Heart Of Darkness Imperialism Essay

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Heart of Darkness, by Joseph Conrad, is a novella based on true events from Conrad’s life about a young man’s journey into the Congo Free State as a part of the late 1800’s Belgian imperialist mission. Conrad’s real life experience in the Congo was not a good one, as he saw the horror that the colonists inflicted on the natives and realized the brutal nature that humans can have. Heart of Darkness was Conrad’s way of expressing his views on imperialism and the horror that it entailed when he returned home from his journey. Conrad’s experience in the Congo forced him to see the capacity of evil that is present deep within all humans. When reading Heart of Darkness, it is clear that Conrad intended for the reader to experience the lack of empathy …show more content…

When Marlow first arrives in Africa, he begins to search for a man named Mr. Kurtz; the leader of the ivory trade. Kurtz has been in the Congo for quite a while by the time Marlow meets him, and he has a complete lack of empathy, kindness, and humanity. He represents everything wrong about imperialism, and everything dark that lives inside Marlow. In the beginning of the story, Marlow seems to be a normal man, and the empathy he has for the natives is clear to the reader. However, as he travels deeper and deeper into the jungle, the novella delves deeper into his psyche and his inner evil starts to emerge. Eventually, Marlow doesn’t even acknowledge the Congolese as people. It is clear that Kurtz represents Marlow’s inner evil; as Marlow travels down the river and gets closer to Kurtz, he gets nearer to “heart of darkness” as well. In Heart of Darkness, Joseph Conrad contrasts the experience of travelling deep into the somewhat terrifying jungle with journeying into the depths of the human mind to show that the human personality is as incomprehensible and impenetrable as the jungle, and has an aspect of evil that can arise at any

Heart Of Darkness
1436 Words | 3 Pages
Joseph Conrad's novel Heart of Darkness uses character development and character analysis to really tell the story of European colonization. Within Conrad's characters one can find both racist and colonialist views, and it is the opinion, and the interpretation of the reader which decides what Conrad is really trying to say in his work.
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Lesser Of Two Evils In Joseph Conrad's Heart Of Darkness
1426 Words | 3 Pages
Joseph Conrad was a fiction novelist who became one of the most well know novelists of his day. One of the pieces he was responsible for was a book called Heart of Darkness. This book was written about a group that was in search of a man named Kurtz down the Congo River. In the writing of this book, Conrad did a very good job of keeping his readers interested because anything could have happened. Conrad used many symbols and made the characters do certain things that kept the readers guessing. Conrad used things like fog, and changing the way that characters are acting, which made the journey in the book more ominous and less obvious. Joseph Conrad’s
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Heart Of Darkness Imperialism Essay
1896 Words | 4 Pages
In Joseph Conrad's novel Heart of Darkness, the issues of Imperialism are discussed. Madness is shown as an outcome of Imperialism through the metaphor of the flabby devil and the band of men known as the Eldorado Exploring Expedition. Chaos is also demonstrated through concepts like the shackled monster and in the attack against the Europeans as well. Corruption is another result of Imperialism and can be seen through the manager's crooked personality and Kurtz's character. Thus, Conrad reveals the madness, chaos and corruption that is the very result of Imperialism.
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Exploring Corruption in Modern British Literature
1459 Words | 3 Pages
By far, Marlow is the most sympathetic and reliable character of Heart of Darkness - he even goes so far as to offer a native slave one of his biscuits, disturbed as he is by their suffering. Furthermore, he is not an apathetic character - his characterizations of the people around him, black or white, are apt and cutting, as when he describes a white companion as “too fleshy” (Conrad, 23) or the Company’s chief accountant as a “hairdresser’s dummy” (Conrad, 21). Clearly, he is observant, sensitive. A callousness begins in him, though, subtly, from tossing the dead native overboard when the other white men found a burial more suitable, to his time in the depths of Kurtz’s Congo. Upon seeing pikes adorned with severed heads, he is “not so shocked as you may think. The start back… was really nothing but a movement of surprise” (Conrad, 55). This Marlow is removed from the “horror-stuck” (Conrad, 21) individual that fed the starving native. His corruption could be the most implacable in Heart of Darkness, but it is, in fact, there when he loses his will in response to the trauma, the agony of the Congo. His experience with disgust in Chapter 3 is laced with weariness, with detachment. Like the hollow men’s response to the trauma of war, Marlow is made desensitized and corrupt. The hollow men “grope together and avoid speech,” and Marlow avoids speaking the truth, preferring to falsify Kurtz’s final words to his fiancee, to protect the identity of Kurtz when, perhaps, the Marlow that “hate[d], detest[ed], and [couldn’t] bear a lie” (Conrad, 29) would have been disgusted to do
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The Role Of European Imperialism In Joseph Conrad's Heart Of Darkness
1012 Words | 3 Pages
In Joseph Conrad’s novel Heart of Darkness, he asserts man’s extensive capacity for evil. Through the method of European imperialism, Conrad contrasts the civilized outer European world to the dark uncharted African jungle. Charlie Marlow, the protagonist of the story, recounts his journey into the Congo to resupply the ivory stations and his quest for a man named Kurtz while explaining his adventures to four other men on ship called the Nellie, which happens to be heading towards London on a river called the Thames. Marlow decides to share his trek when he notices the London skyline and begins to think of “ ‘one of the dark places of the earth,’ ” thus referring to the African Congo (11). Mr. Kurtz serves as the mysterious character in the
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Heart Of Darkness American Imperialism
1527 Words | 4 Pages
It is through an understanding of humanity’s worst aspects, that Joseph Conrad has created and shaped meaning into ‘Heart of Darkness’, a novella deserving of its highly regarded reputation. Conrad’s literature, which although may seem contentious, adds to reality. It does not simply describe it but enriches the necessary competencies that daily life requires and provides and in this respect it irrigates the deserts that our lives have already become. Heart of Darkness is a harrowing commentary on the devastating effects of Belgian Imperialism and Postcolonialism on the African Congo. It is a journey of discovery, a close study of the values or social norms prevalent in the colonisation of the African Congo that emphasises the relationship
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Physiological Changes in Marlow
455 Words | 1 Pages
In the Beginning of the novel, Heart of Darkness, Conrad shows his audience that Marlow is about to take a great and difficult mission that is requested of him from "the company" from which Marlow works for. He is sent on a mission to take a voyage through the African Congo River and give an account of a great military official named Kurtz that was believed to have gone somewhat mad while being sent over there. When Marlow is to set sail, he has no idea what he has gotten himself into as he reaches the Congo River. What Conrad somewhat foreshadows for his audience is that, in Marlow's travels through the Congo, it will alter his mind and even himself as a whole as he goes deeper and deeper up the river.
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Heart Of Darkness Journey
966 Words | 2 Pages
The last stop in Marlow’s journey deeper into the Congo, the Inner Station, reflects the deepest level in the mind, the Id. As Marlow is this deep into the heart of darkness he experiences his own mental decent to savagery but does not completely commit himself to his primitive desires like Kurtz had. Unlike Kurtz he lives through the urges of the id and returns from his journey an enlightened
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Heart Of Darkness Imperialism Essay
1236 Words | 3 Pages
In the novel, “Heart of Darkness” by Joseph Conrad there are many themes that are explored, but none more so than the hollowness of civilization. In the novel, Marlow travels to the unnamed city where a European company interested in the richness Africa has to offer has its headquarters. He describes the city as a "white sepulcher. " A sepulcher is a beautiful tomb, which on the surface is looking strong and magnificent but hides inside only the dead. The white sepulchral city symbolizes civilization.
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Heart Of Darkness Imperialism Analysis
1015 Words | 3 Pages
The first thing that Marlow sees upon entering Kurtz’s station is rows of African heads on stakes He states, “these round knobs were not simply ornamental, but symbolic...I was not so shocked as you may think” (Conrad 87). Once again, Marlow has no reaction to this carnage; however, he is still critical of Kurtz’s behavior. The Russian tells Marlow: “The camps of [the natives] surrounded the place, and the chiefs came every day to see him. They would crawl…”(Conrad 88). Kurtz forces the natives chiefs, the original rulers of the region, to crawl through a path of the decapitated heads of their own people, and subjugate themselves to a greedy, ruthless, imposed leader who cares for nothing but his lust for wealth. Kurtz has taken the embedded racism toward the natives to an extreme, and while he understands that his actions are horrific, he also knows that it doesn’t matter because the system has only rewarded him with more power and wealth for his violence. What Marlow refuses to acknowledge is that, while in Africa, he participates in the same system of dehumanization and exploitation, but in his delusions of moral superiority, dismisses Kurtz’s actions as anecdotal evidence, and once again, can absolve himself of ethical responsibility without ever truly
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Exposing Colonialism and Imperialism in Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness
1944 Words | 4 Pages
Marlow was an average European man with average European beliefs. Like most Europeans of his time, Marlow believed in colonialism; that is, until he met Kurtz. Kurtz forces Marlow to rethink his current beliefs after Marlow learns the effects of colonialism deep in the African Congo. In Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness, Marlow learns that he has lived his entire life believing in a sugar-coated evil. Marlow's understanding of Kurtz's experiences show him the effects colonialism can have on a man's soul.
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Significance of the Congo River in Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness
655 Words | 2 Pages
The Significance of the Congo River For Marlow, the journey on the Congo River is one of the most difficult and ominous journeys he will ever take. The fact that it takes him around and not completely into the jungle is significant of Marlow's psychological journey as well. He never really goes on land but watches the shore from the outside. The only time he goes on shore he finds a wasteland. For Marlow the jungle of the Congo is representative of evil that man is capable of. In Heart of Darkness, it seems that the further Marlow travels into the jungle, the deeper he looks into himself. All this time is spent on the Congo River as he looks from the outside. This is symbolic as he is looking at his soul from the outside but never really sees himself until he goes on land to get Kurtz. When he arrives on land is symbolic of when he looks the deepest into himself. He goes to find Kurtz on his deathbed and is given he choice to take over for him as a god among an African tribe. Marlow is faced with the ultimate choice between good and evil. For a moment it is uncertain what choice Marlow will make. But, unlike Kurtz, Marlow picks the good over evil, as he rescues Kurtz back to the steamer. The fact that Marlow sailed along the Congo River, around the jungle, and not actually into the jungle is an important symbol also. Marlow never walks the path that Kurtz did to self-destruction. He went around the jungle to avoid getting captured by evil. Kurtz was a decent Englishman until he gave into the desires of his heart of darkness. Kurtz spent all his time in the jungle and eventually forgot all of his self-control, manners, and upbringing. He truly looked in the deepest part of himself and found that his evil desires would reign. This is symbolic because he was deep inside the jungle. In this respect Conrad uses to men to show the reader both the good and bad of humankind. He shows the true evil and good that man is capable of If proper restraints had been there would Kurtz have done things differently?
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Heart of Darkness
1058 Words | 3 Pages
Heart of Darkness. That title rings with agony, loneliness, and the sense of evil. The words produce an image of a black heart entangled with unbreakable vines. To have a heart that is figuratively black and bounded to the ties of evil is a bitter and deathly symbol. Who could possibly have that heart? Joseph Conrad, for example, was a man with a heart of darkness. His life reeked with self deception and inner conflicts. Conrad’s book, Heart of Darkness is based upon imperialism and racism. Racism is cleverly hidden within the text, but imperialism is innocently depicted as the civilization of the Congolese people. Conrad’s writing can be interpreted two different ways. One approach is the reader might interpret his writing as an attack on the Europeans as the imperialists trying to help the Congolese, but the African people refuse their help. In contrast, the other approach might be that they feel sympathetic to the Congolese people. They see the Europeans has cruel and heartless. If we seek to understand the racism and the imperialism of that day and age, we can see racism in between the lines. I agree with many of Conrad’s critics when they say that he is completely racist, however I tend to see that no matter what race we are we all have a seed of darkness inside our hearts. Why are we infected with his powerful bug of a race overpowering any minority that is inferior to us due to any significant difference? In the case of Conrad’s book Heart of Darkness, it seems like Congolese people are nothing more than disposable and insignificant.
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Literary Devices In Heart Of Darkness
918 Words | 2 Pages
Throughout the ride down the Congo river Marlow felt uneasy but claims “I got used to it afterwards; I did not see it anymore; I had no time. I had to keep guessing at the channel; I had to discern, mostly by inspiration…” (Conrad 103). Even though everything is pretty much new to Marlow he stays calm most of the time and regains his composure after attacks. The way in which the reader is able to notice the feelings of Marlow are through the short sentences separated by semicolons then a longer sentence that expresses concern but control. Similarly, despite Marlow's glorified image of Kurtz being impaired he states that “Kurtz was a remarkable man. He had something to say. He had said it.” (Conrad 148). After the treacherous voyage to find Kurtz that ultimately ends with his death Marlow realizes even though Kurtz murdered people he had left something remarkable behind and Marlow vowed to preserve it. Lastly, the one thing that is showcased through syntax is Marlow's struggle to not become savage himself. For instance, when they observe the natives dancing wildly he asks “Who's that grunting? You wonder I didn't go ashore for a howl or dance? Well no-I didn't. Fine sentiments you say? Fine sentiments be hanged!” (Conrad 106). The rhetorical questions reveal that Marlow knew that he could have acted just like them if he
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Marlow and Kurtz in Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness
791 Words | 2 Pages
By the time Marlow and Kurtz meet, Marlow is already well aware of the similarities they share. Both are imperialists, and while Marlow detests the treatment of the natives by his employers (Belgian colonists), he also makes apparent his abhorrence toward the Africans. On the other hand, Kurtz abandons the pretense of helping the natives achieve civilization, as displayed by the Europeans. Instead, he adopts their customs and becomes their leader in the never-ending quest for ivory. "He began with the argument that we whites, from the point of development we had arrived at, 'must necessarily appear to them [savages] in the nature of the supernatural beings- we approach them with the might as of a deity' (Longman, 2000, p. 2226). Marlow also admired Kurtz' resourcefulness and survival skills, especially his perseverence through jungle fever. "The wilderness had patted him on the head....it had taken him, loved him, embraced him, got into his veins, consumed his flesh, and sealed his soul to its own by the inconceivable ceremonies of some devilish initiation. He was its spoiled and pampered favorite." (Longman, 2000, p. 2225).
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Heart Of Darkness Imperialism Essay