Theme Of Colonialism In Heart Of Darkness

Racism or colonialism Colonialism has been one of the biggest problems to affect developing naïve nations in various historical periods, armed men would scatter through the land in search for resources leaving behind a trail of death and disease. One of the biggest known victims of this disease was Africa, because of its vast resources, fruits, vegetables and animals to name a few; these resources made the country a prime target for colonial domination. A resource that was extremely valuable in the African trade was ivory, because of its properties allowing the materials to last ten times longer than most common metals; in addition, it was also valued culturally as the prime material for sculptures and jewelry being used as early as 1046

Upon arriving they saw that the land was populated by people of a darker complexity and lesser technology, having the upper hand, they decided to take charge. The superiors believed that they had the right to take the resources they desired because their skin color and complexity made them superior, which drove them to threat the African people like animals, using violence and terror to discipline them. Historian find the topic of superiority and race complicated to discuss because of the many variables involved, but a novel was able to gather all the scattered ideas to finally resolve the issue, this book was called “The Heart of Darkness”. In this book by Joseph Conrad we are given a first person account of a trip to Africa steeping into the shows of sailor and explorer Charlie Marlow who’s on his way to the Congo, house to one of the biggest caches of ivory in Africa. Throughout his story we encounter numerous characters, including soldiers, generals and other bosses; who believe in superiority and privilege based on race. Through their behavior, interactions, and dialog its clear that the violence, abuse, and inhuman behavior towards the Africans

They were not enemies, they were not criminals, they were nothing earthly now—nothing but black shadows of disease and starvation, lying confusedly in the greenish gloom” (Heart of Darkness 00). This is the description of men who are chained up, he uses the color green to signify sickness and disease because they are treated inhumanely Marlow sees them as less-than-human. He intentionally dehumanizes the Africans by giving them animalistic qualities and comparing them to machines that never stop working, or bother to protest against the abuse. The violence featured in the novel does have a purpose, it was used to break down the population so that the settlers could ultimately have their way. This theory of the use of violence for benefit is featured in the essay “How could they? By Tage Rai, she explains, “violence is just a way to achieve instrumental goals. For example, killing rival heirs is sometimes a good idea if you want to be king…the likelihood of violence increases when its benefits go up or its cost go down” (4). This explains that violence often times creates new opportunities, and in the case of the Africans in the Congo, by mistreating them, neglecting their needs and abusing them it made them easier to control which resulted in a higher revenue in profits