Imperialism, Symbolism, and Materialism in Heart of Darkness
In Conrad's Heart of Darkness Marlow, the main character, symbolizes the positiveness of Imperialism. Marlow, as a character realizes the evil that negative Imperialism has caused and decides it is truly unnecessary. When Marlow states, "I had got a heavenly mission to civilize you," he expresses his good intentions to help the Africans progress and advance. Furthermore, when he says, "I was an impostor," Marlow recognizes the fact that he is an invader into a foreign land, yet he sticks to his moral values.
Marlow observes many kinds of abuse of power by other whites, simply because they have better weapons of war. When the manager severely battered a young black boy for the burnt shed Marlow disapproves. However, when he sees abuses and unjust treatment he does not physically try to stop it. Instead, he just turns away and accepts that it is happening. That is one of Marlow's flaws, he does not support his convictions.
Marlow also symbolizes the uncorrupted men that traveled to foreign lands to help the 'uncivilized' become cultured, but unlike the others Marlow does not become indoctrinated by an alternative motive. He is able to see through the materialistic ideals that had plagued the men before him. Marlow has the open-mindedness and sensitivity that was absent during Imperialism, but doesn't have the courage or power to stop the abuses that where ongoing. Marlow is proof that when confronted a man's evil side can be both informative and perilous.
The manager is the epitome of the negative effects of the institution of Imperialism. He is corrupt, uncaring, arrogant and self-centered. He symbolizes the arrogance of Europeans as they encountered native Africans. His good health symbolizes the everlastingness of Europeans who invaded Africa and their ability to continually come to Africa and rape it of its natural resources. He is the true symbol of the evil and cold-heartiness of imperialists.
The manager was an illustration of an established imperialist power. He was well settled in, as demonstrated by the fact he controls all the stations. An example of his power over others was when he had the black boy thrashed for the burning of a shed. In addition, he is expansionist and wishes to destroy Kurtz and gain a monopoly on the ivory trade. The manager's discussion with his uncle is yet another example of his ruthlessness and amoralness.
Marlow realizes the manager is evil and has a certain dislike for him, as do all of the natives. Through this, symbolizes the overall detestment of imperialized countries toward the aggressor. By assigning all the blame for the terrible conditions on the manager, Conrad stresses the feeling that Europeans were not bringers of technology, but distributors of immoral corruption.
Kurtz is one of the more interesting and enigmatic characters in the book. Kurtz was once what Marlow is, however, he became increasingly corrupt as he was isolated from the civilization of Europe. He exploited the Africans for their ivory. Kurtz truly symbolizes Europe, in that his mother and father were half-French and half-Europe. He is also a "renaissance man" and very talented. He stands by his virtues and also symbolizes the good intentions of Europeans. Under the influence of the manager, though, his sinister and harmful side is exposed.
Kurtz has gained the respect of Marlow as well as the natives and that symbolizes the minor amount of respect given to the imperialists by natives due to their advanced degree of technology. His terminal illness represents the eventually death of imperialism due to its inability to adapt and respect the culture and peoples of the invaded country. Kurtz's oil painting of a blindfolded woman carrying a lighted torch has a distinct significance. It symbolizes the blind and foolish ivory company forging its way into the jungle and enlightening the savage natives. However, they do not really realize the detrimental effect they have on Africa. Most importantly the painting shows Kurtz's understanding of his role and position in the continent.
Overall Kurtz symbolizes Europe towards the end of Imperialism when they began to recognize and realize their actions as harmful and evil. Kurtz's relationship to the mistress represents Europe's love for their imperialized country, however, the passion is only temporary. When Marlow tells Kurtz's girlfriend that the last words on his lips were her that symbolizes the nobleness of imperialists and desire to 'explore for the mother country' and do things in her honor.
In Heart of Darkness, Conrad successfully manipulates color, the imitation of color and descriptions of color to conceal his symbolic messages to the reader. When Marlow is starring at the map on the wall of the Brussels office he observes large sections of red, which he remarks as "always good signs of civilizations." The red denotes English territories abroad. He also recognizes yellow areas that represent his homeland's, Belgium's, sphere's of influence. Furthermore Conrad uses black and white repeatedly to describe good and evil. Although the "invaders" are white, Marlow describes them as having black souls, while the oppressed blacks are described as having pure and white souls. Marlow's predecessor is also killed over two black hens. In the Brussels office, Marlow sees white women weaving black cotton, while in Africa he sees black women with white cotton. One of the more distinctive examples of color symbolism occurs when Marlow noticed a starving, young black boy with a rope of white cotton around his neck. This symbolizes the white men choking the people of Africa.
Throughout Heart of Darkness Conrad is attempting to convey to his readers that Imperialism is immoral and degrading. Using various forms of symbolism, through Marlow, Conrad expresses his views. Perhaps Conrad is not opposed to Imperialism completely but he does indicate that the white man is too materialistic and does not understand how spiritually advanced the natives are. He believes that in Imperialism, the oppressor, Europeans, are too arrogant and evil in dealing with the "uncivilized natives." However, he also believes that Africa is too large to have any momentous impact by European invasion, as shown when the French ship is unaffectedly shelling the African coast. Conrad's main message that he tries to reveal to the reader is that man's greatest sin is his atrocities to man.
