating from a supposed higher and more powerful source, overturned the beliefs the Hawaiians held. Laws were created banning these abnormal actions and presented in English first to the people. Hale interrupted Hawaiian ceremonies and rejected teaching Hawaiian history that did not correspond with the English culture. Due to English’s increased presence on the island and the continued emphasis on Christianity, the English language, and the Hawaiian culture’s banishment, the natives had no choice but to embrace English customs as their own. The people recognized the prosperity that the white people honed and attributed it to the English customs. La Haina, over a few years, changed from an ocean side village to a bustling port. Everything from the Hawaiian’s language to their dress had changed to meet the English customs. Previously naked girls now wore dresses and men donned suits. The town boasted an infirmary, town store, sugar cane plantations, merchant shops, and even a hotel, buildings identical to an American town. However, as the English presence on the island grew, the Hawaiian presence petered out. A measles outbreak, brought to the island by travelers and merchants, devastated the Hawaiian people who had never encountered such a disease. They died in large numbers while the English stayed healthy. English businessmen bought Hawaiian land and built plantations to harvest sugar cane, often using Hawaiian labor. Rather than embracing the converted, they stole their land and used them to succeed, disregarding the native’s needs.

            As the weaker culture submits to the language, practices, and religion indicative to a pushier culture, divisions arise that result in disruption, death, and differences. The more established religion overpowers the weaker religion, resulting in acceptance to different beliefs not consistent with the previous ones. Languages change and are often replaced with a more recognized language belonging to a more powerful cultural group. Entire cultures and beliefs convert, resulting in massive and far-reaching changes that affect an entire community, exposing them to a foreign and unfamiliar value set. In closing, Dwight Lyman Moody’s words stand true. For with help from others, voluntary or not, a man or a culture has to give up his will to remain true to his history, his ways, and his very thoughts to accept another culture. In history, these cultures tend to submit to stronger wills and language groups.

Works Cited

 Hawaii. Dir. George Roy Hill. Perf. Julie Andrews and Max Von Sydow. Metro Goldwyn Mayer, 1966. DVD.

 Moody, Dwight L. "Famous Quotes about Conversion." Book of Famous Quotes - The One Stop for Quotations Lovers. Web. 18 Oct. 2010.