Light and Dark of Colonialism and Imperialism in Heart of Darkness

“I had got a heavenly mission to civilize you.” The novel Heart of Darkness contains many aspects of imperialism as this quotes shows. Kurts creates a painting of a woman that has distinguishing features. These features symbolises imperialism towards the Heart of Darkness.

   Though Conrad did not learn English until he was twenty-one, he still mastered the language and artfully uses it in Heart of Darkness. One sentence of his is particularly striking, as it sums up the views that he condemns throughout the novella. The accountant, one of the first imperialists Marlow meets, says to him, "When one has got to make correct entries, one comes to hate these savages-hate them to the death"(Conrad). This sentence is a perfect example of the typical imperialistic belief that Marlow denounces, and serves as a synecdoche for the entire work.

Joseph Conrad 's Heart of Darkness is both a dramatic tale of an arduous trek into the Belgian Congo at the turn of the twentieth century and a symbolic journey into the deepest recesses of human nature. On a literal level, through Marlow 's narration, Conrad provides a searing indictment of European colonial exploitation inflicted upon African natives. By employing several allegoric symbols this account depicts the futility of the European presence in Africa.

Conrad, in Heart of Darkness, challenges the values of colonialism, but at the same time he conforms to the constraints of popular culture of the time in which he wrote. In this way, the extent to which he challenges mainstream ideas is limited in regards to the angles of his criticism. Conrad’s detailed descriptions of the Europeans in Heart of Darkness implicate his discontent towards colonial practices whilst certain references to the “black fellows” who reside in Africa show his opinions are influenced by his time, and thusly impact his acquired knowledge of what is politically correct or incorrect. Conrad challenges stereotypical

From 1884 to 1885, Europe scrambled to conquer land in Africa. The Europeans began to colonize parts of Africa and it would soon be called: The Civilizing Mission. The Civilizing Mission was meant to make the Europeans look good to others, bring the Africans up to their standards, and it was an act of profound generosity to the Africans. Or so they thought. As Europeans from different countries explored the harsh environments of Africa, they soon came across vines which would turn into rubber later on. This was progress for the Europeans but was it progress for Africa? In reality, the colonized Europeans who moved down to Africa were not very nice to the Africans and they became slave; especially when the railroad was being built in Africa. When Joseph Conrad wrote Heart of Darkness, he wanted to show Europeans what was actually going on down in Africa. The Civilizing Mission was not helping Africa or the Africans at all. Three of these contradictions from the book include:

    In the opening of his novel, Heart of Darkness, Conrad, through Marlow, establishes his thoughts on colonialism. He says that conquerors only use brute force, "nothing to boast of" because it arises, by accident, from another's weakness. Marlow compares his subsequent tale of colonialism with that of the Roman colonization of Northern Europe and the fascination associated with such an endeavor. However, Marlow challenges this viewpoint by painting a heinous picture of the horrors of colonialist ventures as we delve deeper into the recesses of the novel. Here we find that Marlow sees colonization as "robbery with violence, aggravated murder on a great scale, and men going at

This is the reason that none who enter the Heart of Darkness are ever the same. There is a character in the Heart of Darkness who seems to have no soul. The Manager is a vague character. Marlow immediately notices that something is off about this character. He senses the Manager as not be a whole person. Marlow describes him as having “… nothing within him…Once when various tropical diseases had laid low almost every ‘agent’ in the station he was heard to say, ‘Men who come out here should have no entrails’. He sealed the utterance with that smile of his as though it had been a door opening into a darkness he had in his keeping” (Pg. 22). It is evident that the Manager is lacking something. Marlow describes void inside the Manager. The Heart of Darkness has infected the manager and left him hollow inside. Each person corrupted by the Heart of Darkness changes. Mr. Kurtz is a perfect example of someone changing due to the Heart of Darkness. Kurtz used to be a different person than what Marlow saw at his camp. Throughout his travels in the Belgian Congo, Marlow repeatedly heard people say that Kurtz was a great man. He was a person worthy of an audience. Those statements are what brought Marlow to idolize him. After returning to England, Marlow spoke with Kurtz’s fiancé. She told him that she knew Kurtz the most out of anyone. She described Kurtz as a man of “promise, greatness, he had a generous mind, and a noble heart” (Pgs. 74-76). It is evident that Kurtz completely changed. He became a completely different person due to the Heart of Darkness. One critic, Andrea Church, agrees with me by saying, “Following the traditional African practice of kingship, Kurtz takes on semi-divine attributes. Like the contemporary African ruler Msiri at Bunkeya in the Southern Congo, he decorates the fencepoles round his with human heads”. Kurtz was barbaric enough to kill human beings

In Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad, the imperialism of Africa is described. Conrad tells the story of the cruel treatment of the natives and of the imperialism of the Congo region through the perspective of the main character, Marlow. Throughout the novel, Marlow describes how the Europeans continuously bestow poor treatment to the native people by enslaving them in their own territory. Analyzing the story with the New Criticism lens, it is evident that Conrad incorporates numerous literary devices in Heart of Darkness, including similes, imagery, personification, and antitheses to describe and exemplify the main idea of cruel imperialism in Africa discussed throughout the novella.

The term “progress” often brings to mind images of advancement and moving forward; how ironic it is then that nineteenth-century Europe was viewed as a collection of progressive people. Claims of bringing salvation, religion, culture, and commerce through Imperialistic rule were used to justify European expansion. However, despite the fanciful ideas and propaganda spread across the populace, the harsh reality of colonialism told an incredibly different story. Joseph Conrad explores the relationship between the European idea of progress and the colonial reality of Imperialism in Heart of Darkness. Filled with figurative and literal metaphors, Conrad’s novella exposes the tenuous threads that bind civilization together and follows naive Marlow

Marlow says that, "They were conquerors, and for that you want only brute force-- nothing to boast of."(p.58 Heart of Darkness) . Marlow compares his subsequent tale of colonialism with that of the Roman colonization of Northern Europe and the fascination associated with such a voyage. However, Marlow challenges this viewpoint by illustrating a picture of the horrors of colonialist ventures as we delve deeper into the novel. White Europeans are used as symbols of self-deception, and we find that Marlow sees colonization as "robbery with violence, aggravated murder on a great scale, and men going at it blind - as it is very proper for those who tackle darkness."(p.58 Heart of Darkness) This shows how Conrad feels about colonialism through Marlow, because Marlow feels strongly adverse to the actions of the whites in the Congo.

The novella ‘Heart of Darkness’ by Joseph Conrad, published in 1899 is considered to be one of the most influential texts of its time. Although on the surface it seems as though Conrad is praising the white people, with further analysis it is seen that he is being ironic, and is in fact criticising the way they try to civilise the people who do not want to be civilised. English Professor Mark Dintenfass describes Heart of Darkness as: “You can see Heart of Darkness as a depiction of, and an attack upon, colonialism in general, and, more specifically, the particular brutal form colonialism took in the Belgian Congo.” Throughout the text Conrad uses both the narration of the main character Marlow, characterisation and irony to criticise the

Conrad further marginalises and degrades the African characters and race not only through the denial of language but also the denial of human form. When Marlow first sees Africans in a small boat on the water, he describes them in terms of their "muscles", "bones" and "white teeth", despite also recognizing a vitality and spirit. The disembodiment continues when Marlow encounters the chain gang at the outer station. It is when seeking "shade" however that Marlow stumbles upon the grove of death. Here he finds emancipated and dying Africans, cast off by their imperialist "owners" because they are no longer deemed to have monetary value, or economic viability. Instead of feeling revulsion's at this, Marlow dehumanizes the Africans, describing them as "bundles of acute angles" and noting how they drink on "all fours". Thus by denying the Africans their humanity, Conrad constructs a notion

 As the treacherous villain of the tale, the manager signifies total darkness and blackness of the soul. He is in charge of the company and its appalling activities that take place within it. The manager humanizes the severely unbalanced priorities of the company through the extreme importance given to the obtaining of ivory and the deficiency of importance given to human lives. In the beginning of the book, Marlow comes upon a "grove of death" in the jungle where black workers are merely discarded like rusty machinery, no longer able to function satisfactorily in the eyes of the company. Marlow

Kurtz embodies the lust for wealth and possession, and a desire to dominate other all for colonialism in the name of educating and civilizing the popular. Justified under the cover of bringing a bright light into the savages lives but the irony is that he is overshadowed by the darkness of his own heart. Kurts had succumbed to the darkness and Marlow emphasizes the insanity that overwhelms him.

Postcolonialism is the literary theory that speaks about the human consequences of external control and economic exploitation of native people and their lands. Colonialism is a major theme in the novella Heart of Darkness, by Joseph Conrad. The story follows an introspective sailor named Marlow and his journey into the African Congo to meet Mr. Kurtz, an enigmatic and idealistic man. During his journey deeper into the jungle, Marlow witnesses various atrocities committed by his fellow colonists against the Native Africans. In Heart of Darkness, the noble and romantic cause of bringing civilization and progress to the darkness at the heart of Africa is corrupted into an oppressive occupation and brings to light the evils of colonialism and