How Did Colonialism Affect Gideon

Colonialism has affected Gideon and his people by making them change the way they have lived for many years. In “No Witchcraft for Sale”, Gideon and his people had to learn how to live with the British people. The African people learned how to live with their land, just for them to have to relearn everything, all because of colonialism. Gideon was able to relearn his new lifestyle without much difficulty. He was fortunate to work for the Farquars, who treated him well. He was their cook who knew how to act around them. Gideon treated Teddy, who he affectionately called “Little Yellow Head,” as if he were his own son. One day while talking to Mrs. Farquar, Gideon referred to Teddy as “theirs”, which made Mrs. Farquar realize how lucky she was to have Gideon. Gideon and Teddy were good friends, but it changed when Teddy did not treat a piccanin nicely, and Gideon realized that the relationship between the colonists and the Africans will never be greater than master and servant. A practice that differed between the British and Africans was their view on medicine. The British believed that “real,” scientific medicine was the best. The British colonists used their own remedies, which were mostly chemical mixtures, such as permanganate.

The good was that Africa was slowly becoming mora advanced, because of the practices the colonists brought. The bad was that the Africans were losing their land and lifestyle. Gideon and his people had to readjust their lives to fit all the new colonists that had come to Africa. If the colonists had not settled there, the natives would still be able to live the way that they had for so many years. Their bust and its secrets would still be theirs, with no threat to it. Although the natives tried to accept their new lifestyles and be civil as possible to the British, they knew that very soon, their lives would change and they could not do anything about