A Major Theme in the Book Heart of Darkness - Essay Example

Heart of Darkness A major theme in Joseph Conrad’s book Heart of Darkness is the struggle between darkand light when it comes to the souls of men and the relative merits of imperialism. The story is told by an aging sailor who was once commissioned to sail the Congo in search of a Company man organizing the imperialistic efforts being conducted there. Shipments had stopped and they wanted to know why. As he struggles up the river in a broken down steamship, Marlow starts to gain a better appreciation for the realities of imperialism as compared to what it was thought to be back in London. To discuss these deep ideas, he tells the other sailors about them in terms of dark and light symbolizing 'civilized' as opposed to 'primitive' societies. In making his comments upon London at the beginning of the book, Marlow illustrates the lesson he learned in the jungle, that the social impression of imperialism as an illuminating force for good brought to the desperate primitive peoples was a lie based on false cultural beliefs. He does this by reflecting out loud about the history of London and how it parallels in many ways the current history of Africa by questioning the difference between civilized and savage. It is obvious to the other men sitting on the deck that the concept of light as it is applied to men refers to the 'enlightened' or advanced culture. The narrator makes this clear as he talks about the rich history of the Thames and the glorious characters of those who have traveled on it. "They had all gone out on that stream, bearing the sword, and often the torch, messengers of the might within the land, bearers of a spark from the sacred fire. What greatness had not floated on the ebb of that river into the mystery of an unknown earth! ... The dreams of men, the seed of commonwealth, the germs of empires" (Conrad, 3). These are all presented as positive elements or a kindness bestowed on those less fortunate. The splendor that was England would be graciously shared with the lazy, unintelligent brutes of the dark places without any consideration as to where that wealth was coming from. It is clear from the way the narrator describes things that he considers England to have always enjoyed such a privileged and recognized status. Only one of these men, Marlow, seems to see things differently, describing London in terms that make it sound very much like their present conceptions of the darkness or uncivilized nature of Africa. It is just as the narrator is winding down about the greatness of the civilization that lives on the banks of this river that Marlow interrupts everyone's thoughts with the sudden and cryptic statement used as epigraph above: "And this also ... has been one of the dark places of the earth" (2). In this passage, Marlow talks about the area of London as it was when the Roman soldiers found it. Although there was already a flourishing society at work on the island, as there were several flourishing societies found in Africa as European explorers pushed deeper and deeper into the forests, the Romans felt themselves engulfed by the same kind of darkness being experienced in Africa. “Sand-banks, marshes, forests, savages – precious little to eat fit for a civilized man, nothing but Thames water to drink. … Here and there a military camp lost in a wilderness, like a needle in a bundle of hay – cold, fog, tempests, disease, exile, and death – death skulking in the air, in the water, in the bush. They must have been dying like flies here” (Conrad, 4). The darkness he describes for the Romans entails much more than the simple change in geography and weather from their Mediterranean home and sounds very much like how the Europeans thought of the men they found in Africa at that time - savages who have nothing decent to eat or drink, strange illnesses, difficult or impossible terrains. Marlow's reflection on the Romans also draws parallels between the ancient Romans and the contemporary British as bringers of light to the dark places of the world. The narrator has already provided the emphasis for the British as light-bringers and Marlow starts from this description as if he had been reading the narrator's mind. "Light came out of this river since - you say Knights? Yes; but it is like a running blaze on a plain, like a flash of lightening in the clouds. We live in the flicker - may it last as long as the old earth keeps rolling!" (Conrad, 4). The task of the Romans, though, was to assert their claims to the islands of England and they did it in spite of the many hardships and the strong resistance of the people they found there. In the process, they brought their government, their tastes, their civilized culture - at least to some extent. This was necessary as the only means of fighting against the inevitable "Imagine the growing regrets, the longing to escape, the powerless disgust, the surrender, the hate" (Conrad, 4). The Romans, like the British in the Congo, were given no light to help guide them through the uncivilized and dark forests of the land they found themselves in and, little by little, ended up bringing their light as a means of both saving themselves from converting to the ways of the people they were surrounded by and to justify their brutality in this land. By shifting the point of view to the actual Britons that inhabited the island at the time of the Romans, Marlow is then able to describe how the natives of Africa are responding to the British presence as well as the darkness at the heart of the light-bringers. Marlowe points out what every Englishman knew at that time, that from the Briton point of view, the Romans were nothing more than brutal conquerors. 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, 4). The people were put in chains, or nearly so as they were reduced to the status of serfs while those of Roman descent occupied the manor houses and palaces. As he reminds the men of this widespread belief of the part of England in relation to their long-ago conquerors, he makes the comparison complete by highlighting what made this progression acceptable to the Romans. "What redeems it is the idea only. An idea at the back of it; not a sentimental pretence but an idea; and an unselfish belief in the idea - something you can set up, and bow down before, and offer a sacrifice to" (Conrad, 4). In this statement, Marlow may as well be speaking about all the well-meaning men such as Kurtz devoting their energies to converting the Dark Continent and discovering instead that it's all a big cover-up for the rape of the land's resources to the benefit of England. Within this very brief passage at the start of the story, Marlow immediately challenges the other sailors' assumptions that their society is nothing less than the sun to the rest of the world. He does this by first acknowledging their belief, reminding them that they were once in darkness too, comparing them with those who brought the light to England and then exposing the realities behind that light - the darkness that existed in the center. With this final comparison, he reveals the darkness in the heart of the British sun and sets up the major themes to be addressed in the remainder of the story. Works Cited Conrad, Joseph. Heart of Darkness. 1902. The Literature Network (2006). Read More