Theme Of Colonization In Heart Of Darkness

“I found myself back in the sepulchral city resenting the sight of people hurrying through the streets to filch a little money from each other […] They trespassed upon my thoughts. They were intruders whose knowledge of life was to me an irritating pretence, because I felt so sure they could not possibly know the things I knew.” (Conrad 102). Towards the end of the novel, Marlow also begins to understand that Kurtz was not as brilliant as he had been presented. “…Kurtz really couldn’t write a bit – but heavens how a man could talk! He electrified large meetings. He had faith – don’t you see? - he had the faith. He could get himself to believe anything – anything. He wouldn’t have been a splendid leader of an extreme party. “What party?” I asked. “Any party,” answered the other.” (Conrad 104). Conrad shows us what white men are into. It was all about power, prestige and money. Consequently, Conrad’s novel criticizes white men and imperialism and Said sees is as well – “… Marlow unsettles the reader’s sense not only of the very idea of empire but of something more basic, reality itself. For if Conrad can show that all human activity depends on controlling a radically unstable reality to which words approximate only by will or convention, the same is true of empire, of venerating the idea, and so forth.

Heart of Darkness written by Joseph Conrad is dramatic tale of an arduous trek into the darkest part of Africa at the turn of the twentieth century. The story follows the protagonist Marlow, an English marine merchant, as he travels through the African jungle up the Congo river in search for a mysterious man named Kurtz. Through Marlow's narration, Conrad provides a searing indictment of European colonial exploitation inflicted upon African natives. Through his use of irony, characters, and symbolism in the novel, Conrad aims to unveil the underlying horrors of colonialism. By shedding light on the brutality of colonialism in Heart of Darkness, Conrad shows that European values have been irrevocably eclipsed by darkness.

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.  Marlow, like other Europeans of his time, is brought up to believe certain things about colonialism, but his views change as he experiences colonialism first hand. This essay will explore Marlow's view of colonialism, which is shaped through his experiences and also from his relation to Kurtz.  Marlow's understanding of Kurtz's experiences show him the effects colonialism can have on a man's soul.

First, the main event surrounding this novella is the colonization of Africa, and it holds a huge ethical issue. The purpose of the Europeans, like Marlow and Kurtz, coming to Africa was originally to civilize it and bring a positive impact to the continent. However, they soon came to realize that they could profit off of the land. So they began to use the land for trade and sold the natives as slaves (“Colonization Lecture”, 2015). The major ethical question here could be: is going against the original promise something the colonists should have done? At the time, the European’s morals could have been different than those people hold now. In fact, this is a decent example of cultural relativism. The Europeans took their culture as a standard of action. Since their background made it seem that colonialism was okay, they all seemed to act based on this idea. In modern times, however, it is not

Marlow’s evolution renders ‘Heart of Darkness’ a remarkable work of literature, but it is not simply the budding of the narrator’s mind that makes the novel sensational. Marlow’s perception of the voyage is what truly renders the work exceptional. European expansion, as written by European writers, was generally cast in a positive light. When Conrad depicts the desolation of the journey and reveals the sanities and lives robbed through the conquest, he clearly does not conform to the writers of his time. This exposure of European expansion in such a sinister a fashion was innovative for writers of the late 17th century. This revolutionary perception is what truly allows ‘Heart of Darkness’ to be considered a novel rich in moral and detail.

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.

The novella, Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad, is a piece that pushed the envelope of its time due to an oppositional stance on the forced imperialism of primitive and/or impoverished countries. The protagonist of this story is the self-proclaimed explorer, Marlow, who decides to leave the heart of light and purity (Europe) and take a job as a steamboat captain in the dark jungles of the Congo Free State in Africa. Upon his arrival, Marlow begins to see the impact of Belgium’s intrusion on the Congo by means of implementing slavery, commandeering ivory (a valuable resource), and presenting a negative attitude toward the primitive population. Marlow eventually becomes obsessed with an ivory

Kurtz resonates the “hidden truth”, the hypocrisy, behind the European imperialist actions in the African continent. Marlow’s search of Kurtz, brings Marlow to an epiphany. Marlow makes a pivotal discovery in reading a letter written by Kurtz, Marlow reads, “It was very simple and at the end of that moving appeal to every altruistic sentiment it blazed at you luminous and terrifying like a flash of lighting in a serene sky: ‘exterminate all brutes!’ ” (Conrad 50). The letter written by Kurtz parallels the hypocrisy behind the imperialism conducted in the African Congo; it appears to be righteous on the surface, although, containing wicked intentions.

It is incredible that a single character can bring such wonder, curiosity, and darkness. Anyone who has read further into the novel “Heart of Darkness” by Joseph Conrad will see the ironic, and mind-twisting aspects of imperialism, colonialism, racism, savagery, and insanity throughout the book, brought by the unique characters. One of these characters was Marlow, who was a thirty-two-year-old sailor who longed adventure and fulfilled his dreams of exploring the “blank places” of the map as a young man by taking a job as a riverboat captain with the Belgian company as he travels into the dark heart of Africa. The most important character that truly brings those aspects to the story is Kurtz. Repetitively throughout the journey, Marlow hears

     Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad is a story about a man named Marlow and his Journey into the African Congo. By reading the novel and understanding all the imagery Conrad has inserted, we can get a better understanding of the

    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

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

As Kurtz’s title grows, he is able to work his way into the natives’ minds. He becomes their leader, even though he is an outsider. Little does Marlow know, Kurtz’s corruptness and his imperialistic and colonialist efforts to rule the African land would become his demise. In the end, Marlow understands that Kurtz is not all he is made out to be, and finds that his practices are harsher than necessary as he reads in Kurtz’s book his plans to “Exterminate all the brutes!” (50). Kurtz is referring to the natives he befriends and uses to his advantage. While Marlow and Kurtz move throughout the Congo as foreigners of a “First World” country, the Natives of the Congo are forces reconcile with Kurtz’s colonization and rule of their land and over their people. What Conrad presents in Heart of Darkness are the dangers of naiveté regarding “First World” practices of imperialism and colonialism, and then becoming aware, as Marlow gradually does, of their implications.