Heart Of Darkness Research Paper

Symbolism in Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness
Essay

Symbolism plays a major role in the portrayal of some of the basic concepts in Joseph Conrad’s novel Heart of Darkness. In the beginning of the book, the symbols of darkness and light appear with their universal meaning, which, with the progress of the novel, is broadened so that it completely changes in the end. In the beginning, darkness seems to show the backwardness of the African continent and its people, whereas light stands for the enlightened, civilized world of Europeans. Later, the author takes a slightly different course with his work, which can be seen in the interrelatedness between the two opposing forces of the dark and the light. The black, savage natives that are often
involved in horrific traditions (cannibalism) and strange customs turn into victims of the hypocritical attitude of the imperialistic Europeans. Although it looks as if everything on the ‘black’ continent is enwrapped with natural darkness, in the end the reader still wonders if it is not composed of small sparks of light that overall make it guiltlessly white. Darkness and light appear as symbols almost on every page of Heart of Darkness which makes their consideration difficult, but the more obvious concepts they are introducing should be explored for the sake of the understanding of the novel itself. The traditional view of white as good and black as evil is introduced when Marlow gets to the Outer Station where for the first time he becomes familiar with life in the Congo. His first impression of the “black fellows” immediately suggests the savageness of the Africans: “They shouted, sang; their bodies streamed with perspiration; they had faces like grotesque masks – these chaps; but they had bone, muscle, a wild vitality, an intense energy of movement…” (30). The narrator feels “comfort” while looking at them, because he knows these black men are wild and therefore occupy lower social level than he does. Marlow’s prejudiced view relates back to his experience with the African map – so unknown and dark. In contrast to the continent’s wilderness and the barbarism of its inhabitants stand the Europeans. The ones Marlow meets in the Congo wear white clothes as opposed to the “savages” most of whom have put only black rags round their loins. Besides, several times the Europeans’ snowy skin is emphasized, suggesting their beauty, high education, and civilization. The white and black colours help show how Western society is better as opposed to the Africans who still live primitively. The Europeans’ spiritual and physical superiority certainly makes them better in the eyes of the common, unwitting reader, but the author continues to develop his ideas in this area.
The imperialist’s outer appearance, connected to light, certainly cannot conceal the ignorance, brutality and cruelty with which the white men treat the enslaved black Africans. The colonialist nature of European presence in the Congo leaves its imprint over the heart of the Dark Continent. Marlow, a new visitor at the ivory station, is primarily shocked by the disinterest the ivory traders show for the dying workers. But it seems as if the narrator gets accustomed to the sufferings of the “niggers” as he starts calling them later. The fact that “the beaten nigger groaned somewhere” (48) does not seem to bother anyone, not even Marlow. At this point the novel suggests that the agony brought by “whiteness” is darker than the defenceless, obedient “darkness” of the Africans. To further illustrate this point, Conrad mentions Europeans’ obsession with the white ivory – “You would think they were praying to it” (44). To the Europeans ivory represents wealth, success, maybe even fame. The whites’ eager pursuit of materialistic welfare, represented by ivory, is actually the “timeless evil” that destroys nature and kills the people and animals of Africa. In their grandiose plans and desires, the Europeans actually turn into evil characters whose souls are overwhelmed by the darkness of their
purposeless existence. A good example of how darkness grasps the white men’s inner side in the Congo is the character of Mr.
Kurtz. Even though the reader’s interaction with the trader occurs at a quite late point in the novel, he is indirectly present there all the time. The agents and managers in the Outer and the Central stations, as well as Marlow, constantly mention Kurtz as the most successful ivory producer on the Congo River, praising, admiring, and envying him. Kurtz is portrayed as a god, invincible and almighty. Marlow is fascinated with him – he is the one who, by using European knowledge and his broad experience has managed to prove that “the mind of man is capable of anything – because everything is in it, all the past as well as all the future” (63). However, whatever Kurtz has achieved is nothing more than an evil empire for money making, a creation of ‘civilization’. Kurtz and his little kingdom created in the inner part of Africa do not only contradict the idea of Europeans as a humanizing, building force, but proves that the real “darkness” has edged into the minds of the white men, who only manipulate the innocent blacks – with dark skins, but light souls. With Kurtz, the symbol of the “white” totally loses its traditional meaning and turns into “the deceitful flow from the heart of an impenetrable darkness”
(79). Until the end of Marlow’s journey to the heart of darkness and until the end of the novel itself, Conrad “plays” splendidly with the symbols of dark and light and their significance. Once being a witness of European manipulative tyranny, Heart of Darkness’s readers eventually realizes that not everything is what it first seems. The dark in colour does not mean dark inside the same way as white on the front does not show goodness on the inside. Africa might in fact represent the sunniest reality of the world if only its real nature of peace, freshness and beauty are allowed to survive over ugliness, manipulation, brutality, and greediness. The life of the inhabitants of this wild place may seem savage and primitive, but they are real. Their naïveté and down-to-earth existence is what makes them admirable and beautiful.
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Conrad, Joseph. Heart of Darkness. London: Penguin Books, 1995.