Moralities In Heart Of Darkness

Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness takes place in a world built on imperialism. Written in 1899, Conrad is living in a world still very much involved in Africa. Infect this presence did not begin to end until the early 1960s. Heart of Darkness can be viewed as a very forward thinking book. Joseph Conrad utilizes his book as a mean to send a message. He utilizes his rhetorical devices and moves in order to help him get this message across. One way Conrad portrays his message is by establishing the connection between light and dark. Additionally Conrad uses vivid description to depict the savage behavior of the natives. He makes meaning by later creating a parallel with the behaviors of the white imperialists. Conrad also utilizes imagery to describe the perceived outcome of the voyage in the eyes of the imperialists. He makes meaning by doing this as he later contrasts this showing how things are oven not as they seem. Continuing the idea that things are often not as they seem is Conrad’s diction

King Leopold was abusing his position of power to exploit the Congo for it’s raw materials, it can be said that the vivid cruel and gruesome images Conrad conveys in the book are merely mirroring the harsh reality of the brutalisation in Africa. One could therefore conclude that due to Conrad’s own experiences in the Congo he has to tell his story through a framed narrative, as it may be too difficult for him to share his story in the first person. Whether this was the case or not, it is clear than in ‘Heart of Darkness’ Conrad reveals the abuse of power to be ever present in the colonial age that Conrad lived in, and he demonstrates the abuse of power as something to be wary of and to fear, as it can result in madness.

In the article "An Image of Africa: Racism in Conrad's Heart of Darkness," Chinua Achebe criticizes Joseph Conrad for his racist views toward the natives of Africa. After one reads Achebe’s critique, it is clear that Conrad wanted the novella to be perceived as a racist text. Conrad depicts the uncivilized treatment of nonwhites during the period of colonization without condemning such actions. After analyzing Achebe’s famous work and Conrad’s novella I have come to agree with Achebe; Conrad “was a thoroughgoing racist.” (Achebe) Heart of Darkness portrays this position clearly. Throughout the novella, Conrad describes and represents the Africans and Africa itself in a racist way. According to Chinua Achebe, the harsh behavior of English people towards the natives, the lack of equality felt by the English towards the Africans, and the word choices of the English to and about the savages reveal Conrad's racist position in the work.

Heart of Darkness creates a prejudice way of presenting Africa, Joseph Conrad shows the African Congo through the perspective of the colonising Europeans, who describe all the natives as savages, which perpetuates the stereotype of the uncivilised African in the eyes of the European readers.

In Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness we see various attitudes toward morality. It is extremely difficult, maybe impossible, to deduce the exact endorsement of morality that Conrad intended. Conrad provides his readers with several instances where the interpretation of morality is circumstantial, relative, and even "indeterminable." One finds many situations in the novel that lie somewhere between morality, immorality, and amorality. A few examples from the novel that illustrate this idea are: the depiction of Kurtz as revealed through Marlowe, Marlowe's own actions and thoughts, and the Kurtz' death scene.

as a narrator so he himself can enter the story and tell it out of his own

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.

While Cecil Rhodes is without a doubt an intelligent man, his understanding of human nature and personhood is irreconcilably damaged by ungrounded assumptions and his own personal biases. On the contrary, Joseph Conrad exhibits a rather clear conception of human nature and how it relates to imperialism. Rhodes argues in “Confession of Faith” that imperialism is morally required as it is a means to utopia-like end. In his novella Heart of Darkness, Conrad illuminates the greatest fallacy in Rhodes’ argument. As this untrue premise is brought to light, Rhodes’ argument based on morality crumbles.

Conrad revealed his ideas through his character, Marlow, when we read his experiences traveling down the Congo when he sees the natives and their land that has been untouched by colonialism. Conrad’s lack of concern for the natives may have been a result of his experiences with them during his journey in Africa. Assuming Heart of Darkness’ character Marlow is a representation of Conrad himself, he did saw the native people in both conditions. He experienced them in the Belgium Congo, beaten and broken from the harshness of the colonists and he saw them in their natural state before the effects of colonialism had reached them. One may argue that his lack of concern for the natives was because he had seen them in their homeland and before their home had been changed, and maybe he chose to believe that there was hope left in Africa for its tribal tradition. This statement is simply not true; Marlow fully experienced the devastation left by colonialism in Africa, yet his animosity towards colonialism was still due to the concern for his own people, the white colonists.

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 Heart of Darkness is Joseph Conrad’s cautionary tale about the dangers of colonization. The reader journeys with protagonist Charlie Marlow deep into the jungles of Africa, which exposes the greed and corruption of Europeans who have taken over this land and enslaved its natives. Exploring this journey through the psychoanalytic and feminist theoretical lenses, however, provides a different perspective altogether.

  In Heart of Darkness, Joseph Conrad, challenges a dominant view by exposing the evil nature and the darkness associated with the colonialist ventures. It is expressed by Marlow 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 a darkness." The European colonialists are portrayed as blind lightbearers, people having a façade of progress and culture, yet are blind of their actions. They think they are brining a light to a darkness, yet they are the real darkness or evil. Conrad's critique of European colonialism is most apparent through the oppositions of light and darkness, with the

Imperialism and its oppressive processes have affected societies as well as individual lives for centuries. In Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness, oppression through imperialism demonstrates how a certain civilization, the Congolese, is affected negatively by imperialism. By focusing on Africa, it allows for a graphic recount of the many years spent reigned by foreign oppressors and tyrannies. In Heart of Darkness, the Congo is oppressed by the imperialists economically and geographically. As well, the oppressed people are taken advantage of spiritually. Conrad describes how the ruling tyrant is affected by the process of conquering a local people and this draws a parallel to the ruling empire. Conrad, through his novel, attempts to

In Heart of Darkness, the reader is given the a first person account of the horrors of imperialism bolstered by Conrad’s own experience travelling up the Congo River. Patrick Brantlinger, a professor from Indiana University, defends Conrad noting that, “much of the ‘horror’ either depicted or suggested in Heart of Darkness… exposed Leopold 's bloody system between the time of his return to England and the composition of the novella in 1898-99.” Even Achebe at concedes in his essay, “An Image of

Heart of Darkness contains a lot of belittling imagery of the natives of Congo, all described from a white inquisitor’s point of view. If Conrad wanted to publish the book in the African region, he might have needed to replace all his descriptions to fit a more respectable image of the natives of Congo. This would have influenced how the book addressed the topic of hypocrisy of imperialism. Because Conrad used those belittling descriptions, and incorporated the white man’s burden, the book perfectly challenges that theme. Had he not used those stylistic features, the book might just fall apart. It would then not have the same message and would not have the same effect on the reader. It would be controversial though, seeing as it was published in 1899, which meant that, if Conrad had used proper descriptions of the natives, it would be a rare piece of literature that actually respected the natives and did not infuse the white man’s burden, in contrary to what the society of that time believed. This new version might have been well received in Africa, but it would be struck as an abomination in the Western world. Heart of Darkness would then differ too much from what the society of then believed in, which was the white man’s power and the fact that a race of color was a