Three Works Cited The story is about a man named Marlow, who is hired by The Company, which is a shipping company located in England. Although Marlow had sailed before, he had never sailed to Africa. The people who operated The Company (those located in England) are so far removed from reality, that they have no concept of the devastation caused in order to ship vast loads of ivory. The Company is a perfect example of how these profit driven industries obtain their wealth – through the blatant disregard of the environment and their fellow man.
One can only imagine the death and destruction that was inflicted in order to ship mass quantities of ivory. The Company’s disrespect for the Africans and their environment was the typical attitude had by many nineteenth century profiteers. Their rationale was that no matter what degree of damage was inflicted, they felt it would never affect them.
Their disdainful attittude towards the Africans is expressed in the following words:
The conquest of the earth, which mostly means the taking
it away from those who have a different complexion or
slightly flatter noses than ourselves, is not a pretty thing
when you look into it too much. (Conrad 9)
In order to be able to conquer a people, one must dehumanize them and believe they are insignificant/inferior. This mode of thinking is used to justify any atrocities committed by the conquerors.
In “Root of Racism,” the superior attitude is described as
All groups, by their nature, imply to the members that they
are somehow special in particular ways and in many ways
better, than their fellow travelers on this earth. (Ross)
This superior attitude has been evidently pervasive throughout mankind’s history; some strong examples of these are the war in Bosnia, the slaughter of the Tutus in Rwanda and the white settlers near annihilation of the Native Americans.
Conrad’s character Marlow describes the natives as having “a wild vitality” and their “faces like grotesque masks.” These remarks demonstrate his fear and reinforces the distinction between himself and the natives.
Racial or ethnic hatred is a direct consequence of our Fear
Response. Hatred is really taking the fear response one step
further. We justify that fear by invoking certain attributes to
others by assuming that they may be inferior, evil or harmful.
Your group will reinforce these feelings since all members of
the group will respond to the same fear. This becomes
institutionalized and the accepted norm for group thought.
(Ross)
The Company had no qualms regarding the mistreatment of the natives, as described by the following account:
They were dying slowly – it was very clear. They were not
enemies, they were not criminals, they were nothing earthly
now – nothing but black shadows of disease and starvation…
Brought from all recesses of the coast in all legality of time
contracts, lost in uncongenial surroundings, fed on unfamiliar
food, they sickened, become inefficient, and were allowed to
crawl away and rest. (Conrad 26)
In the Heart of Darkness, the Africans are perceived to be dispensable, not nearly as valuable as the ivory they are relied upon to collect for the white man. It is unfortunate that the propensity for this way of thinking is still very evident today.
Works Cited and Consulted
Conrad, Joseph. Heart of Darkness. New York: Bantam Books, 1981.
Ross, Mark. “The Roots of Darkness.” 1997. (9 February 1998)
Ross, Mark. “The Roots of Racism.” 1997.
(9 February 1998)
