Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
Main Charater And Their Characterisation Of The Novel Heart Of Darkness By Joseph Conrad
Heart of darkness conrad imperialism
Heart of darkness conrad imperialism
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Recommended: Main Charater And Their Characterisation Of The Novel Heart Of Darkness By Joseph Conrad
Like a trite high school scandal involving backstabbing friends and scheming girls, imperialism during the 19th century turned previously upright Europeans into treasure-seeking ogres willing to renege on their promises. As a British merchant marine who travelled to the Congo, Joseph Conrad witnessed his fellow imperialistic sailors partake in horrid acts, and his experiences induced him to write his chilling book Heart of Darkness. In this book, published in 1899, Marlow meets both a sycophantic manager seeking to advance up the corporate ladder and a vicious Kurtz willing to murder indiscriminately. Yet despite Kurtz’s paramount evilness, Marlow gives his loyalties to Kurtz instead of to the company manager since Kurtz always remains conscious about the atrocities he commits.
While the manager may not seem very powerful or evil, Marlow feels disgust over his fawning and almost useless nature. At first, Marlow thinks of the manager as an unremarkable, soulless person who “had no genius for organizing, for initiative, or for order even…his position had come to him… [Only] because he was never ill” (Conrad 28). Even the manager himself implicitly agrees with Marlow’s idea when he hypothesizes how “men who come out here should have no entrails” (28). With that quote, the manager insinuates how the gloomy fog and endless jungle engulfing him has killed off all of his vitality and determination, leaving only a mindless husk behind. This mindlessness best shows when Marlow overhears the manager and his uncle slandering Kurtz’s “[frightful] influence… which has caused the Administration to send him to the Interior” (43). Instead of increasing productivity in his own division, the manager envies other people for their hard-earned success...
... middle of paper ...
... detest lies and deliver news bluntly. Marlow and Kurtz’s personalities share many similarities, explaining why Marlow sides with Kurtz and not the manager.
In Conrad’s Heart of Darkness, published in 1899, Marlow sides with Kurtz over the company manager due to Kurtz’s awareness of the atrocities he authorizes. The mysterious lands of the Congo hinder Marlow from differentiating reality from illusion, but this difficulty leads him to value honesty and bluntness more than a boatload of ivory. The truth still hides today beneath mazes of fine print and Photoshopped images. Yet like Kurtz, strong-willed souls today still expose the ugly truth for all to see, and no matter what these people’s moral character, a person cannot help but admire their audacity to open society’s eyes.
Works Cited
Conrad, Joseph. Heart of Darkness. Fairfield: 1st World Library, 2006. Print.
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 main literary mechanism Conrad employs in “Heart of Darkness” is the characterization of Death itself. In which Death, and how it is described and alluded to, reveals the central idea of the wrongful justification of Imperialism. To illustrate this idea, the main narrator of the story --Marlow-- shares the tale of his adventures
· Marlow eavesdrops on a conversation between the manager and uncle. He learns that the manager resents Kurtz.
This situation of waiting for Kurtz allows Marlow to fantasize about Kurtz and create a larger than life figure out of a man who he’s never met before. Soon Finding Kurtz becomes an all-out obsession for Marlow; even the night before they meet Kurtz, he wishes to press on despite the danger. Here the reader can see that Marlow is willing to get to Kurtz at all costs. When Marlow does finally make contact with Kurtz, his fantasy carries over into the person who he sees Kurtz as. Marlow is willing to overlook some of Kurtz’s shortcomings and is very willing to see his greatness. Marlow is obviously fond of Kurtz, as it can be seen in the passage when he speaks of Kurtz’s “unextinguishable gift of noble and lofty expression.” Here the reader can observe that Marlow is truly fond of Kurtz’s. The narrator even chooses to side with Kurtz against the manager; even though he hardly knows the man. Kurtz has also managed to get the native people to worship him as a god, and has mastered their language. This makes Marlow respect him even more. Marlow’s point of view allows him to foster both the reality and the fantasy of Kurtz, and though he is very fond of Kurtz, he is still able to see the truth in him as
Marlow’s thoughts are so consumed by Kurtz, that he is built up to be much more of a man than he truly is. In turn, Marlow is setting himself up for a let down. He says at one point, “I seemed to see Kurtz for the first time...the lone white man turning his back suddenly on the headquarters, on relief, on thoughts of home...towards his empty and desolate station”(P.32). When Marlow reaches Kurtz’s station, he begins to become disillusioned. He begins to hear about, and even see, the acts that Kurtz is committing, and becomes afraid of him. He sees in Kurtz, what he could become, and wants nothing to do with it. He does not want people to know he has any type of relationship with him, and says in response to the Russian, “I suppose that it had not occurred to him that Mr. Kurtz was no idol of mine.” (P.59). It is at this point that he begins to discover the darkness in his heart.
In this story Marlow’s aunt represents capitalism. Her efforts to get him a job are significant because of the morally compromising nature of the work of which she seems totally ignorant. When Marlow expresses doubts about the nature of the work, she replies, “You forget, dear Charlie, that the labourer is worthy of his hire” (12). It is clear that Marlow has mixed feelings about the whole idea. At one point, trying to justify his actions to himself, he says, “You understand it was a continental concern, that Trading Society; but I have a lot of relations on the living continent, because it’s cheap and not so nasty as it looks they say” (12). Marlow finally takes the job, however, and tells himself that the pain and unusually harsh treatment the workers are subjected to is minimal.
While Marlow is "thrilled" at the idea of a "remote kinship with this wild and passionate uproar,” he remains cognizant of the powerful draw presented by the primitive surroundings, appealing to man’s inherent primordial tendencies (2.8). Throughout his time in the Congo, Marlow remains separate from the capture of primitive humanity. Instead, Charles Marlow observes the fundamental change that has occurred in Kurtz as he has given in to the instinctual state of mind comparable to the ‘savages’ of the Congo. Marlow is able to conclude that Kurtz “could not have been more irretrievably lost" from the conventions of the civilized society in which he was raised (3.9). Kurtz explored the appeal of the “heart of darkness” and found that it is the common denominator present regardless of ‘civilization’ or ‘savagery’ thus justifying his fate and supporting the fragility of ‘civilized’ fundamentals.
“ 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 masterpiece of twentieth-century writing, Heart of Darkness exposes the tenuous fabric that holds "civilization" together and the brutal horror at the center of European colonialism. Joseph Conrad's novella, Heart of Darkness, describes a life-altering journey that the protagonist, Marlow, experiences in the African Congo. The story explores the historical period of colonialism in Africa to exemplify Marlow's struggles. Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness is most often read as an attack upon colonialism. Marlow, like other Europeans of his time, is brought up to believe certain things about colonialism, but his views change as he experiences the effects of colonialism first hand. This essay will look at Marlow's negative view of colonialism, which is shaped through his experiences and from his relation to Kurtz. Marlow's understanding of Kurtz's experiences show him the effects colonialism can have on a man's soul.
The men have witnessed the savage and mad behavior of Kurtz, where they see African heads’ stuck onto spikes. Even after all this, Marlow sides with Kurtz and turns his back on the Manager and the rest of the crew. The reason for this is Marlow understands Kurtz’s deepest self-awareness and applies it to himself. Henceforth, Marlow sees his own potential corruption mirrors Kurtz’s current corruption. If he killed Kurtz or sided with the Manager, he would be betraying himself.
“Heart of Darkness” was written by Joseph Conrad. It can be seen as a good work that offers a critical interpretation of European imperial curriculum. The major theme of this work is the comparison between the good and the evil of human nature. This essay will focus on what the character Marlow discovered about the European presence in Africa, about the potential of human nature, as well as about his own inner being on this journey.
...s to look at Kurtz as a hero for all that he had accomplished, no matter how evil. Marlow?s obstacles as the hero are not the overcoming of a dragon or evil villain. It is the eternal battle of the story of a Hero versus Antihero. Marlow?s blindness to Kurtz?s impurities are both his strength and weakness. His ignorance to the greatness of his own qualities can best be stated one way: ?The Horror.?
Marlow observes Kurtz’s universal perspective, but he himself does not quite attain it. Although he has taken steps in the direction of understanding for the natives, Marlow’s innate prejudices restrain him from crossing the bridge into the land of
The value of restraint is stressed throughout Heart of Darkness. On one hand, Marlow is saved by his self-discipline while on the other hand; Kurtz is doomed from 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. When he reaches the Company station, he obtains his first astonishment. Everything seems worthless. Marlow finds no evidence of any devotion to efficiency but finds what he considers a miracle among the disorder. This “miracle” is the chief accountant. The reason Marlow finds this man so phenomenal is because he shows restraint. He maintains his appearance and his books are in “apple-pie order.” Marlow finds respect for this complete stranger because this chap shows backbone and self-discipline.
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).