Black Robe

“In the conquest of a nation, lives are currency.” 

This quote shows the cold, calculating way that the Commandant views the New World. While bargaining with the local on the payment for their work as guides, he reveals that he does not think in terms of money or muskets. Rather, he is considering his moves on a grander, more existential scale. To him, the war will be won by spending lives as though they were currency. A necessary sacrifice that will result in eventual victory. This paradigm—not explained to the locals—reveals the true colonialist nature of the Commandant’s intentions. 

“We’re not colonizing the Savages. They’re colonizing us.” 

The interplay between the two vastly different cultures is an important theme in the book. Though the French are wealthier, more powerful, and more technologically advanced, they are not sure of their position. As two bureaucrats drink and sneer at the local people, they are fearful that this way of life is corrupting the French people who come. Though the French are evidently the colonizing force, there is a worry that they are surrendering a part of themselves to “the Savages” simply by being in this part of the world.