Heart of Darkness - A Reform Piece or Racist Trash?

Marlow was to repair his steamboat before he could even begin his trip into the Congo. In the months awaiting the restoration of his ship, Marlow hears stories of an individual named Mr Kurtz. He was one of the greatest importance to the Limited Company for trade in the Congo that Marlow was fixing the steamboat for. Marlow

Racism and slavery have always been a part of the world’s history, but sometimes people become ignorant to the severity of such mistreatment. This is proven in Adam Hochschild’s book King Leopold’s Ghost. People in Congo, Africa suffered many years of mistreatment brought on by King Leopold the second. King Leopold took what was theirs and made it his own by force and abuse. Eventually these people rightfully revolted in attempt to reclaim what is theirs and demand better treatment.

In so many ways, Hoschild showed his frustration to his readers that history is written so biasely and a lot of times was skewed and perceived untruthfully. Hoschshild often referred to the findings of other scholars and provided a lot of documents from the historical events in Congo. These primary sources were how he educated and informed his readers with as much context as necessary. Throughout the book you can tell he is very passionately against the events in the Congo but, I don't think that takes away any sort of credibility to his story. In so many situations throughout history, the past has been "forgotten" or left out in order to preserve a person or country's image or other reasons and keep the people naive and in the dark.

Mark Twain was born on November 30, 1835 in Florida . At age four, his family of nine moved to the banks of the Mississippi River in Hannibal , Missouri . His family was happy there but not all of his memories of the river were particularly pleasant. Because Missouri was one of the fifteen slave states it was subject to racism and Twain grew up witnessing lynchings, mobs, racism and general inhumane treatment of African Americans. One of Twain’s most horrible memories was “the murder of a defenseless slave by a ruthless slave master and of course, the grim sight of shackled slaves was itself a near-constant along the docks of the river” (Howard).

This quote said that “Those who are conquered always want to imitate the conqueror in his main characteristics.” This showed the way that Leopold ruled had an impact on later African rulers who chose to imitate his ruling authority. Because of Leopold’s rule many civil wars broke out among tribes after the Congo gained its independence. Many people lived in poverty since the main way to make money was harvesting rubber and there was little rubber left because of over exploitation. Hochschild proved that the effects of Belgian rule in the Congo are still

They were anchored in the river, where ships went out to darkest Africa. Yet, as lately as Roman times, London's own river led, like the Congo, into a barbarous hinterland where the Romans went to make their profits. Soon darkness fell over London, while the ships that bore "civilization" to remote parts appeared out of the dark, carrying darkness with them, different only in kind to the darkness they encounter. These thoughts and feelings were merely part of the tale, for Co... ... middle of paper ... ...ntempt to be a kind of moral heroism. Works Cited Adelman, Gary.

Kurtz had been seen as a God by one tribe and had begun raiding surrounding villages for ivory and participated in brutal and savage practices. Marlow gets Kurtz to the boat and attempts to bring him back to civilization, but Kurtz was too sick and died leaving Marlow with his affairs and documents. Conrad did acknowledge that “Heart of Darkness” is in part based off of his own experiences as a captain of a steamer on the Congo River in the 1890’s, where he witnessed horrible treatment of African natives and the imperialism thrust upon the people by European companies there. The book is a bit ambiguous, but its themes are clear and the contrast of two very differ... ... middle of paper ... ...er than learn they assumed everything was wrong with their culture and societies then they commenced to pillage and slaughter. Conclusion It was a great thing to be able to read “Heart of Darkness” again (since I was much more eager than when I read it in High School).

In 1847 Samuel’s father suddenly died which sent the whole family into money crisis. The passing of Samuel’s father could symbolize why Huckleberry Finn’s father is absent from his life, as well. The Mississippi River flourished with steamboats which sparked Twain’s interest in them. Huckleberry Finn, much like Mark Twain, also had an attraction to steamboats throughout the book. The violence and killings in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn coincide with the violence that Twain observed as a child.

An influential aunt in obtains an position as captain of a Congo steamer for Marlow. But when he arrives at the Company's Outer Station in Africa, he's faced with a horrible display of black slavery and white greed and hostility. In a shady grove he discovers a crew of sickly African workers that have crawled away to die. He also meets the Company's chief accountant, who mentions a man named Kurtz who is a remarkable agent that has sent more ivory from the jungle than the other agents combined. Marlow's interest is perked in Kurtz and will eventually grow into an unhealthy obsession and become the focus of the story.

In 1890, Joseph Conrad received employment in the Congo working as the captain of a steamboat. After six months, he returned because of illness. Recording his experience in the Congo, Conrad wrote his highly famous novella, Heart of Darkness. Since its publication in 1899, Heart of Darkness has attracted many literary critics. Although many critics have supported the publication of Heart of Darkness, other critics, such as Chinua Achebe, have scrutinized the novella on the grounds of racism.