Resistance against Colonialism inLife and Times of Michael K
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Department of English
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.