The heart of darkness novella is a significant work of literature by Joseph Conrad. It is based on the author’s journey to Africa, up River Congo. When the captain of the steamboat they are travelling in dies, Conrad takes over as the new captain. This novella appeared in the Blackwood magazine as a 3 part series in 1899 and was published in 1902.
Heart of darkness is a foundational text on the subject of colonialism. This novella is considered a good tool that deals with both physical and psychological transformation that involves the Europeans and also the expedition for individual self knowledge in Africa. Africa is highly shown as a dark continent especially its regions of the Congo basin.
The story stars Charles Marlow an English man who takes a job as a ferry boat captain with a Belgium trading company in Africa. It relates the passage of time to the darkening of the sky during the fictious narrative. Marlow transports ivory downstream. Throughout his entire voyage he is exposed to the brutality of the European attitudes and the rules of colonialism.
He meets Kurtz, a very cruel man who takes ivory from the Africans by force. He undertakes to return Kurtz to civilization in an attempt to cover up for him, but Kurtz, who was ill at the time, dies on the ship. Before his death Kurtz entrusts Marlow with some documents among them the picture of his fiancée (Lawall).
The heart of darkness clearly gives a clear exploration about issues of imperialism in many different ways. The writer creates a satire where the Europeans are seen as very greedy and ignorant people. The novella exposes the myth behind colonization and brings out three levels of darkness that Marlow encounters; darkness of the Congo basin, darkness of Europeans cruel treatment of the natives and Darkness within every human being for the sins they commit.
Marlow comes across several bad scenes through his expedition, scenes that showed cruelty, torture and slavery. Marlow is forced to align himself with the hypocritical and malevolent colonial rule and the openly malicious rule (Lawall).
Marlow gives an insight about several actions believed to be done by the Romans and gives an assessment of those actions with the actions of the people doing exploration on the African. The colonial activities are given a harsh image by the author of the novella. It shows the cruelty of the colonialists. It also depicts the white men as being superior to the back man, Kurtz who is a sick man and physically very weak but rules the Africans with a lot of suppression and instead of trading with them he just takes their ivory by force.
Trade is the name given by the men who worked for the company to give a description of what they did and the impunity they imposed on Africans. In this novella Africans are depicted as objects and are abused throughout the story. Kurtz describes his treatment as that of suppression and extermination and acknowledges that he rules by violence and extermination. The harsh treatment can be seen through the references the black people were given.
Works Cited
Lawall, Sarah. The Norton Anthology of Western Literature. New York: W.W.Norton publishers, 2005
The novels Heart of Darkness (1900) and Things Fall Apart (1956) are the most unique and outstanding works based on philosophical and psychological interpretations, historical and sociological issues. Both works reflect disillusion and grief experienced by African people. The authors vividly portray that the end of the slave trade brought a severe economic crisis that was not really overcome until the twentieth century. Grandiose plans for colonization, intended to make Africa a “second Brazil,” achieved very modest results: a few coffee planters settled in the central highland.
Thesis
Both works are great works of art as they depict the reality of life and skillfully portray human suffering and hardship experienced by millions of propelling.
The title Heart of Darkness has a symbolic meaning portraying history and rejection of African values and traditions Thus, while the dominance of the trading class continued, a small settler class with its own political goals arose alongside it. In wild rubber, moreover, the whites had a new, easily collectible, potential export product. But the transition from a labor-exporting economy to one which utilized local natural resources seems to have been beyond Portuguese strength. The African colonies were also subservient to the needs of the more important Asian and South American possessions. The work of art reflects the reality of life and hardship experienced by people: “The vision seemed to enter the house with me – the stretcher, the phantom-bearers, the wild crowd of obedient worshippers, the gloom of the forests,… the beat of the drum, regular and muffled like the beating of a heart – the heart of a conquering darkness” (Conrad 66).
Similar to Heart of Darkness, the novel Things Fall Apart depicts cruelty and oppression dominated inside the African continent. Achebe vividly depicts that the administrador embodied military, administrative, and judicial authority, all three. He saw to law and order, the execution of the law, and the completion of public works. He supervised tax collection, administered the census, and watched over and advised local chiefs. He also served as the lowest level of the judicial system, since, in contrast to British practice, there were no native courts. Finally, it was the administrador’s duty to see to it, as the law quaintly stated, that “the natives gave up their habits of indolence” and became peasants and agricultural laborers. “Turning and turning in the widening gyre The falcon cannot hear the falconer; Things fall apart; the center cannot hold; Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world.” (Achebe 32).
Conrad uses avid images of oppression and suffering to create a unique world unknown to European people. The difference is governed not merely by language, but by an entire attitude. At once serious in nature and ludicrous in expression, is representative of the general dramatic situation in which the evil characters of the novel find themselves. This curious juxtaposition of elements has been aptly characterized by the phrase, evil. Like other colonizing powers, the whites also acted on the maxim of divide and rule, destroying the larger African polities in order to integrate the smaller divisions into the colonial state. That radically altered the political landscape and also ushered in fundamental social and economic transformations. The latter did not always signify progress for the Africans but because they lay outside the ken of colonial officials went unconsidered by them. “When you have to attend to things of that sort, to the mere incidents of the surface, the reality—the reality, I tell you—fades. The inner truth is hidden—luckily, luckily. But I felt it all the same” (Conrad 87). Conrad uses the word “reality” to depict the essence of the wilderness.
Similar to Conrad, Achebe portrays historical settings and social relations inside the African community. The creation of a unified territorial administration was one of the aims sought by reformers around the turn of the century. Another less important aim was securing more autonomy for the individual colonies. These demands, coming from leading colonial officials, coincided with wishes which local communities of white settlers and businessmen had been expressing for years. Built to convey a theme of highest eminence to an audience of broadest diversity, they combined symbolism, typology, realism, and homiletics. Within a dramatic context representing the providential order that governed all things and all mankind, there arose a dramaturgical method that staged evil as something comic, not only for reasons grounded in the medieval philosophy of evil but for the more practical homiletic purpose of engaging the least sophisticated of minds. Though evil in the mysteries could be laughed at, it could not lightly be dismissed; even in its most grotesque or ludicrous manifestations, it remained a ubiquitous force in the earthly existence of man. Achebe questions: n understand our custom about land?” “How can he when he does not even speak our tongue? But he says that our customs are bad; our own brothers who have taken up his religion also say that our customs are bad. How do you think we can fight when our own brothers have turned against us?” (Achebe 43) Evil conventions were being firmly established: the discomfiture of the godless was consistently represented by two basic emotions–wrath and despair; the suffering of innocents, on the other hand, was dramatized in lyric lamentation, and consistently arose from established situations either as part of Christ’s passion or within a domestic context. And all the elements of suffering and evil were rendered endurable and intelligible in terms of the over-ruling, benevolent, and just scheme of Christian providence. Awareness of this scheme, both in its ideological and dramaturgical dimensions, was the key to the interpretation of suffering and evil on the medieval stage.
The Heart of Darkness can be seen as a greater literary achievement as it utilizes unique characters, plot, themes, symbols, and historical context. In contrast, Things Fall Apart pays more attention to characters and the plot but diminishes the role of historical events in narration. In the Heart of Darkness, “darkness” represents the evil that is rooted in man himself, and which poses a constant temptation to his worst inclinations, as well as a constant threat to his spiritual security. For the man who falls there await the punishments of physical affliction and spiritual desperation, from which he can be extracted only by grace and trust. The basic framework is simple and mechanical, designed to be understood by everyone; and like most simple mechanisms, it was destined to last a surprisingly long time.
In sum, both works deserve appreciation and appraisal but the Heart of Darkness is more realistic and trustworthy. The suffering of the human heroes, in either their physical or spiritual forms, is always retributive because of the homiletic nature of the novels Since the moral hero is essentially the man who falls victim to vice, there are no suffering innocents. In the rigidly defined structure of morality, both suffering and evil are non-problematic. If the dramatic context of the novel provided the essential clue for the interpretation of evil and suffering, the solidity and permanence of that context were responsible for the unshakeable conventions which governed the expression of suffering and evil.
References
Achebe, Ch. Things Fall Apart: A Novel. Anchor, 1994.
Conrad, J. Heart of Darkness. Prestwick House Inc, 2004.
The text Heart of Darkness looks into what embodies a lie by giving the accounts of Charles Marlow an Englishman working as a ferryboat captain in Africa soon after the death of Kurtz. Marlow’s experiences both in Africa and Europe may have shaped him and led him to lie to Kurtz’s intended.
Marlow’s experiences are pegged on evils of the human condition in these two regions especially Kurtz’s expedition to what he called the “heart of darkness” along the banks of the snake-like river Congo (Conrad, 19). All this reactions are divided into two; common inconsequential misdemeanors and trifling lies and the larger evils which in most cases are attributed to madmen (Conrad, 150; Milne, 88).
The big question here is why did Marlow lie to Kurtz’s intended, was it the right thing to do to lie or not and why? Marlow on recounting to Kurtz’s intended about her lover’s death lies to her about Kurtz’s last words. As a replacement for Kurtz’s last words “The Horror, The Horror” he lies about Kurtz’s last words. He claims that he called out to her and mentioned her name (Conrad, 50). So why does he lie or what is Conrad trying to portray here?
The circumstances and world Marlow lives in, is one that paints a picture of Europeans males as men able to chase after their every impulse (acquiring fame, women and wealth-embodied in Kurtz) (Conrad, 46). To understand the reason for the lie, first we must understand there were two images of Kurtz being portrayed. One was what Marlow, Kurtz’s intended and other people idolized; and the other was what Marlow found out (Ellis, 96).
All through his journeys, Marlow saw Kurtz as a ‘hero’ and admired him but on meeting him and getting to see for himself the real Kurtz and such things as dried heads on stakes facing his station, his view of Kurtz changed. This can be said to be one of the influences over Marlow that led to his lie.
The meeting between the two made Marlow realize that Kurtz was not an ideal person and did not have good principles too. Another more profound influence over Marlow was his perception of women (Conrad, 50). Does he lie to protect Kurtz’s intended’s feelings or is his lie fostered by other reasons?
Marlow sees women as holding less importance in the society. Both Marlow and Kurtz see the intended as the epitome of the naiveté of women. She holds a huge significance in Conrad’s portrayal of importance on women in the text. Her depiction paints women as naïve, idealistic and deeply devoted to the males in their lives, as seen by the intended towards Kurtz. A further indication of this is her being referred to as the intended and depicted as a possession belonging to Kurtz that remains unnamed (Conrad, 22).
This shows very little value is accorded to her by Conrad through Kurtz and Marlow. Marlow only recognizes and praises her beauty when he meets her but that is as far as he goes in acknowledging her. He tells her of how any man would be proud to have her as his wife, that her “beauty is a trophy and to a man’s eye her only redeeming quality” (Ellis, 6).
Nevertheless, Marlow’s perception of the intended is not how he sees her alone but all the women he encounters in his journeys. To Marlow, all the women he encounters are “unintelligent, uninformed and unimportant” (Conrad, 83). Marlow goes ahead to even ridicule their innocence and says that “its queer how out of touch with the truth women are” (Conrad, 34).
This may form the background of Marlow’s lie and try to explain why he lied to Kurtz’s intended. Conrad paints a picture whereby women’ unawareness with the goings on around them and which remains constant subject matter to base the female characters all through text “especially the Intended whose naiveté makes her a caricature of women of the time” (Boyle, 64). Marlow describes Kurtz’s painting of the Intended in which she is blindfolded holding a torch.
The painting reinforces how blind to the truth about Kurtz and about Imperialism she is, and how she is confined by her white European view of society. Through the eyes of the male narratives, the Intended is an embodiment of oppressed female stereotypes and reflects the misogyny of their societies. The Intended is valued only as a collected object and not as an autonomous being (Boyle, 64).
Marlow is not alone in his perception of women, Kurtz in one instance tells Marlow that to protect their world from getting worse; they should help women stay “in that beautiful world of their own” (Conrad, 16). This is an indication that the male protagonists and Conrad himself have strong beliefs that women are very delicate characters and such characters are too simple to grasp the conciseness of the horrors occurring in the world around them (Ellis, 196; Milne, 88).
This can be seen from the way the intended’s mind is clouded by her extreme devotion to Kurtz. She is oblivious to his actual character and her perception and devotion of him is only fed by the praise Kurtz gets in Europe. Boyle argues that “her naiveté mimics the thoughts of other white Europeans of the time and their views on Imperialism” (Conrad, 150).
According to Boyle, Europeans, like the Intended, staunchly believe in the greatness of the men who travel to Africa to bestow civilization on a savage country. This therefore warrants the lie about Kurtz to the intended. Marlow does not want to damage the reputation or image Kurtz has created in the eyes of hi intended (Milne, 1988).
As a result he protects it by lying allowing the intended to continue thinking this way about Kurtz. Ted Boyle argues extensively on the intended’s naiveté “for believing her name was really his last word -a part of Kurtz, the noblest part, the part he Intended has in fact survived the powers of darkness” (Boyle, 106). The text clearly illustrates that Marlow would rather lie to the intended about Kurtz’s false legacy than to admit to women that men also have faults.
To cover up for male weakness, Marlow and Kurtz indirectly criticize and pity the intended for her weakness, a “weakness that has not been acquired, but rather assumedly to be in possession internally as a side effect of their gender” (Conrad, 50).
There is a lack of correspondence between Kurtz and his intended therefore she is protected by Kurtz from the harsh realities and truths of the world especially the horrors of the Congo. Marlow is also in on this when he allows her to believe that Kurtz was a good man even to his death (Dahl, 68).
The intended is completely unaware of her betrothed’s true self but follows blindly what has been created by Kurtz in the pretense that he loves her. This brings forth the vulnerability of women, their original weakness and their absolute dependence on men. She and other women of the time are victims of both sexual discrimination and the entire society especially their own gender which continues to oppress them (Ellis, 19).
Kurtz succumbs to savagery but on the other side of the world, his intended is still holding to the illusion of his portrayed European self. Kurtz breaks away from social obligations and gives into an inner primitive nature abandoning his pasts to give into the darkness, but yet his intended still loves him and still remains dutifully and instinctively faithful to him (Conrad, 1950).
She claims to know Kurtz best when she meets with Marlow. She tells Marlow that if she had been at his bedside she would have treasured every sigh, world and glance, while Marlow listens with bated breath wishing he could scream to her the irony of her words (Conrad, 112).
Marlow wants to tell her of the darkness that overtook Kurtz, but because he has been conditioned to consider women inferior and incapable, he holds his tongue and allows her to believe what she wishes.
This creates the setting for the lie. Kenneth Bruffee looks into Marlow’s lie to Kurtz’s intended and expresses it as “the belief that some knowledge of yourself is the only reward life offers” (Bruffee, 14). Bruffee’s understanding implies that the text itself involves a self gained knowledge by Kurtz on man’s deficiency which comes out as both rewarding and disappointing (Bruffee, 64).
Carola M. Kaplan’s article Colonizers, Cannibals, and the Horror of Good Intentions in Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness – Critical Essay also tries to look at what embodies a lie. Kaplan argues that man has the ability to embody truth but is not aware of this. According to Kaplan, Marlow all through the text insists on being truthful and on truthful dealings. He tries to be adamant on the distinction between “truth and lies; men and women; civilization and savagery and, most of all, between self and other” (Kaplan, 97).
Kaplan states that the distinction between one’s self and others is the most important and vital aspect of society. This forms the contextual basis of the opposition that carries on the colonial endeavors in Africa. So the question comes up again, why the lie by Marlow to the intended? Marlow does not only lie to the intended but to the Europeans as a whole (Conrad, 1950). The fear and lure that hold sway over the Europeans of the other (Africans) is enough to instigate the hunt and ‘discovery’ of colonialism (Kaplan, 97).
To rationalize this aspect of colonialism, the other (Africans) is portrayed as inferior to Europeans. Nevertheless, Marlow’s persistence on the distinction he thinks as right is to no avail; as the colonists emerge victors (Kaplan, 97). Kaplan states that “the gang of virtue is indistinguishable from the gang of greed, the illusions of women merely echo the illusions of men, and there is no clear distinction between lies and truth” (97).
Patrick Brantlinger argues that the text Heart of Darkness presents a very authoritative and commanding analysis of imperialism and racism. Brantlinger asserts that “Chinua Achebe claimed Conrad to be a ‘bloody racist’ in a lecture he delivered titled The Images of Africa” (Brantlinger, 196).
But according to Brantlinger, the text’s very quintessence lies in the fact that it does not overlook imperialism. He states that Achebe was of the mind that Conrad through the characters of Kurtz and Marlow reduced Africa to a lowly role of being props for the disintegration of one inconsequential European mind (Kurtz’s) greatly idolized by Marlow; and that is an arrogance that is both preposterous and wicked in humans (Brantlinger, 16; (Brantlinger, 88).
Marlow hero worships Kurtz to the highest degree in the text Heart of Darkness. He attributes Kurtz’s greatness as seen in the eyes of his intended and Europeans was from a creation of all Europe.
According to Marlow, Kurtz is the “best of the best” (Conrad, 56). Marlow tries to seek the truth from his journeys and appears to find it when he comes across Kurtz. Conrad paints and illustrates Kurtz as a great man and not as the other pilgrims (Brantlinger, 1988). Kurtz was meant to be a savior, a redeemer from the imperialistic motives that drove the Europeans to Congo by trying to civilize the native inhabitants.
As the story unravels we get to see Kurtz as the “great man he is, a lover of arts, an intellectual, an artist, a lover, a philanthropist with a mission and a writer” (Brantlinger, 19). He is the embodiment of the European man according to Conrad. But along the way Kurtz embraces the heart of darkness -a phrase used by Conrad to refer to Congo- and lapses into his savage state suppressed within him (Brantlinger, 19).
Marlow’s journey into the heart of darkness opens up the meaning of this phrase. It now not only refers to the harsh realities of the Congo but to the inner beings of man. His encounters with Kurtz bring about the other side of Kurtz, one that was only known by the natives; his savage nature, not even known to his intended.
Marlow observes that Kurtz is eventually prevailed over “by the land of darkness, and returns to the very savage beginnings that Marlow observes in the natives “(Brantlinger, 96). Marlow sees Kurtz to have sunk so low and taken an elevated position among the ills of the land. He calls him hollow and says this of him:
“the wilderness had found him out early, and had taken on him a terrible vengeance for the fantastic invasion. I think it had whispered to him things about himself which he did not know, things of which he had no conception till he took counsel with this great solitude — and the whisper had proved irresistibly fascinating. It echoed loudly within him because he was hollow at the core” (Conrad, 60).
This clearly illustrates the depths Kurtz had sunk to. At the end of the text, Marlow’s lie to Kurtz’s intended does not seem to be only for her but for him as well. Despite Kurtz’s savageness that Marlow has witnessed, he still is in a kind of denial and still idolizes him (Milne, 8).
Marlow comes out as a character who despises people who lie and dislikes lies altogether but yet he demonstrates that if the circumstances are extraordinary then a lie is unavoidable (Dahl, 53). From the text Marlow can be argued to not actually telling a lie but letting those he is purported to have told the lie to continue thinking what they were thinking.
Since this is the case with Kurtz’s intended, she herself claims to Marlow that if she were with Kurtz during his last moments, the words that would have come out of her betrothed’s mouth would have been her name (Milne, 65).
Marlow does not offer any indication to change her thinking and tell her what the actual words were but lets her engross herself in her own make believe world. This helps him justify the need for the lie. In the text Heart of Darkness, Marlow cuts himself short and says “you know I hate, detest, and can’t bear a lie, there is taint of death, and a flavor of mortality in lies” (Conrad, 87).
Conclusion
To understand why Marlow was forced to lie, we should understand first of all that he had no reason to hurt the intended. Marlow’s thinking was that it was better for the intended to remember her betrothed (Kurtz) as she knew him while he was still alive.
He did not see any reason to change her view as this would hurt her. Marlow is finally portrayed as a praiseworthy man for doing a kind thing to spare the intended’s feelings. As illustrated in the text Heart of Darkness, Marlow lies two times all through the text. He despises lies and says as much towards his attitude about lies but yet again he is of the idea that when faced with extraordinary circumstances, a lie is unavoidable.
Another dimension can be added to this discussion; that Marlow lied to the intended to also help himself stick to the Kurtz he knew; the great man and lover of arts, and not the savage beast he encountered. He is not ready to accept the change in Kurtz and says that all Europe contributed in turning Kurtz to the savage that he is.
Works Cited
Boyle, Tedd. Marlow’s Lie. Studies in Short Fiction, 1, 115-160. 1964.
Brantlinger, Patrick. Rule of Darkness: British Literature and Imperialism. Ithaca: Cornell UP. 1988. Print.
Brantlinger, Patrick Heart of Darkness: Anti-Imperialism, Racism, or Impressionism? Case Studies in Contemporary Criticism: Heart of Darkness. New York: Bedford Books. 1996. Print.
Bruffee, Kenneth. The Lesser Nightmare: Marlow’s Lie in the Heart of Darkness. Modern Language Quarterly, 25(3), 322. 1964.
Conrad, Joseph. Heart of Darkness. New York: New American Library. 1950. Print.
Conrad, Joseph. Congo Diary and Other Uncollected Pieces. New York: Doubleday & Co. 1978. Print.
Dahl, James. Kurtz Marlow, Conrad and the Human Heart of Darkness. Studies in the Literary Imagination, 1968. Print.
Ellis, James. “Kurtz’s Voice: The Intended as `The Horror”. English Literature in Transition, 19,105-10. 1976. Print.
Kaplan, Carola. Colonizers, Cannibals, and the Horror of Good Intentions in Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness – Critical Essay. Studies in Short Fiction. 1997. Print.
Milne, Fred. Marlow’s Lie and the Intended: Civilization as the lie in Heart of Darkness. The Arizona Quarterly, 1988. Print.
Heart of Darkness is a novel published in the wake of the twentieth century (1902). It was authored by Joseph Conrad and Charlie Marlow is the main character. The novel is regarded as one of the most important examples of the use of symbolism in modern literature. Its structure is that of a frame tale where a story is told within a story.
Marlow, according to the story, was the captain of a ferry-boat in Cong-an African country. The title of the novel carries with it great meaning. It covers the various types of darkness experienced by the main character. First, there is the literal sense which is the darkness of the wilderness in the country.
Marlow says, “God-forsaken wilderness” in reference to the African continent (Conrad73). Secondly, the darkness brought about by Europeans who treated the natives with a lot of cruelty-colonization. The third level of darkness that comes out from the novel is that of the tendency of every human being to be evil.
The essay discusses what the character Marlow discovered about European presence in Africa as well as what he realized about the potential of human nature. It also focuses on Marlow’s inner being on the journey.
Being the main character, the entire story centers on Marlow, and many literary analysts argue that he reflects the feelings, opinions and the experiences of Conrad, the author. Marlow sees a similarity between the experiences of Britain under the rule of the Ancient Roman Empire and its officials.
The way the Romans perceived the Europeans is the same way the Europeans were regarding the African natives in the 19th century. He is annoyed by the cruelty of the Europeans towards Africans. The natives were facing poor treatment and were experiencing forced labor from the whites. Marlow appears to be a man of immense pride and civilization with some sense of compassion. He also emerges to hold very unique values from the rest of his European counterparts, the Belgians.
In general, Marlow’s narration emphasizes the fact that there was a trail of darkness for Europeans and they ought not to have colonized the Africans with such cruelty (Conrad 76). Marlow also discovers that the whites were acting contrary to what they claimed to be in the various reports. Instead of bringing civilization to Africa, in Marlow’s opinion, they had turned into oppressors.
Marlow learnt a great deal about the potential of human nature. In his opinion, human nature can either be human or humane. Being human implies acting like a primate, having a mind and to be living. To show compassion, be tender, loving, have a kind heart and considerate is to be humane.
Marlow learnt during his encounters in Africa that one does not affect or influence the other. They two totally separate qualities of human nature. He discovered that human beings can lack the humane nature when dealing with each other. He saw the Europeans maltreating the Africans as though they were slaves.
Marlow says, “I could see every rib, the joints of their limbs were like knots in a rope; each had an iron collar on his neck, and all were connected together with a chain whose bights swung between them, rhythmically clinking.” (Conrad 81).
This observation made him conclude that human beings are potentially evil, even more than the devil himself. But he believes the evil nature can be overcome when he says, “even apart from the very natural aversion I had to beat that shadow.” (Conrad 142).
As Marlow went on in his journey he discovered his own inner being that made him distinct from the rest of Europeans. As he reflected on the Congo River and his life, the desire to find the truth and face reality grew. He acknowledges that the potential of man to act inhumanly towards fellow man was one of the greatest sins. Marlow noted that man can choose to be humane and should be seen in action rather than mere words (Conrad 51).
The essay has discussed what Marlow discovered about European presence in Africa as well as what he realized about the potential of human nature. It also focused on Marlow’s realization of his own inner being during the journey through the jungle in Congo. The novel, through Marlow, provides a vivid picture of how the Europeans treated the natives during the colonization period.
Rethinking the historical events is one of those tasks that inevitably bring people to realizing their past mistakes and drawing experiences so that these mistakes would not be made further on in the future.
On Conrad’ Heart of Darkness, the lead character, Marlow, at first considers the reasons behind the Europeans who were heading to the wilderness of Central Africa as “civilized” and rather noble; however, further on, Marlow becomes disappointed about these reasons. After re-evaluating the ambitions of the people exploring the African continent in such an impudent manner, Marlow realizes that the true reasons behind the Europeans’ travel were far more egotistic than he could ever imagine.
Indeed, the goals of the people, heading for the terra incognita of the distant and savage lands are not quite clear; wisely enough, Conrad does not disclose the aims of the travelers from the very first page – eh only hints at the possible aims which the travelers might pursue: “But these chaps were not much account, really. They were no colonists; their administration was merely a squeeze, and nothing more, I suspect” (Conrad 9).
However, when it comes to discussing the reasons that made Marlow join the ranks of those exploring the uncharted lands, Conrad makes it obvious that Marlow’s intentions were most innocent: “Now when I was a little chap I had a passion for maps. I would look for hours at South America, or Africa, or Australia, and lose myself in all the glories of exploration.” (Conrad 11).
It seems that for Marlow, only the passion for adventures and new experiences was the true motivation. Nevertheless, even Marlow has hard times with learning about the continent and its inhabitants:
After all, that was only a savage sight, while I seemed at one bound to have been transported into some lightless region of subtle horrors, where pure, uncomplicated savagery was a positive relief, being something that had a right to exist — obviously — in the sunshine. (Conrad 122)
Finally, he also lets some of the madness which the rest of the crew was infected with reach his heart, filling it with darkness as well: “I had to beat that Shadow — this wandering and tormented thing. ‘You will be lost,’ I said –‘utterly lost.’” (Conrad 137).
Therefore, the readers are left with guessing what the Europeans heading for the new lands are going to do. On the one hand, it might seem that the mission of these people could be quite noble; starting with bringing common knowledge to the pagans, it could expand further on to establishing relationships with the people inhabiting the uncharted places, which will supposedly include not only cultural, but also economical and even political ties.
However, Conrad clarifies the given issue pretty soon, explaining that the causes bringing the Europeans to the uncharted lands are far from being noble: “They were conquerors, and for that you want only brute force — nothing to boast of, when you have it, since your strength is just an accident arising from the weakness of others” (Conrad 9).
As Conrad’s lead character, Marlow, continues telling his side of the story, it becomes clear that the Europeans ware aiming only at cashing in on the inhabitants of the wilderness: “They grabbed what they could get for the sake of what was to be got.
It was just robbery with violence, aggravated murder on a great scale, and men going at it blind — as is very proper for those who tackle a darkness” (Conrad 9). The author stresses that the goals of a new European presence were to use the lands, the people and their resources and then leave the place, barren and forgotten.
Thus, the question of what the European people were targeting at when heading for the wilderness of the continent remains open. While there are some specks of humanity left in some of the characters, including Marlow, the narrator, it is still clear that the story focuses on the lowest of the low and their efforts to grab every single thing of the slightest market value.
The darkness within the man who came to conquer started to grow: “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” (Conrad 92).
The above-mentioned, therefore, triggers the question whether these are the wild pagans, the gloomy forests of the continent or the wretched souls of the European conquerors where the darkness is born. It is quite peculiar that all characters portrayed in the novel pursue their own goals, though their goals seem to revolve around the same core, i.e., the desire to get their own profit out of the situation which they have trapped themselves in.
Hence, it seems that none of the characters reach their goals in the end; the attempt to conquer the wilderness ended up in a complete failure. Marlow’s point seems sadly legitimate enough. Driven by the supposedly huge economical and financial profit, the European travelers were defeated not by the threatening darkness of the African continent. It was the darkness of their souls that trapped them – the darkness of the people making their way over corpses.
In his novel, “Heart of Darkness”, Joseph Conrad uses Marlow as the protagonist and at the same time authenticates his dynamic character. Marlow is an introspective youth in his early thirties. As an adventurous British man, he ends up in Congo, Africa, where he learns that darkness, evilness, and exploitation are some of the chief qualities of the human heart and the world.
Through interaction with Kurtz, Conrad explicitly discusses Marlow as a round character. Although he is a philosophic wise man, the thrilled experience in Africa forces Marlow to take a different course in terms of his character. By featuring Marlow, Conrad proves the dynamism of the human character as expounded next.
The analysis of Marlow’s character
Marlow is a curious and at the same time a skeptic man. Initially, his curiosity propels him to explore Africa where he lands in Congo. According to Marlow, Africa is a dark and civilized continent that is why he prefers England. He is so skeptic about Africa that he describes it as a “God-forsaken wilderness (Conrad 73). Nevertheless, he still goes ahead and sets out on a journey to the “dark continent” Africa (Conrad 65).
Furthermore, he never adheres to any remarks said by either his aunt or friends. He tends to filter out all the seemingly satisfactory remarks by the manager and brick maker. When he sets his foot in Africa, he does not like whatever he sees. Ranging from the lifestyle to the people, he instantly hates Africa. Nevertheless, he has to forge on for his survival.
Although he passes for an intelligent, eloquent, and philosophic person, the hardships and personal relationships with other people at the ivory company turns him into a sensitive and resentful man. On arrival in Africa, Marlow becomes fascinated and thrilled by the primitiveness of the people and their lifestyle.
His main aim is to meet Mr. Kurtz whom he eventually encounters. Comparing the horrifying life of Africa with the luxurious life in England, he wonders why people like Kurtz are so passionate about money and power. According to Marlow, virtuous life is celebrated than earning a few extra coins in a world filled with danger. More over, the encounter with Kurtz makes him resentful when he declares, “he is no idol of mine” (Conrad 90).
Kurtz had not only brainwashed the natives as a superior human being, but he had also turned them into slaves forcing them to worship him. However, according to Marlow the greed for power and riches pushed Kurtz to deprive people their rights. Therefore, as he progresses in his adventure his love for Kurtz turns into hatred.
Eventually he turns into a sensitive person especially because of darkness the human heart embodies. For instance, the lack of respect for human life by doctors at the company not only puzzles him but also propels him to be careful. There is a lot of disregard for human life while other people waste their precious life without feeling pain.
Before venturing into Africa, Marlow is an honest man but extraordinary circumstances force him to become cynical. He has no option but to lie in extreme circumstances. The first lie was when he branded the brick man as an influential yet Kurtz detested him. The lie was to enable him to get rivets for his broken boat and subsequently enable Kurtz to come out of the jungle.
From his own perspective, most people in the company wanted Kurtz dead, and his role was to help him out. In the second instance, Kurtz fiancée ‘intended’ believes her fiancé is a virtuous man with no evil heart. In addition, ‘intended’ believes everybody especially in Africa loves Kurtz, which is contrary to what Marlow encountered. Marlow refuses to expose the dark side of Kurtz because he does not want to break her heart. Therefore, although Marlow detest lies circumstances force him to lie for the betterment of human nature.
Marlow develops from a tough man into a sensitive and weary man. He dislikes the cruelty of the human heart, Belgians especially to Africans and the wilderness. Thus, his urge is to travel back to his luxurious land England. Unfortunately, his boat breaks down forcing him to lie to the brick man in order to get rivets for repairing.
Therefore, the misfortune at hand turns him from a truth and honest man into a liar and cynical person. Surprisingly he justifies all the vices he develops while in Africa as aforementioned in the previous text. On the other hand, although he dislikes inhumane persons he has respect for humanity because he struggles to save Kurtz life yet he disliked the way he handled Africans. Therefore, Conrad uses Marlow to condemn racism and promote humanity.
Conclusion
Conrad uses Marlow as a round character to fulfill the theme of humanity. His curiosity and intelligence motivates him to explore Africa where he experiences the dark side of life. Despite the extreme circumstances forcing him to acquire inhumane characters like lying, Marlow condemns the inhumanity in the Dark Continent, Africa. The availability of money, power together with hardship in Africa does not change him much.
Works Cited
Conrad, Joseph. Heart of darkness. Ed. Paul Armstrong. UK: Blackwood’s magazines, 2005
Heart of Darkness and Apocalypse Now epitomize female stereotypes. Both pieces lack progressive and unconventional women as they are meant for male audiences. They propagate the objectification and domination of women. However, Apocalypse Now – which is more recent – perpetuates these stereotypes even more than the novella.
Analysis of Feminism in Heart of Darkness
Conrad wrote Heart of Darkness at a time when women were regarded as the inferior sex. Their role was mostly domestic, and they were not considered as persons who had authority or power. These sentiments are echoed in the novel; most females are unnamed, and the few who are named rarely said much in the narrative. Indeed females are not redeemed at all in this piece of work because most are voiceless and powerless to their circumstances.
For instance, readers are introduced to two unnamed knitters. One of them speaks with so much naiveté; she imagines that the African wilderness is a comfortable environment. Marlow wonders whether the women are really of the world, and it can, therefore, be asserted that this role depicts women as disengaged from their surrounding. Even the older knitter seems to be more concerned about the knitting rather than with the visitors.
After the two knitters, readers are then introduced to Marlow’s aunt. Marlow thinks that his aunt is out of touch and believes that she will never comprehend how things in the Congo really operate. However, as one reads the novella in its entirety, one soon realizes that this was a bias that the main character of the story possessed. Marlow’s aunt had connections, and if it was not for her help, Marlow might never have gained employment.
When one critically looks at his aunt’s role in the story, one realizes that this was one of the more powerful women in the story. However, her power is linked to her connections and interactions with men (Conrad, 1.20). Therefore, Conrad is trying to tell readers that women can only be powerful if they derive that power from men. As the main character Marlow interacts with his aunt, he asserts that there is a wall between women and men’s worlds, and this wall must never be taken down (Conrad, 1.28).
Another woman in the novel is Kurtz’s mistress. She is described as superb and savage. She is voiceless, and her only power emanates from her sexual attributes. Marlow understands why Kurtz fell for her. She is a symbol of a force to reckon with, as asserted by Marlow (Conrad, 3.13).
However, one realizes that she is voiceless in the novel, which highlights the insignificance of role of women in Heart of Darkness. Her strength emanates from her physical beauty and not her intellectual or social abilities. Also, because she plays such a minor role in the story, she lacks agency and is reduced to nothing more than a creature to be seen but never to be heard.
When readers are introduced to the Intended, they can also read the same messages that emanated from the other women. Marlow sees that she is so out of it. He cannot tell her the truth about Kurtz because she is too weak and fragile to take it all in (Conrad, 2.29). She needs to be protected from these harsh realities because she had created an unrealistic expectation of Kurtz. Therefore, this character is feeble and lacks the stamina required to survive in the complex world.
Interactions between men and women in the novel are viewed as detrimental. This is seen from Kurtz’s death after he breaks the wall between men and women. He fails to keep a firm grip on the bond between brothers, and this is what leads to his demise. On the other hand, Marlow separates the world of men and women and therefore manages to stay ahead of the game. As is clear from the summary analysis, he lies to the Intended about Kurtz and thus propagates the bond between males. Marlow firmly believed that in order to make it, he needed to keep away from women.
They lived in a beautiful world, and if a man incorporated them into his world, then he faced the risk of losing control of his world as well. Therefore homosocial bonds between men are vital to the survival of men in the story. This relative lack of female agency and voice in the story illustrates that Heart of Darkness was written at a time when English society was immensely patriarchal, and the female roles in the novel were definitely intended to capture these constructs.
The Role of Women in Apocalypse Now
Apocalypse Now was directed and produced decades after Heart of Darkness, but its depiction of women is no less patriarchal than the novella was. This film has very few female characters in it. Most of the women are also voiceless. However, another dimension has been added to them; they appear to be objectified and sexualized in the production.
One of the reasons why there are very few women in the movie is that war is the primary subject matter. The US Army rarely allows women to get into combat, so the very nature of this movie biases women in it. Most of the roles they play in the film are bound to be trivial because the director needed to depict real-life scenarios in the Vietnam War. Nonetheless, these facts do not excuse the need to give women stronger roles in the motion picture.
The first women in the movie are playboy bunnies. They do not say anything of substance and are nothing more than sexual objects. Most of their utterances are sexual in nature without any other meaning. They make flirtatious statements and do not assert anything powerful throughout the film. What is particularly disturbing is how they are perceived and treated by the male audience they are entertaining.
Instead of treating these women like the precious beings that they are, most of these soldiers insult them. Some of them shout at the ladies and order them to take off their garments. Then as they continue with their routine, these men become even more aggressive and start chasing those women on stage. Thus, gender discrimination and misogyny in Apocalypse Now is apparent.
The entertainers were immediately evacuated by army personnel, and one gets the feeling that they would have been seriously hurt if they were not removed from that place. Therefore, as much as the soldiers are attracted to these women sexually, they still feel the need to undermine and demean them by exerting some form of verbal or physical violence upon them. These women come out as powerless and subject to male demands (Coppola, np).
Other women who show up in the movie include some native women who are perceived as savages and actually end up getting killed. They are caught up in the crossfire between the Americans and the natives in the film, and most of them are also wives who feel hurt by the fact that they have been left on their own after the devastations of the war.
Overall, the movie focuses on the need for male solidarity and the disillusionment of men when they participate in a war. They become so engrained in the war that they lose their sense of humanity, especially against the opposite sex.
Feminist Representation in Both Pieces
The theme of feminism in both Heart of Darkness and Apocalypse Now has to be analyzed in order to compare the pieces. Objectification and oversexualization of women are heavily prevalent in Apocalypse Now, mainly because the movie became quite graphic at some point (Coppola, np). Sexual objectification in feminist understanding is defined as the practice of treating and viewing other persons as instruments of sexual pleasure.
In this regard, that person is treated as an object to be used and not as an entity with a personality and intellect. Objectification in this regard can be done at an individual level as was seen by the separate utterances of the soldiers in the film, or it can occur on a societal level.
This typically comes about when mass media sends these kinds of signals through various outlets. Feminists object to sexual objectification because they believe it perpetuates gender inequality. Therefore, one can argue that the movie Apocalypse Now continued to perpetuate these stereotypes by featuring the female strippers who were entertaining their male audience. This movie was reducing women’s roles in society to nothing more than sexual instruments.
Furthermore, the women were powerless against their male assailants since they would have been attacked if it wasn’t for the professional who rescued them. They are submissive and only made flirtatious statements. Consequently, the main message being sent to audiences is that women’s worth can only be linked to their physical appearance.
Indeed such messages can lead to severe repercussions in the future. They may lead to low self-esteem among women who fail to fit this mould of what a beautiful woman is. It hampers women’s self-esteem and may cause body shame amongst them. Furthermore, sexual objectification of women prevents their growth because it harbors their pursuit of intellectual growth.
Many women may be socialized to think that in order to get ahead, they only need to use their physical appearance. Although Coppola did not intend to take on such strong feminist concerns, he has somehow garnered attention from these individuals because his story goes against ideals propagated and valued by these feminists.
Moviemakers often have the daunting task of criticizing or propagating particular ideologies in society. Coppola intended to display the horrific aspects of the Vietnam War and not to create antifeminist propaganda, but this was eventually the unintended product of the production.
In Apocalypse Now, one immediately realizes that these minimal roles designated to women are a depiction of a patriarchal society. Similarly, the same thing can be said of gender roles in Heart of Darkness, which only portrayed women in a minor light. As one reads Conrad’s depiction of Marlow and Kurtz, one realizes that men are given a kind of demigod status.
They are the ones who have the power to conquer lands and ‘civilize natives’. In other words, men appear to be superhuman because they control the economic and political aspects of their society. Conrad did not bother to develop some of his characters or make them appear independent of men in the same manner that the men were independent of women.
Those women who appeared to be highlighted positively were only chosen on the basis of their physical appearance, as was the case with Kurtz’s mistress. Even the way in which Marlow talks about the ‘Intended’ depicts how weak and subservient women were. The author of the narrative should have at least developed Marlow’s aunt’s character as this would have created some balance in the novel.
In this regard, it can be asserted that the book propagated stereotypes prevalent within that society. It was not daring enough to challenge the status quo on gender roles even though it was bold enough to take on other unconventional issues such as Imperialism. There was only a narrow range of gender roles that this author could choose from. Women at that time in British society were only important in enhancing male roles.
Most of them were mothers and wives, so they offered a romantic aspect to males in society. Men were the ones who called the shots and made things happen. Likewise, Heart of Darkness brings out these sentiments because the Intended and Kurtz’ mistress derived their strength from women. However, feminists can resist such depictions because even in these traditional roles as wives and mothers, women can still be strong and brave. They can move other people to behave in the same way. Thus, feminism in Heart of Darkness is not clearly evident.
The native seductress appears to have a specific power within her. She can use this seductive power to achieve certain goals for herself. However, the author instead punishes these powers that she has by killing Kurtz at the end of the novella. He is, therefore, saying that women have no choice but to accept their traditional roles, or else they will cause nothing more than negative consequences. Conrad could have depicted such a character, and this may have propagated feminist ideals.
Conclusion
While Heart of Darkness and Apocalypse Now were unconventional in terms of their subject matter and terms of the status quo, the two pieces did not succeed in challenging traditional female roles. None of the pieces questioned societal gender stereotypes. Apocalypse Now perpetuated gender inequality, while Heart of Darkness continued to reinforce male patriarchy.
As the comparison essay on Apocalypse Now and Heart of Darkness shows, the producer and author respectively failed to identify opportunities in which they could grant their female characters some kind of leverage. Women were weak and voiceless in both tales, and yet this is not necessarily an accurate depiction of gender roles in those societies. American society in 2001 was still confronted by the same challenge that writers in colonial times were faced with, challenging gender roles.
Works Cited
Coppola, Francis. Apocalypse Now Redux. You Tube Video, 2010. Web.
Conrad, Lauren. Heart of Darkness. London: Blackwood’s magazine, 1902. Print.
An important aspect of any story is the setting that the reader can imagine. The atmosphere that is created, very much adds to the general theme and the relationship between the characters and the surrounding environment.
“Heart of Darkness” and “The Lamp at Noon”, are stories where the setting plays a great role in the development of events and delivers a tone that is very unique and specific to the different situations.
There are many similarities and qualities that make each story a personal experience which has a significant effect on the audience.
In the “Heart of Darkness” the reader begins to feel the heavy atmosphere, as soon as Marlow starts his journey on the boat. The eerie surroundings, unknown land and people who are much different from the known world make the setting very foreign.
The further they travel down the river, the darker seems to be the jungle and people’s thoughts and expectations of what is to come. The fact that there are “cannibals” on the boat with Mr. Marlow adds to the imagery of a forbidden place where someone from the outside world can be in danger and disappear without a trace.
The atmosphere of the country, jungle and the boat darken even further when Charles Marlow and his crew men are met with enemy “fire”—arrows and spears. When the helmsman is killed and falls right by Mr. Marlow, it is easy to see how the environment and the events increase the devastation and panic sets in. Doubts of the purpose and the final goal overtake Charles Marlow and he is unaware if there is a point to continue. Everything that happens is pressuring people and seems like a heavy weight that cannot be lifted.
Even the atmospheric conditions of fog, the dark nights and the dense air are against people and demand to be left undisturbed. The nature greatly overpowers humans and commands them to turn back with many signs but nonetheless, they persist, as Mr. Marlow has an important mission. When they arrive at the station, the situation becomes even grimmer because Marlow is disappointed in Kurtz and is now sure that they came there for nothing.
He is thinking that the lives of people lost were not worth the trip. When he and Kurtz fall ill, it is another sign that they should not be there and that the whole world is against foreign people being in that place. Most importantly, the journey is the travel inside a man’s soul where the darkest corners are observed and cannot be lighted. People discover their true identities and those of others.
In “The Lamp at Noon”, the setting of the story also plays a very significant factor. The fact that two people are lonely, even though being very close, shows how the surrounding conditions can be alienating to humans. Ellen and Paul are desperately struggling on their farm with little crops and ability to prosper and this illustrates a dead end that has no escape. Their struggle through the unbeatable chances makes their battle with nature and weather even more in vein and makes them feel small and helpless.
Not only there is separation in their personal lives but the Great Depression makes it difficult to survive and see any future in anything the couple gets involved in. The isolation in the harsh environment sets the base for a distance between people and individuals from nature and land. People have been relying on their farms for a very long time and here, the conditions are such that there is no possibility to overpower nature. The desperation and hopelessness is described through imagery and is present throughout the story.
Another representation of the dark and inescapable nature of the environment is the storm. The hauling of the wind and walls creaking, all seem to be against the two lonely people on their farm. Ellen looks for support from Paul, as the surrounding conditions make her feel lonely and unsafe but he is unable to comfort her. All the forces of nature and human desperation come together to form an atmosphere of frustration and an unfamiliar world.
The mood of the story and the harshness of nature are displayed through imagery and personification. The wind becomes a force that is unstoppable and engulfs the little farm, consuming people and their emotions. Everything around becomes mad and wild, people are torn apart and thrown far away by the nature’s wrath.
Even when the couple tries to connect and support each other, their words are soundless. Paul is confused at what Ellen really wants and seems to live in a different world, set apart by the cruelty of desperation and inability to succeed. Ellen looks for help and consolation from Paul but he cannot hear her words. She cries and screams of pain but the wind and darkening skies swallow all sound and forbid any communication.
The two stories are very similar in their setting because both show how people and nature are two very different entities. “The Heart of Darkness” describes a journey into the land of horror and pain, and this is representative of the people’s deepest emotions and outlook on life. “The Lamp at Noon” portrays a similar movement through people’s soul only without them physically moving.
It is interesting that even standing in one place an individual can delve into the deepest parts of their heart and mind, yet find no comfort and outlet of their feelings. The two stories are mostly centered on the surrounding environment and the people’s manifestation of their thoughts only adds to the general theme of darkness, loneliness and cruelty of the surroundings and people’s characters. It is made obvious that humans are not the rulers of their lives and forces of nature.
The insignificance of human individuality and their efforts is made obvious by how harsh conditions can direct and force people into a situation that so desperately must be avoided. The “darkness” of the two stories confirms that people have no control over nature and themselves, as it is an unknown world that must be carefully studied and explored.
The characters of the two stories and their actions are determined by the setting they find themselves in. It is clear that suffering and pain are inseparable from human experience and often, nature adds a great deal to the emotional instability and doubts that people feel. The authors have realistically illustrated how the surrounding environment overtakes the lives of individuals and robs them of almost all control. The connection to reality is very vivid and the circumstances can be physically felt.
Oscar Wilde’s comedy, The Importance of Being Earnest, is a satire of everything stuffy and constrictive in the 19th and early 20th century. It shows the modern reader how different life was back then, and also how much remains the same. The play explores the theme of the relations between the sexes. It also highlights the way that all of us cherish illusions about ourselves and others.
Wilde spares no one. Everyone is ridiculous. John Worthing and Algernon Moncrieff, for example, are self-centered and, of course, almost entirely idle. The fashionable, urban, Gwendolen Fairfax is a schemer, but her supposedly unsophisticated rural counterpart, Cecily Cardew, is equally calculating.
The dowager Lady Bracknell plays the game of marriage politics, is un-motherly, and a snob. Even Miss Prism, the governess, is a foolish and fallible creature. Canon Chasuble seems totally unconnected with spirituality. They are all skewered with equal ferocity. Only the butlers seem relatively free of idiocies.
The social constraints on women and men in expressing their feelings for one another are also parodied. A modern couple would not have to answer to Lady Bracknell to obtain permission to marry. On the other hand, girls still fantasize about boys they like. Today, however, they might post blog posts of fan fiction instead of writing an imaginary diary, as Cecily did.
Wilde also satirizes the class distinctions that obsessed so many people. For example, Algernon deplores the lax morals of the servant class. However, he himself lives by fibs and outright lies.
This play holds up a mirror to all of us, even after a century. People are foolish and they don’t always see themselves or others honestly and fully. Wilde shows us this with immense humor.
The Heart of Darkness, exploring the impact of interior Africa on European colonials, seems at first glance to be filled with racist references. However, this impression dissipates when the story is more closely examined. Conrad actually seems deeply sympathetic with the indigenous people, and their oppression and near-enslavement by the colonial personnel.
The descriptions of the landscape provide a vivid sense of the way that Europeans felt when confronted with an utterly alien landscape, flora, fauna, and people. Conrad, for example, repeatedly notes the darkness and the thickness of the forest, even a short distance from the shore, and speaks of the darkness at its center. He is talking here as much about the unknown rather than an absence of light, although rain forests can be dark. The skillful speech of Mr. Kurtz is even described as being light coming out of the deep darkness of the continent.
The author is trying to convey the complete lack of fit between most of the expectations, behaviors, planning and responses of the colonials, on the one hand, and the realities of the continent itself, on the other. In spite of the greater firepower that the colonials possess, Conrad shows the reader, disease and madness claim many casualties.
This reminds the modern reader of the way that high tech armies throw themselves at trouble spots around the world, and end up baffled and ineffective. The land, the climate, the terrain, and the people, just make overcoming the local situation nearly impossible.
This novel makes the extraction of ivory and other resources seem all the more ludicrous, and wasteful of lives. Conrad makes a powerful and moving argument against the whole colonial enterprise, in spite of using the racist locutions that were common in his era. This book should perhaps always be read in concert with some literature by Africans themselves, just to give a different perspective on the region and its issues.
The Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad is one of the greatest literary works of the early 20th century. It discovers many subjects that were important for people of the society of that time. However, in the heart of this novel is theme of imperialism. There were many literary debates around this theme. According to some literary critics, it described only negative sides of imperialism, according to others, it depicted imperialistic positive influence on the society.
At any rate, the story truly descries political and economic situation of that time, as well as its moral and ethical principles. The main character of the novel is a young sailor Marlowe who was fascinated by imperialism and was sure in its “perfect nature”. However, when he arrives to Congo, he observes that Congo people are oppressed by European imperialism. Thus, on the one hand, the exploration of Africa gives to a young man a possibility to improve his life, on the other hand, he begins understanding the paradoxes of imperialism while observing how its intrusion affects lives and souls of native people, as well as colonialists.
European Imperialism reached its highest point in the 19th century. The empires of Europe, that extended their influence around the world, were France, Italy, Portugal, Russia, the Netherlands, the UK, Belgium and some other countries. In the 19th century, the European empires controlled South America, Asian countries and Africa. As its mission, the European imperialism had the “civilization” of the world and expansion of the Christianity over the conquered nations through the forced introduction of the European administrative powers and its culture. However, the main purposes of the European imperialism were the boasting of the Industrial Revolution, desire of the ruling nations to extend their territorial boarders, improve economical strength and, of course, political prestige in the world arena.
Imperialism, its negative influence and its racist character were one of the major themes of the world literature in the early 20th century. Such writers as Milton and his Paradise Lost, Jonathan Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels, Orwell’s Burmese Days and many other writers criticized cultural context of imperialism, its racism and anti-social character. However, some historians assume that it has not only negative influence, but some positive effect for the development of conquered countries.
Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness is one of the most criticized literary works of the first part of the 20th century. It provoked much debates on the essence of imperialism, racism and European colonization of the world. Some critiques find this novel to propaganda imperialism and others see the text of The Heart of Darkness as extremely anti-imperialistic work. Thus, we can come to a conclusion that The Heart of Darkness is a media between pro-imperialism position of the author and a sharp criticism of the process and its methods. Analyzing the characters of the novel, in particular its main character Marlowe, we can come to a conclusion that Conrad did not criticized the imperialism itself, but he expressed his accusation of the way in which the expansion of imperialism was performed.
The Europeans arrived to Congo with one aim to introduce their way of live to the natives. However, during his trip, Marlowe saw and described a terrible situation on which native people had to live, he described the inequality, unfaithful treatment, exploitation, terrible medical support for natives who worked for ruling class. The main character of the novel questions himself why those cannibals did not attack the conquerors as such treatment could only “sharpen the situation” and develop great hate towards the Europeans, “Why in the name of all gnawing devils of hunger they didn’t go for us – they were thirty to five – and have a good tuck in for once, amazes me now when I think of it” (Conrad 112). However, having analyzed the situation, Marlowe suggest the reason why the natives did not rebel, “I saw that something restraining, one of those human secrets that baffle probability, had come into play here” (Conrad 112). Thus, the act of subdue is the evidence of the situation that Marlowe saw in Africa.
The ideal core of imperialism was to introduce the economical and cultural improvement to the country. However, the Belgian imperialism, as it described in the novel, had not even a project for the improvement of people’s lives or the country. The only aim was to exploit the natives and reap the benefits from it. When Marlowe sees the situation, he calls South Africa “one of the dark places on earth” (Conrad 8) as for natives as for European people. A quest of an easy profit is the only thing that governs the hearts of those who came to Africa with the aim to “civilize” cannibals and improve their lives. Thus, the narrator discusses the benefits and drawbacks of the empire building and human’s nature that constantly seeking to conquer the world and gain profits regardless possible negative consequences for other people.
Thus, The Heart of Darkness is a great novel that depicted the realities of the Imperialistic times. It shows how the process of Imperialism affected societies of both conquered nation and imperialists. However, we cannot say that imperialism had an entirely negative influence on both societies, there were some positives sides of it. But, regardless of all “benefits of imperialism”, the author focused his attention on drawbacks that accompanied the process of imperialism.
Works Cited
Conrad, Joseph. Heart of Darkness. Plain Label Books, 1975.