Post-Colonial Lens In The Tempest And Heart Of Darkness

Post-colonial theory is the study of the colonizer and the colonized. Post-colonial literature refers to the literary works of writers of the colonized countries whose work concentrates on the main theme of colonization and decolonization. Post-colonial literature is about European colonization of Asia, Africa, countries around the Pacific and many other parts of the world. It deals with the problems such as adversity, racism, exploitation of women and

  Conrad has been accused of racism because of the way he portrays the natives in his novel, Heart of Darkness. It has been argued that the natives cannot be an essential part of Heart of Darkness due to the manner in which they are depicted.  However, a careful reading reveals that the story would be incomplete without the natives. Marlow develops a relationship with one of the natives - perhaps the first time in his life that Marlow creates a bond with someone outside of his own race.

There is an abundance of literature in which characters become caught between colliding cultures. Often, these characters experience a period of growth from their exposure to a culture that’s dissimilar to their own. Such is the case with Marlow, Joseph Conrad’s infamous protagonist from ‘Heart of Darkness’. Marlow sets off to Africa on an ivory conquest and promptly found himself sailing into the heart of the Congo River. Along the way he is faced with disgruntled natives, cannibals, and the ominous and foreboding landscape. Marlow’s response to these tribulations is an introspective one, in which he calls into question his identity. This transcending of his former self renders the work as a whole a

In Joseph Conrad’s novel Heart of Darkness, the cultural collisions illustrates the struggles Marlow experiences as he questions the nature of evil in humanity.

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 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 says, "I had got a heavenly mission to civilize you," he is expressing his intentions to assist the Africans in their development and advancement. Marlow recognizes the fact that he is an invader into an unfamiliar land when he says, "I was an impostor," yet he sticks to his moral values.

    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

Marlow tells his shipmates on the boat (the Nelly) that the natives passed him “within six inches, without a glance, with that complete, deathlike indifference of unhappy savages” (16). Marlow’s story of his experience exhibits how the Europeans captured the natives and forced them to work; to strip their homeland of its resources and natural beauty. When the Europeans colonize Africa, they do not want to help the African people, but exploit them and put them to work for their own desire of obtaining ivory, rubber, and other resources and goods. As the Europeans imperialize the area, they do not build culture or assist in the development of the Congo region, but break down culture as they enslave the natives and take away their rights, along with stripping the area of resources and natural, earthly beauty, which is conveyed through the cruel physical treatment towards the natives. This treatment is also presented through the literary devices that Conrad decides to use to reveal the experiences of the natives to the

　　In Heart of Darkness, it can be inferred that the Native Africans are supposed to represent the primitive savages and the white Europeans are supposed to represent the civilized men. However, what we hear from Marlow’s tale is that the white Europeans were the ones acting like savages, whereas the “savages”, such as the cannibals, acted more respectable, even though these cannibals were exactly that: cannibals who ate human flesh. However, Marlow was surprised to find that they were able to control their urges aboard the ship and seemed to operate on a code. He will eventually realize the darkness that exists within all man.

To sum up the harshness and cruelties of imperialism, Conrad explains that, “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”(4). Also, Conrad uses imagery to depict the journey up the Congo and through the darkness of the African Safari. There are two reasons why he described, in extensive detail, Marlow’s trip. The first reason was to show the effects of wilderness on the human heart. Guerard, an acclaimed critic, describes the significance of the actual journey.

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.

There are many divisions in the relationships between the white explorers and colonizers and the native population that they encounter. Moreover, among the white explorers there are more divisions. Marlow is separated from the other characters because he is critical of imperialism; Kurtz is separated because he has gone against the rigid boundaries that are intended to divide the colonizer from the colonized. While we see that in Heart of Darkness the characters are in constant contact with one another yet the quality of their relationships and their connections are limited because they lack shared values, which is a trait of modernism seen in other works by Conrad as

  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

In the imagery of the Heart of Darkness as “monstrous and free,” Conrad also remarks on the individuals inhabiting the area. Marlow categorizes them as “not inhuman,” which is an interesting word choice. These men act as wild as their surroundings, which leads us to believe that they may be inhuman, however the reader must remember that these are humans. The words “not inhuman” distinguishes that even though the natives act differently, they are still human beings. The way the people are described parallels the nature they inhabit; however Marlow still must acknowledge the similarities between himself and these men. In his word choice, he references their “remote kinship” and the

The overall meaning of the paragraph, that connects to the overall meaning of the novel, is that the average person has a deep resonance with the natives and their “savagery” lying within our minds and hearts. Marlow has crumbles of this mentality through his journey,when he comes into contact with the natives on various occasions, and is able to distinguish an odd relationship between the denizen and the citizen. In this particular instance, as Marlow travels to through the Congo River on a steam boat, he is able to meet and interact with the African natives, both on and off the steamboat. With the various interactions, he slowly finds himself learning about the social interactions that the natives have and are capable of, and has his previous mental notions and structures of the community shaken and reconstructed. Finally, Marlow comes to conclusion; both the average city dweller and African native share a link of ancestry, humanity, and are no internal difference between one another. The only difference that can be found is based of societal expectations and thinking that fools people into believing that the two are not mutual in any degree, which would be the root of evil practices, such as dehumanization. Conrad has a keen eye for the particular lengths and punctuations being used throughout the novel, and can be clearly identified within the given paragraph. Through literary techniques-such as syntax-Conrad is able to implore the audience to realize such a mindset, and