The Theme of Imperialism in Heart of Darkness
Of the themes in Conrad's Heart of Darkness, imperialism and colonialism are probably the most important. While Heart of Darkness is actually set on the Thames River, the events Marlow describes are set on the Congo River. "The Congo is the river that brought about the partition of Africa that occurred from 1880 to 1890" (McLynn 13). This event marked the beginning of the colonization of Africa. In 1884, European nations held a conference and decided that every European country should have free access to the interior of Africa. "Thus began the colonization of Africa, without any consideration that the land was already inhabited" (McLynn 18). King Leopold of Belgium already had, from a previous investment, control of a large part of Africa surrounding the Congo. King Leopold had, in 1878, hired Henry Stanley to establish trading stations along the Congo River. It was in this setting that the events Marlow described in Heart of Darkness took place.
To the Europeans, the colonizing meant bringing civilization, religion, and order into a world devoid of these elements. What Marlow saw, however, was the inefficiency and the horror that resulted from the colonization and imperialism. The portrait of Kurtz's Intended represents this ironic situation. The portrait is of "a woman draped and blindfolded, carrying a lighted torch" (Conrad 92). The girl represents the Europeans and the light is the civilization they hope to bring to savage countries but that they themselves are not enlightened by. The abandoned equipment, the "flabby... devil of a rapacious and pitiless folly" (p. 81), the pail with a hole in it used to put out fires, and the abandoned helpers left to die, all...
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...of Darkness." A Lawrence University Freshman Studies Lecture, 24 Jan. 1996. Rpt. James Banks, Willamette Univ.; & Free Speech Television: http://www.freespeech.org/james/conrad/heart.htm (Accessed: Apr. 2001)
Conrad, Joseph. Heart of Darkness, New York: Dover, 1990.
Dintenfass, Mark. "Heart of Darkness: A Lawrence University Freshman Studies Lecture." 14 Mar. 1996. *http://www.acsu.buffalo.edu/~csicseri/dintenfass.htm* (2 Feb. 2000).
Hayes, Dorsha. "Heart of Darkness: An Aspect of the Shadow," Spring (1956): 43-47..
Hillman, James. "Notes on White Supremacy: Essaying an Archetypal Account of Historical Events," Spring (1986): 29-57.
McLynn, Frank. Hearts of Darkness: The European Exploration of Africa. New York: Carol & Gey, 1992.
Mellard, James. "Myth and Archetype in Heart of Darkness," Tennessee Studies in Literature 13 (1968): 1-15.
Watts, Cedric. 'Heart of Darkness.' The Cambridge Companion to Joseph Conrad. Ed. J.H. Stape. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1996. 45-62.
Kurtz was the chief of the Inner Station, where he was in charge of a very important ivory-trading post. Marlow learns that because of Kurtz’s ability to obtain more ivory than anybody else, he is of “greatest importance to the Company” and is to become a “somebody in the Administration” (Conrad 143). However, a critical aspect is the way in which he went about his business, as it was ruthless and selfish, characteristics that go hand-in-hand with European colonization.
The Fifties by David Halberstam is a phenomenal account of one of the most influential decades in the history of the United States of America. From the war in Korea to the opening of E.J. Korvette, it seems as though Halberstam scrutinizes the nineteen fifties with the utmost care and respect. In doing so, he also creates a vivid portrait of American life in the decade. However, Halberstam's writing style is not always straightforward and at times can be confusing, especially to readers without some prior knowledge of the events that took place during the fifties. Though the book may be confusing at times, it is still a marvelous collection of the events that defined the fifties and the decades that followed.
McLynn, Frank. Hearts of Darkness: The European Exploration of Africa. New York: Carol & Gey, 1992.
Bradley, Candice. "Africa and Africans in Conrad's Heart of Darkness." (24 Jan. 1996). Online Internet. 3 October 1998. Available: http://www.lawrence.edu/~johnson/heart.
The 1960s was crammed full of many impacting events and important figures. From Hitchcock releasing one of the greatest thrillers of all time, Psycho, to Marilyn Monroe’s untimely death, to the infamous Woodstock festival. This era changed history completely and made the United States think twice about its youth. Events of the 1960s are still impacting our country as we know it today. The sudden pull from the conservative ‘50s changed America’s views on all aspects of life, including fashion, entertainment, and lifestyles.
...h, ed., Heart of Darkness: An Authoritative Text-Backgrounds and Sources of Criticism, 3rd Edition, Norton & Co. (New York:1988), pp. 251-262. Web. 7 June 2015.
“ 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 65) So stated Marlow as though this was his justification for ravaging the Congo in his search for ivory. Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness shows the disparity between the European ideal of civilization and the reality of it as is evidenced by the domination, torture, exploitation and dehumanization of the African population. Heart of Darkness is indicative of the evil and greed in humanity as personified by Kurtz and Marlow.
A. Michael. Matin. Introduction to Heart of Darkness and Selected Short Fiction. New York: Barnes & Noble Classics, 2008. Print.
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.
* Conrad, Joseph. “Heart of Darkness” in The Norton Anthology of English Literature, M.H. Abrams, general editor. (London: W.W. Norton, 1962, 2000)
A. The Heart of Darkness. New York: Knopf, 1993. Print.
"SparkNotes: Heart of Darkness: Themes, Motifs & Symbols." SparkNotes: Today's Most Popular Study Guides. Web. 23 Mar. 2011. .
Conrad, Joseph. Heart of Darkness 3rd ed. Ed. Robert Kimbrough. New York: Norton Critical, 1988.
Throughout Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad, a sense of imperialism is present. Imperialism is defined as “acquiring and holding colonies and dependencies”. Through the novel, many of the travels Marlow encounters contain imperialist ideas. The whole continent is used as a symbol for this theme. So therefore you can tell that imperialism is just as bad as the disease that many people get from the Congo, they become infected.