Resistance against Colonialism inLife and Times of Michael K

Abstract

J.M. Coetzee’s novelLife and Times of Michael Klucidly exposes the impact of colonial imposition upon an individual and the latter’s continuous struggle to free oneself from the tangled web of colonialism in order to continue the life of his own choice. Michael K does never relent his confidence during the hard struggle against colonial agents and its system. In the background of civil strife due to apartheid in South Africa, the novel Life and Times of Michael Kdepicts the hostile socio-economic, political and cultural crisis in which Michael K is embroiled in the turmoil of restriction and confinement in the camps. But he protests against all these non-violently so as to attain freedom and independence. Michael K never indulges in violent actions to fight against the colonial imposition, but he raises the more powerful weapons like disobedience, non- cooperation, fasting and truth. Despite excessive torment Michael K never refrains from his journey to achieve his goal. He takes non-violent protest as a supreme weapon to cut every thread of the colonial web that ruins the life of human beings.