Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness - Book Report/Review Example

Heart of Darkness Introduction Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness is in the year 1890 and is based on the story Marlow,an introspective sailor. Marlow is traveling up the Congo River in a quest to meet with Kurtz. Marlow recognizes Kurtz, who is an ivory trader as a man of high abilities and is enthusiastic to meet him. The main action takes place in the Congo where Marlow is a takes a job as the captain of a company’s riverboat. The company is Belgian and is meant to trade in ivory in the Congo. Throughout his work and travel in Africa, Marlow experiences the inefficiency and brutality of the company’s stations. The natives of the Congo are suffering a lot in the hands of the business having been forced to service the Europeans. Ill-treatment and overwork are the order of the day with the white man’s settlements appearing like islands in the vast darkness that is the jungle (Denby, Paras. 12-19). Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness is a thorough condemnation of European Imperialism Imperialism is as an approach to a powerful country extending its authority of a nation by the acquisition of territories or the establishment of political and economic control over the country. Throughout the book, there are actions of powerful countries trying to gain influence and control over the social, economic, political perspectives of the native Africans. The Heart of Darkness describes a period where there are colonialism and oppression of the African natives in the Congo. Oppression is very present as there is so much cruelty being done to the African workers at the stations. The Europeans have set out to exercise their power in the vast Congo region. The Europeans are in possession of new inventions like printing, weapons and ships and are therefore superior to others in the world. They are driven by the need for resources and, therefore, exploit the less developed countries. In the book heart of darkness, Conrad depicts imperialist exploitation to be backward, and his views on it based on his visit to the Congo and exploration of the dark region. The following is a discussion of the assertions that are about European imperialism in the book Heart of Darkness by James Conrad (Hawkins, Paras 87-92). The print media at the time of Marlow’s travel in the Congo is with the wrong news. There is a belief that the aim of the European imperialism is to civilize the natives who are termed are savages. Marlow, who is the main character, represents the positiveness of imperialism. Throughout of the book, he realizes the negative effects of imperialism and finds it to be unnecessary. Marlow states that he has a heavenly mission to civilize the natives signifying how much convicted he was to the progress and advancement of the natives. He also recognizes that he is an intruder in the foreign land and sticks to his moral values (Cole, Paras. 57-121). In the book, imperialism is portrayed to be brutal and violent. There are all kinds of violent behavior exercised by the white men. The natives are harshly, and their rights are not considered. As Marlow makes his trip from the outer station to the central station going up the river to the inner position, he encounters a horrific scene of cruelty, torture, and near-slavery. There is so much racism and imperialism in the treatment of the natives by the Belgians. The harsh treatment is mainly for the purpose of surrender with slavery being enforced as a part of the empire. The Belgians have asserted their rule and want the natives to see them as superior (Conrad, Paras.15-56). The dehumanizing nature of the European imperialism is also a theme in the book. Mistreatment of workers is often present with overworked slaves left to die on their own. Marlow is with a scene of slaves near a tree who are emaciated and look like acute angles with their chins propped on their knees probably due to exhaustion and pain. Marlow describes the scene as intolerable as the slaves stared at the space in unacceptable manner. The slaves are described as to be with weariness and are scattered all over the place displaying a picture of a massacre. (Conrad, Paras .251-269) Marlow is so shocked by the scene that he describes the slaves as phantoms and creatures. The inhumane treatment of the slaves makes Marlow to disregard these people as human beings (Clendinnen, Paras. 1-15). The European imperialists are also exploitative in nature and in their relationship with the natives. The reality is reflected when Marlow takes his steamer in the sail to the interior. There are all kinds of shabby treatments meted out to the cannibal crew. The white owners of the ship treat the team in a disgusting manner. The team is made up of hardworking and sturdy fellows who are very efficient and deserve encouragement. The manager and the white men are unconcerned with the welfare the men whose their labor they depend on for their mission. The bosses do not recognize their efforts enough to feed them properly (Denby, p.18). It is very true that power corrupts, and the presence of absolute power corrupts absolutely. In the book, Conrad illustrates the power of corruption and its effects not only on the natives but the also the Europeans. Marlow strives to be looked up to by his peers and is willing to let power take over (Hawkins, Paras. 114-180). There is no efficient use of resources in the narrative by the white men. The fundamental nature of efficiency is to allow the use of resources without wasting. It ensured that goods were obtained from the colonized country; the European country had to be rational. The Belgians had allowed the sunken steamer to be wasted. It shows that they have a wasteful nature and are only interested in getting the resources of the natives. If the imperialists were efficient, they would not have allowed any waste in their resources. It is not the case in the book leading to a conclusion that the imperialists were wasteful (Hawkins, Paras.506-580). There is also a belief that the European imperialist are deceitful in their intentions in the African country. The white men have continually failed in their quest to uplift the natives whom he termed as savages. Mr. Kurtz has held in his belief that the white men should help the backward natives in improving their lives. There were promises of the significant benefits that would be on the natives. Rather than bringing this into reality Mr. Kurtz has turned to a savage in the company of the black people. He has failed miserably in his attempt to exercise self-restraint and is fulfilling his lusts without any boundaries. His views on the civilizing role of the white man have changed and has conveyed opposite messages. He is all for the extermination of the natives who he calls brutes. The white man is deceitful and has turned into an exploiter of the natives (Hawkins, paras.120-167). There is proof that the imperialist have become oppressive. They are only interested in ivory that is of no use to the natives. The white men use the ivory for profitability in making of ornaments. Ivory has dominated the thoughts of the various characters in the novel. There are also white agents who are present at the central station. Marlow has referred to them as faithless pilgrims who are in the collection of ivory. Ivory has been used as a source of oppression and greed; the natives are oppressed by the white man to anything for the commodity (Baum, Paras.217-287). The heart of darkness also tackles the issue of racism expressed by the white men. Marlow is especially racist; he describes a native man by comparing him to a dog wearing feathers. The description of the natives in this terms and the fact that he thought that their language was satanic is racist. Marlow described a native as an improved specimen and looking at him was impressive as seeing a dog on its hind legs and wearing feathers. However, Conrad has tackled this, and the issue of imperialism is. It is because enforcement of any imperialism is a direct violation of their culture (Hawkins, Paras. 263-302). Conclusion The Heart of Darkness represents a critical view of the various issues that the African natives faced during the period of colonization. The European involvement was meant to enlighten and civilize the Africans at the time of entry. However, this was not the case as Europeans insisted on imperialism that is the control of other less developed nations. The prospects that the dark country of Congo offered changed the agents including Mr. Kurtz, who ended pursuing his interests. Imperialism in a broad concept in the book with issues of deceit, violence and dehumanization of imperialism this process being dealt with in the book. The continued suffering of the people natives is described vividly with Marlow describing it as intolerable. James Conrad has clearly brought out his criticism of imperialism in the book by portraying the negative effects on the natives. Works cited Cole, Sarah. "Conradian alienation and imperial intimacy." MFS Modern Fiction Studies 44.2 (1998): 251-281. Conrad, Joseph. Heart of Darkness (Norton Critical Editions). WW Norton & Company, 2005. Clendinnen, Inga. "Preempting Postcolonial Critique: Europeans in the Heart of Darkness." Common Knowledge 13.1 (2007): 1-17. Denby, David. "Jungle fever." The New Yorker 6 (1995): 119-129. Hawkins, Hunt. "Joseph Conrad, Roger Casement, and the Congo Reform Movement." Journal of Modern Literature (1981): 65-80. Hawkins, Hunt. "Conrads Critique of Imperialism in Heart of Darkness." Publications of the Modern Language Association of America (1979): 286-299. Hawkins, Hunt. "Conrad and the Psychology of Colonialism." Conrad Revisited: Essays for the Eighties (1985): 71-87. Hawkins, Hunt. "Conradheart of Darkness-Politics and History." Contadina 24.3 (1992): 207-217. Baum, Joan. "The Realheart of Darkness." Conradiana 7.2 (1975): 183-187. Read More