Theodore Roosevelt and Imperialism

Theodore Roosevelt and Imperialism

Theodore Roosevelt has been portrayed in different literary and historical works differently. As some consider him a war hero and nationalist, others have described him as a tyrant imperialist. Two poems “Bully” by Martin Espada and “To Roosevelt” by Dario represent Theodore as a failure brute and an invader respectively. Although the two poets use different approaches to represent him, both poems depict Theodore as an imperialist.

In the poem “Bully”, Espada uses irony and symbolism, and the actions call for interpretation, and literary meanings are meaningless. He describes a situation where an army of Spanish-singing children” bullies and also writes that “Bit now Roosevelt school is pronounced Hernandez” (9, 10). The two descriptions refer to the Spanish-American War and imply that Theodore’s ethnocentric ideology had failed. While more research would be needed to justify the truth about that, history has it that America easily won the war.

The poem “To Theodore” by Dario presents Theodore using ambiguous phrases such as “primitive and modern, simple and complicated/with something of Washington and more on Nimrod” (3, 4). The description paints Theodore as a strong but savage person and represents the poet’s conveying the theme of imperialism. When Dario writes that “and illuminating the road of easy conquest, /Liberty raises its torch in New York” (30, 31) to imply that America is a bully that choose to dominate the weaker forces – the Colombia and Spanish Naval forces.

In conclusion, in the “Bully” and “To Theodore”, the poets have explored different styles to pass their message about imperialism. Both Dario and Espada have portrayed Theodore as a symbol of America’s hegemony. Notably, Roosevelt also represents freedom and independence in some countries such as the Philippines, Puerto Rico, Cuba and Panama.