Preview

Heart Of Darkness Imperialism Essay

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
692 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Heart Of Darkness Imperialism Essay
Heart of Darkness Heart of Darkness is an adventure novel written by Joseph Conrad. It was published in 1899. The purpose of this novel is to display the act of imperialism. The story circulates on Charles Marlow, who narrates the book, and is a salesman in the search of ivory up the Congo River. Heart of Darkness informs the reader of European colonization and its negatives. Throughout this novel the reader learns more and more of Imperialism and how man can be so evil. For the duration of the book, Marlow has set out to find Kurtz, a legend of a man, who is the chief of the Inner Station in Africa and seems to be a Jack-of-all-trades. “I was within a hair’s-breadth of the last opportunity for pronouncement, and I found with humiliation that probably I would have nothing to say (Conrad 11). ” Marlow worshiped this man for that reason. Marlow is a man who no longer holds his innocence. He really has seen it all, mistreatment of others, death, murder, slavery, starvation, and sickness. Charles Marlow knows the ‘darkness’ of the world, …show more content…
A native is normally looked at as a savage because there is no governing for him to follow, only nature laws. Joseph Conrad had a purpose for this novel. He painted a story to illustration the evil of imperialism. He wanted to get rid of the European mindset of abusing the natives and taking advantage of them and their land, even if it was for the country to benefit from it. Human kind, whether white or black, has the option of being evil, or righteous for that matter. And one is to know whether or not to follow the ‘heart of darkness’ by realizing what in fact is corrupt or good. Society today seems to be blinding, categorizing, and stereotyping. Conrad does a great job off pulling off the blindfold that society has darkened the world with. There is evil in everyone, regardless of race, social status, or
Continue Reading
View Writing Issues

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Heart of Darkness Summaryy
    • 615 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Heart of Darkness Summaryy

    In the beginning Marlow is remembering what it may have been like to be a young Roman conqueror exploring through the jungle. He would have had to deal with “…cold, fog, tempests, disease, exile, and death...” Marlow mentions how the soldier would have had a “fascination of the abomination” . Later in the book this same fascination overcame Kurtz after his long time in the Congo, “he hates sometimes the idea of being taken away” . Even when Marlow finds Kurtz, he can’t “break the spell – the heavy mute spell of the wilderness – that seemed to draw him to its pitiless breast by the awakening of forgotten and brutal instincts”…

    • 615 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Heart of Darkness: Futility of European Presence in Africa
    • 1032 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Heart of Darkness: Futility of European Presence in Africa

    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.…

    • 1032 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Satisfactory Essays

    The Morality In Joseph Conrad's Heart Of Darkness
    • 765 Words
    • 4 Pages

    The Morality In Joseph Conrad's Heart Of Darkness

    The mind of man, as he soon comes to know, is capable of many things, and is to be perused by man himself. Marlow is a very wise man, and loves to explore and learn things both about others and about himself. He learns that the evil desires that lie within every man are able to be overcome and avoided, whereas Kurtz and many others do not and fall victim to them. Society in the Europe and eventually in the Congo was trying to pull Marlow down to its levels of corruption and darkness, but Marlow learns that he was able to avoid it as best as he could, and that he has evil inside of himself as well. When Marlow first hears of Kurtz, he hears only good things; Kurtz is a hard worker, an ivory specialist, and an honorable man. However, when he reaches the inner station and gradually spends time with Kurtz, he sees the clear faults in him. When…

    • 765 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    The Role Of Imperialism In Joseph Conrad's Heart Of Darkness
    • 994 Words
    • 4 Pages

    The Role Of Imperialism In Joseph Conrad's Heart Of Darkness

    Darkness, in Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad, functions as a dynamic extension of Marlow’s altering values. Prevailing at its attempts in conveying the various phases of Marlow’s changing mindset, darkness provides a breeding ground for contention—mainly, the questioning of its inherent meaning as the plot and text unfold to form a myriad of clashing ideologies. Despite what many consider to represent solely the depths of human indecency, darkness pushes the bounds of that conclusion and takes on the many forms of greed, despondency, primitivism, and eternal damnation as Marlow’s feelings begin to conflict with standard European ideology. Marlow, perhaps the most complex character, finds himself in the middle of this debate with the eventual…

    • 994 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Heart Of Darkness Imperialism Analysis
    • 871 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Heart Of Darkness Imperialism Analysis

    In the late 18th and early 20th century, European nations with vast wealth and power saw opportunities in increasing their sphere of influence by exploiting weaker or smaller nations of Africa for their resources. In Joseph Conrad’s “Heart of Darkness”, the political principle of imperialism is depicted by Conrad to show the mechanisms and attitudes of the world along with his views.…

    • 871 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Heart of Darkness and Allegory of the Cave Short Extended Response
    • 697 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Heart of Darkness and Allegory of the Cave Short Extended Response

    ‘The Heart of Darkness’ is a psychological masterpiece, revealing the relationship between subconscious life and conscious motivations. In the text, Conrad through Marlow reviews the memories of his journey to the Congo: personal nightmare is mixed with his own psychological complexities. He is looking for self-understanding, and showing his own mental picture of the conflicts between savagery and civilization. Many critics have called it the best short novel written in English. The text involves the reader in dramatic and decisively difficult moral judgements, which are in parallel with the central characters: Marlow and Kurtz. It is a dramatic, layered, paradoxical and problematic novel: a mixture of autobiography, adventure story, religious drama and a symbolic text, thus making it an allegorical text.…

    • 697 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Heart of Darkness; Values of Colonisers
    • 1004 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Heart of Darkness; Values of Colonisers

    Conrad, in Heart of Darkness, challenges the values of colonialism, but at the same time he conforms to the constraints of popular culture of the time in which he wrote. In this way, the extent to which he challenges mainstream ideas is limited in regards to the angles of his criticism. Conrad’s detailed descriptions of the Europeans in Heart of Darkness implicate his discontent towards colonial practices whilst certain references to the “black fellows” who reside in Africa show his opinions are influenced by his time, and thusly impact his acquired knowledge of what is politically correct or incorrect. Conrad challenges stereotypical beliefs and values of colonisers in Heart of Darkness but falls victim to their jargon, in this way, Conrad himself is portraying some of the qualities of colonialist groups whom he aims to question throughout the novel. These qualities such as Euro-centrism are challenged through Conrad’s use of language, as his rich but obscure descriptions and his portrayals of the landscape and people of Africa contrast to the Europeans.…

    • 1004 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Ignorance In Joseph Conrad's Heart Of Darkness
    • 793 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Ignorance In Joseph Conrad's Heart Of Darkness

    He reaching a higher level of enlightenment when in the Congo, rather than spiraling into ignorance as many others had. It is Marlow’s returning to Europe, not his time in the Congo, that reveal his true ignorance. Upon Marlow's return to Europe he takes note of just how ignorant the people there are, he believing that they know nothing past their, “insignificant and silly dreams” (Conrad 70). He believing that he is no longer like them since being in the Congo and seeing just what it had become at the hands of European Imperialism. Though Marlow is no different than those he is looking down upon, his ignorance coming from keeping others ignorant. Marlow having, “no particular desire to enlighten them” (Conrad 71), allows the Europeans to continue on in their ignorance. He having a chance to redeem himself when meeting Kurtz’s fiancee, but rather than do this Marlow lies to her about Kurtz’s last words, “the last word he pronounced was--your name” (Conrad 77). Marlow’s lying while saving Kurtz’s fiancee some heart ache, also kept her from knowing Kurtz’s true. She being left with only a fabricated lie of the sort of man Kurtz’s was before his death, all because Marlow's being unable to tell her the…

    • 793 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Heart Of Darkness Rhetorical Analysis
    • 1082 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Heart Of Darkness Rhetorical Analysis

    At the time, Freud and Nietzsche were both looking at the human condition and the inner psyche, and this novel seems to be a continuation of those ideas as Marlow delves into his inner consciousness in search of truth. The symbol of Marlow as a Buddha at the beginning conveys the idea that he is contemplative and soul-searching. Furthermore the progression of his character into a dream-like world throughout the novel perpetrates this idea of Marlow coming face to face with the human condition. For example, as Marlow nears Kurtz’s station fog comes down giving everything an “eerie, dream-like appearance.” This is further demonstrated in the idea that Marlow is entering a nightmare with “tumultuous and mournful shrieking” with the rest of the world “swept off without leaving a whisper or a shadow behind.” The creation of this dream-like setting by Conrad creates the idea that Marlow is travelling through his consciousness, as if this is his own nightmare. Marlow is searching for a distinct truth of the human condition and this is symbolised by Kurtz. Kurtz, a European renaissance man of culture and nobility who came to this dark place comes to embody mankind itself. His fall from refinement to savagery highlights this fall to the true human condition where repressed desires and lusts are set loose. He dances with the savages and plants heads on poles for no other reason than that he desires to and appears to have “kicked himself loose from the world”. Though Marlow glimpses this truth of the human psyche he, as Kelly Jacobs says, “stares over the edge but does not fall as Kurtz does.” That said, Marlow does not find the truth he is searching for and in the end his journey into the psyche is inconclusive. When he meets Kurtz’s intended he lies to her about Kurtz’s final moral judgement, “the horror” highlighting the fact that the truth may be…

    • 1082 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    The War Of The Worlds Imperialism Essay
    • 907 Words
    • 4 Pages

    The War Of The Worlds Imperialism Essay

    In H.G. Wells The War of the Worlds contains imagery of imperialism, he portrays imperialism throughout the story by comparing Martians and the human's appearances, evolution, and Religion. The War of the Worlds can be interpreted in many ways and this is how I interpreted it. I believe the main concept is imperialism as the British were the most power countries at the time. They face a new enemy with the Martians come to earth trying to take over land for power. Throughout the story, there were three main topics that grabbed my attention. The first being evolved, the comparison between the Martians and the human's appearances, and Religion. I believe through these topics the author H.G. Wells expresses his feelings and thoughts about imperialism.…

    • 907 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Imperialism Essay
    • 631 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Imperialism Essay

    Imperialism was a very important time period that occurred from the 1850s to 1914. Imperialism meant “one country’s domination of the political, economic, and social life of another country.” There were many factors that fueled imperialism, which had three different forms. Imperialism affected Africa, Asia and South America. Imperialism had two main motivations, economics and the desire for new markets. Economics was a big cause of this because western industrialists had wanted new markets for their manufactured goods; these people also had some type of competition going on with other countries. To produce these goods, they needed new raw materials, and thought that other countries that did not belong to them might have good resources for the materials they needed. Also, along with seeking for new supplies, they wanted cheap labor. Another example of these motivations was a desire for new markets. Africa, for instance, had gold, copper, ivory, and lumber. They also had cotton, which was a good material to produce clothes and other goods. There were many political, economic, and social forces that were the most responsible for the new imperialism.…

    • 631 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Powerful Essays

    Heart Of Darkness Research Paper
    • 2063 Words
    • 9 Pages

    Heart Of Darkness Research Paper

    Marlow is the main character in Joseph Conrad’s novel Heart of Darkness. The protagonist is also the narrator in the story about the experiences of an explorer in the foreign lands in the wake of Western imperialism in Africa. The protagonist, Marlow, is an eloquent storyteller whom the author uses to give an exposition of his own experiences in the Congo, albeit with a touch of fiction. The story line revolves around the experiences of Marlow as a riverboat captain for the Company, a Belgian organization that trades in the Congo. The focus is on the journey that Marlow makes up the perilous Congo River in order to meet the legendary Kurtz who runs an Inner Station of the Company in a remote setting along the Congo River (Conrad 12). The story covers Marlow’s journey, first from England to the Congo, then into the interior to meet the enigmatic Kurtz. The protagonist’s piloting of the boat along the dangerous Congo River symbolizes his tribulations. The title Heart of Darkness highlights the Eurocentric attitude towards Africa, about its lack of civilization and therefore the need to bring light to it through colonization (Moore 19). In the mission that Marlow undertakes, he learns about the West and their imperialistic mission, and finally, he is able to deconstruct some lifelong myths about the West.…

    • 2063 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Powerful Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Imperialism Essay
    • 408 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Imperialism Essay

    This year marks the 10th anniversary of the United States’ celebration of the first purely democratic elections in half a century for Iraqi citizens, which led to an alleged genuine celebration from the Bush administration, as well as the cheers of certain Iraqi citizens, such as Iraq’s own National Security Advisor, Mowaffak al-Rubaie, who deemed it as the “greatest day” in his country’s history (“Sporadic Violence”). The conflict between the western powers and Iraq, as we have been told by our nation’s red-blooded patriots, demonstrates the West’s supposed diplomatic philosophy of spreading democracy and freedom to global citizens who lack the wonderful privilege of abiding to the fruits of the West. Although western states and organizations…

    • 408 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Heart of Darkness
    • 1284 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Heart of Darkness

    Shortly after being introduced to Marlow, we discover that he is adventurous through his desire to travel to the centre of Africa because it’s simply uncharted on both the map and in his mind. He acts as a guide for the reader. This is a very daring nature and it Marlow’s adventurous and daring nature is evident to readers when he ventures to rescue Kurtz after he goes far into the grass to take him back to safety. Marlow is in many ways a traditional hero: perceived to be tough, honest, an independent thinker, and a capable man. He is highly skilled at what he does- work is a distraction for him. Marlow can be read as an extreme of Kurtz, as they share the same mind set and the beliefs of the company. While visiting the company, Marlow witnesses events that are counted as life changing- he sees the slaves of Africa being mistreated, and sees how life is different for people in Africa due to the lack of jobs and poor treatment. The events Marlow witnesses in the heart of Africa change him from a naive man to a man that becomes open minded and even remotely powerful. Even though Marlow does not die, unlike the men of the company that focus only on the money at hand, but he suffers horribly. He begins to be almost contaminated by his memories of his journey. Plagued by the death of the man he was eager to meet, a man by the name of Kurtz, Marlow begins to have memories and lies play through his head, and begins lying to people to…

    • 1284 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Heart Of Darkness By Joseph Conrad
    • 672 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Heart Of Darkness By Joseph Conrad

    Marlow journeys the Congo River deeper and deeper into Africa’s heart of darkness. While on this journey Marlow turns back to his normal self in order to survive the savageness even if it means to go against his beliefs. When Marlow finally finds Kurtz, Kurtz is very ill. “There were rumors that a very important station was in jeopardy, and its chief, Mr. Kurtz was ill.” (Conrad ) Marlow finds himself a changed man when Kurtz dies.…

    • 672 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More

Related Topics