The map in King Solomon’s has a lot of race and sex bias. The use of terms like “nipple” to describe the tip of a mountain and “breast” to denote the mountain begins a series of the sexual orientation of this map (McClintock 2). While it is evident that the creator of the map had so much to expose in Africa, it is obvious that the portrayal of Africa leads to certain prominent themes in contemporary literature. The first is the image that the white man conquers Africa and colonizes their women, who seem helpless. The second aspect of this map is seen in the dominance of males over females, an aspect of social order that still persists in our society to date.
When this map is turned upside down, it becomes a female body, only exposing those body parts which distinguish it from a male body. It’s also indicating that a woman is one who lacks intelligence, as seen in the degenerated part that is supposed to present the strength of a person who is intelligent (McClintock 3). The paths to be followed as seen in ‘routes’ a long female body leads to the frozen breast, which one would interpret as lack of benefits or land with a lot of problems such as hunger. It is evident that Haggard tries to make us believe that African females cannot resist any form of advance from a white male. This is illustrated by the Three Witches on the map and the portrayal of males as strong and militarized in mind and physique. According to McClintock (4), the use of the compass logo further emphasizes the spread-eagled figure of the woman as a sign of man’s nature to contain global dynamics. The abstraction of the female body is represented by a sign of a geometric sense of sexuality, which is a sign of male imperialism and domestication of a woman in a society that is rigid.
The diamond too offers a critical insight into female sexuality- presenting a woman as reproducing creature, which brings treasure in the form of children. Additionally, it depicts racial differences, that which separates Europeans from Africans. According to McClintock, the racial dispossession of the African woman is represented by phallic cleft bone, simply depicting a tool of insemination. In this aspect, the race is not simply represented by the color of the skin but forced labor and shear strength and weakness of the respective two gender representatives, male and female.
Contrasting the map in King Solomon’s Mines is that of Treasure Island. Instead of sexualizing the map in Treasure Island, the author of this historical book plainly gives the map an image of treasured land- land full of resources. It offers a plain account of the routes to be followed, though full of valleys, mountains, and several inlets, is accessible to the explorers or those who dare reach for it. The geographical imaginations of the possible routes to be followed in order to reach the treasure island are a clear manifestation of an ideology of capitalism in western culture. The image of a sailing ship disappearing is a sign of escape from the possible problems the sailors may face (Philips 5). Though the sea seems less chattered, the imagination of the beauty ahead is alluring and promising. This is less sexualized, with no express racial adaptation attached to it, as opposed to the King Solomon’s Mines map.
References
McClintock, Anne. Imperial Leather: Race, Gender, and Sexuality in the Colonial Contest. New York: Routledge, 1995.
Philips, Richards. Mapping men and empire: a geography of adventure. London: Routledge, 2008.