How Does Heart Of Darkness Fit Over The Idea Of Imperialism

When ideas form; reality dissolves. Ideas are presentations of our passionate self, and therefore, lost in a fit of passion, sensibility can be abandoned; humanity and sympathy lost. In the short novel Heart of Darkness, by Joseph Conrad, in The Norton Anthology of English Literature, the theme of European imperialism and the absurdity behind the idea of imperialism are emphasized throughout the story. The issue that formalizes in Heart of Darkness is which stand the text takes on imperialism. Overall, the reader can conclude that the novel takes a hypocritical stand toward anti-imperialism.
Throughout Heart of Darkness, the readers often encounter two central characters in a fit over the idea of imperialism; Marlow the protagonist, who is
Thus, “brutal force” over people who are weak is what gives in to the pathetic illusion of power. Marlow stresses the absurdity of this illusion of power, when he previously went further to say, “the conquest over earth”, using the word “earth” in his definition, and the idea of “conquering the earth” displays the absurd and self-centered notion of imperialism, absurd, because, humans actually think they can obtain domain over earth when in reality the forces of nature and earth have domain over any and all existence. For instance, Marlow talks about the scene of the Central station, and then says, “The word ‘ivory’ rang in the air, was whispered, was sighed. You would think they were praying to it. A taint of imbecile rapacity blew through it all, like a whiff from some corpse. By Jove! I’ve never seen anything so unreal in my life. And outside, the silent wilderness surrounding this cleared speck on the earth struck me as something great and invincible, like evil or truth, waiting patiently for the passing away of this fantastic invasion” (1969). The quote above has a depth of meaning, and the quote also serves as a statement of vital importance on imperialism. The wealth of ivory has been elevated so high that ivory seems to have become godlike, or so is the implication that Marlow makes in saying “the word ‘ivory’ was in the air, you’d think they were praying to it” (Conrad 1969). Thus, becoming an object of worship, ivory has abandoned reality, all that matters is the wealth it provides for the company, and it does not matter that millions of elephants are being slaughtered. Hence, the scent of a decaying corpse is both literally the decay of the elephants and native peoples, and also represents both the decay of humanity in consequence of imperialism, and the eventual decay of all human