What are the technical meanings of the terms natives and sahib in lines 130–136?
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Answer:
A respectful title used by an Indian in addressing an Englishman or other European (= ‘Sir’); an Englishman, a European. Also affixed as a title (equivalent to ‘Mr.’) to the name or office of a European and to Indian and Bangladeshi titles and names.
As a title used by the subjected peoples of India, Bangladesh, and Burma, to refer to white Europeans, "Sahib" carries a dual meaning. For the white people being addressed as sahib, it reaffirms their belief in their superiority over the native peoples. They are recognizes as being superior and act accordingly. For the native people that are using the term sahib however, the title might easily take on mocking quality. To make the white believe that they are in control, all the native people have to do is refer to them respectfully as sahib. As the narrator suggests, the use of the title sahib need not have any real subservience attached to it. The narrator articulates this disparity between respectful title and actual subservience by saying, "I perceived in this moment that when the white man turns tyrant it is his own freedom that he destroys. He becomes a sort of hollow, posing dummy, the conventionalized figure of a sahib". By taking on the role of the tyrant, the white man is forced to keep up this position. He must never be seen in an inferior light to those who he presides over. This forces the white man to always be a reactionary role, for fear that the subjugated peoples will openly refuse their commands.
A respectful title used by an Indian in addressing an Englishman or other European (= ‘Sir’); an Englishman, a European. Also affixed as a title (equivalent to ‘Mr.’) to the name or office of a European and to Indian and Bangladeshi titles and names.