What Are The Negative Effects Of Imperialism

Joseph Conrad's book, Heart of Darkness, is a book that has been written with a lot of hidden meaning in it. Chinua Achebe has claimed that Heart of Darkness is an "offensive and deplorable book", that reflects the imperialism against Africa. However, Conrad's view is quite the opposite of what Achebe says Conrad's views are. Through his writing in Heart of Darkness, Conrad is trying to convey to his readers that Imperialism is immoral and degrading. Conrad uses symbolic meaning in his characters to help prove his point to his readers. According to Merriam – Webster Dictionary, imperialism is defined as, “a policy or practice by which a country increases its power by gaining control over other areas of the world.” Imperialism is an accurate
word to describe what Europe was trying to do to Africa. In Heart of Darkness, Conrad describes the Europeans as being part of a higher race than the Africans. He described white skinned Europeans as hard-working, upper-class citizens who dedicated themselves to spreading imperialism throughout the Congo. In order to prove his point, Conrad wrote a number of characters in his book that have symbolic meaning throughout the story. The three characters that I recognized as having the most symbolic roles were Marlow, the Manager, and Kurtz. Charlie Marlow is the main character.
Marlow symbolizes the postive things that came from a realization that Imperialism was not necesscarily beneficial to the African people. In the book, Marlow relized the evil that Imperialism has caused and sees the negative effects that it has on Africa. At that moment Marlow decides imperialism is unnecessary. When Marlow states, "...I had got a heavenly mission to civilize you," he expresses his genuine intentions to help the Africans to progress and advance. In addition to his realization of the negative effects of Imperialism, when he says, "I was an impostor," Marlow has recognized the fact that he is an invader into a foreign land, and he wants to do what he can to fix the problems that have been
created. Marlow also represents the countless numbers of men that had to travel to foreign lands to help people that were seen in some civilizations eyes as uncivilized people. Unlike some men, Marlow is able to see through the materialistic ideals that had been forced on the men before him. Marlow has a certain open-mindedness and sensitivity that was generally missing during Imperialism. The next character I found symbolic meaning in is the Manager. The Manager can be seen as representative of the negative effects Imperialism had on the people of Africa. He symbolizes the arrogance of Europeans as they encountered and worked with the native Africans. The Managers' health symbolizes the ongoing crusade of Europeans who invaded Africa. In Conrad's book, the Manager is the main symbol of the evil and coldness of the Imperialists. According to my views on the book, the Manager was an illustration of an established imperialist power. When something is established, it is generally well settled in, and the Manager was. Proof of this establishment is demonstrated by the fact the Manager controls all the stations. An example of his power over others was when he had the black boy thrashed for the burning of a shed. This is similar to imperialism because the Manager is trying to gain control over the boy by showing the boy that the Manager is the one with the power. The manager's discussion with his uncle is yet another example of his ruthlessness. Marlow and the Manager are contrasting characters. Marlow observes the abuse of power by Europeans, simply because they have better weapons of war. When the Manager severely beats a young black boy for the burning of a shed, Marlow disapproves. However, when he sees abuses and unjust treatment he does nothing in the moment to try to stop it. Instead, he just turns away and accepts what is happening. Marlow recognizes that the Manager is a bad man, and has a dislike for him, as do all of the natives. This symbolizes the detestation of countries having imperialism forced on them. By assigning all the blame for the terrible conditions on the Manager, Conrad stresses the feeling that Europeans were not bringing technology, but distributing of immoral corruption. The third character that had symbolic meaning to me as I was reading the book, is Kurtz. He symbolized the greed of those that were seeking to put Africa under imperialist control. He also symbolizes those people that were seeking to do good by putting Africa under imperialist control, but who were going about it in a malicious way. Kurtz is an imperialist who recommends bringing enlightenment and improvement to Africa. However, when Kurtz reaches the Africa, his greed overtakes him and he chooses to go after wealth and power. Kurtz is aware of the struggle inside when he writes; “Each station should be like a beacon on the road towards better things, a centre for trade of course, but also for humanizing, improving, instructing”. He wants to help Africa, but he is doing it for the wrong reasons. Overall, Kurtz symbolizes Europe as it is moving towards the end of imperialism when the Europeans recognize that their actions in Africa were counterproductive; they were harmful rather than helpful. Throughout Heart of Darkness, Conrad is constantly trying to convey the message to his readers that imperialism is immoral. Conrad's main message is that one of man's greatest sins is violence against those that are weak. Kurtz is one of the more dynamic characters in the book. He is a combination of Marlow and the Manager. Kurtz was once the kind of man that Marlow currently is, however, he became increasingly corrupt as he was isolated from his roots in Europe. Once a good man, during the book, he exploits the Africans for their ivory. Kurtz stands by his virtues and also symbolizes the good intentions of Europeans. However, on the flip side, when Kurtz is under the influence of the manager, his cynical, harmful side is exposed. Kurtz, like imperialism, can be represented as good or bad. It all just depends on the influences of the people who are in power. Kurtz gains the respect of Marlow as well as the natives and that symbolizes the minor amount of respect given to the imperialists by natives as a result of their advanced technology.
The terminal illness that Kurtz has can be seen as symbolic of the eventual death of imperialism, due to the inability of imperialism to adapt and to respect the culture and people of the country they invaded. Kurtz's oil painting of a blindfolded woman carrying a lighted torch has a special significance. It is a symbol of the blind and foolish ivory company as it forged its way into the jungle and tried to enlighten the natives. However, they do not realize the effect they have on Africa. Most importantly, the painting shows Kurtz's understanding of his role and position in the
continent. Throughout Heart of Darkness Conrad is attempting to convey to his readers that Imperialism is immoral and degrading. Using various forms of symbolism, Conrad expresses his views. Perhaps Conrad is not opposed to imperialism completely but he does indicate that the white man is too materialistic and does not understand how spiritually advanced the natives are. He believes that in imperialism, the oppressors are too arrogant and evil in dealing with the "uncivilized natives." However, he also believes that Africa is too large to have any momentous impact by European invasion. Conrad's main message that he tries to reveal to the reader is that man's greatest sin is his atrocities to man.