Culture is found everywhere. It is found in art, music, tradition, religion, language and law. Culture is hard to ignore, for it is the environment of a person’s upbringing, making us who we are as humans today. These three books, Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad, Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe and Learning to Bow, Inside the Heart of Japan by Bruce Feiler, discuss different cultures and the effects that cohabitation have on them. When two unfamiliar cultures cohabit both cultural groups are effected. Belief systems are challenge, perceptions continue to be predetermined and one when cultures work mutually to understand each other are there positive outcomes.
In the book Heart of Darkness, Marlow; a steamship captain, is sent up the Congo river by his employer to transport ivory and to bring back Kurtz. Kurtz acquisition of ivory for the company tops any other employees and is related to his relationship with the native tribes. He asserts himself as a god and raids nearby tribes promoting his position and forcing the natives to collect ivory. While Marlow ventures up the river he notices the inhuman treatment of the native people and the eagerness of his peers to assert themselves over the natives.
Marlow and his crew members are from Europe. They share many of the same beliefs from their own culture, which is Imperialistic. Imperialistic countries use their own power to influence another country through force or diplomacy. Marlow had just arrived in the Congo and came across a group of men, being punished with purposeless labor.
“I avoided a vast artificial hole somebody had been digging on the slope, the purpose of which I found it impossible to divine. It wasn’t a quarry or a sandpit, anyhow. ...
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...on can be seen throughout these novels from domination through slavery to the mutual understanding of a man teaching his English culture. These beliefs often cause false perceptions of others which can be difficult to change. Reading these stories of similar topics, each having it’s own perspective leads the reader to understand why these perceptions were developed. In the end, a mutual relationship through understanding and acceptance allows the two cultures to learn from one another. Sometimes being as simple as using chopsticks.
Works Cited
Achebe, Chinua. Things Fall Apart. New York: Anchor, 1994. Print.
Conrad, Joseph, and Ross C. Murfin. Heart of Darkness: Joseph Conrad ; a Case Study in
Contemporary Criticism. Boston: Bedford of St. Martin's, 1996. Print.
Feiler, Bruce S. Learning to Bow: inside the Heart of Japan. New York: Perennial, 2004. Print.
Conrad, Joseph. “Heart of Darkness.” An Introduction to Literature. Ed. Barnet, et al. New York: Longman, 2000.
A Short History of Japan. Los Angeles: Berkeley, 1999. Turnbull, Stephen.
Few countries have a warrior tradition as long and exciting as Japan. It is a tradition found in the Samurai, the loyal and self-sacrificing knight of ancient Japan. The Samurai is a valiant warrior who can both appreciate the beauty of nature in that of a rose blossom but will also kill or die for his master in an instant. This well-rounded warrior was the ruling class of Japan for almost seven hundred years. He fought for control of his country and to keep Japan free from outside influences. (Turnbull 1)
Kimbrough, Robert, ed. Heart of Darkness: An Authoritative Text, Backgrounds and Sources, Criticism. By Joseph Conrad. 3rd ed.
As a child, the unknown spaces of Africa enchanted Marlow. He would often lose himself “...in all the glories of exploration” (Conrad 21). As an adult Marlow, after shining light on those dark unknown spaces of Africa and it was no longer a blank space on a map, but a place of darkness, there was still one river that charmed him, “...a mighty big river, that you could see in a map, resembling an immense snake uncoiled, with its head in the sea, and its body at rest curving afar over a vast country, and its tail lost in the depths of the land” (Conrad 22). The river that charmed Marlow in his boyhood, allowed access into the heart of the African continent. As the main method of the Europeans transportation, travelling along the river enables Marlow to see both sides of the continent, the natives and the evil doings of Mr Kurtz. Marlow is able to see the truths of the evil in the world and where they reign. Marlow went into the Congo as an innocent sailor and after meeting Kurtz and listening to his ideas, “turned to the wilderness, not to Mr Kurtz, who...was as good as buried. And for a moment it seemed to [Marlow] that [he] was also buried in a vast grave of unspeakable secrets. [He] felt an intolerable weight oppressing on [his] breast, the smell of the damp earth, the unseen presence of victorious corruption, the darkness of an impenetrable night” (Conrad
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.
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.
In conclusion, this book gave me a whole new view on life and how we can interact better with different people. The book emphasized that culture is key to understanding people. Sometimes it is hard to connect with others because they are indicated as different but in due time we can adjust. Every culture has their own traditions when it comes to what they eat, what to wear, dating, various ceremonies, holidays and more. Reading this book helped me become more accepting of who I am and where I come from.
One interpretation of Marlow's relationship to colonialism is that he does not support it. Conrad writes, "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" (p. 27-28). Marlow says this and is stressing that the so-called "savages", or Africans, are being treated and punished like they are criminals or enemies when in fact they never did anything. He observes the slow torture of these people and is disgusted with it. Marlow feels sympathy for the black people being slaved around by the Europeans but doesn't do anything to change it because that is the way things are. One can see the sympathy by the way that he gives a starving black man one of his biscuits. "To tear treasure out of the bowels of the land was their desire, with no moral purpose at the back of it than there is in burglars breaking into a safe" (p. 54). This statement by Marlow conveys that he doesn't believe that the Europeans have a right to be stripping Africa of its riches. He views the Jungles of Africa as almost it's own living, breathing monster.
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?
* Conrad, Joseph. “Heart of Darkness” in The Norton Anthology of English Literature, M.H. Abrams, general editor. (London: W.W. Norton, 1962, 2000)
On one hand, Marlow is saved by his self-discipline while on the other hand Kurtz is doomed by his lack of it. Before Marlow embarked on his voyage to Africa, he had a different view. Due to propaganda, he believed that the colonization of the Congo was for the greater good. In his head, he judged that the people of Africa were savages and that colonization would bring them the elation and riches of civilization. Despite an apparent uneasiness, he assumed that restraint would function there.
Conrad, Joseph. Heart of Darkness 3rd ed. Ed. Robert Kimbrough. New York: Norton Critical, 1988.
At the beginning of the novel, Marlow is traveling the jungle and the many scenes of life can be seen. Africa has seems to be taken over by many travelers which makes one wonder what is there ulterior motive? Africa is a third world country, which makes it easy for someone to come in and talk on their soapbox. It is very easy to tell that these men are not the biggest fans of colored people, so it is plausible that they have come to instill a sense of imperialism. As Marlow passes through the waters of the Congo it is easily visible the trouble of the natives. “Black shapes crouched, lay, sat between the trees, leaning against the trunks, clinging to the earth half coming out, half effaced with the dim light, in all the attitudes of pain, abandonment, and despair.” (20) Show that the holding of these colonies has started. The soldiers have come in and taken the inhabitants and are destroying them and taking from them the one thing they deserve over everything, life. The imperialists seem to not care about the Africans and are just there for their land.
Conrad uses the character of Marlow to make use of his own thoughts and views about the people in the Congo. He feels pity for them as he sees them falling down carrying heavy packages and Kurtz commanding them like a batallion of troups. This sight angers Marlow and when he gets to Kurtz, it’s too late. Even he has been pulled in by the darkness. Conrad makes an effective distinction between Marlow and Kurtz.