Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad - Research Paper Example

Research on the Heart of Darkness. The heart of darkness is a novel that describes the exploitation of Africa and European colonization/imperialism, European colonization in the late 19th century. The story is about a Charles Marlo, a sailor and adventurer who pulls some strings and become in charge of a small steam boat and travels through the Congo River into the heart of the region. As Marlo and his people travel deeper into Congo, he hears of rumors about a man named Mr. Kurtz, who works for a Belgium company that trades in ivory. Mr. Kurtz has quite a respectable reputation because he spreads the civilization and culture in this region of culture. As Marlo and his men continue to travel into the core of Africa they discover that Mr. Kurtz is not the man they expected. Mr. Kurtz is a cruel tyrant who presents himself as a god who is worshiped by the local tribes. Heart of Darkness is about the human condition, it describes how humans can change their values over time and over the environment. It is about human corruption and how the pursuit of wealth and power poisons human values (Conrad, 13). In The Heart of Darkness the black people are hardly people, they are like metaphors for savage primitive man. The European brutalizes and enslaves the Africans. This cruelty is manifested in the novel Heart of Darkness through the Mr. Kurtz. Mr. Kurtz is seen to brutalize, humiliate and enslave the Africans. The Africans worshiped Kurtz as their god; this was brought about by fear. The Africans were mistreated by being forced into hard labor and forced labor. They were enslaved, beaten and even butchered. Mr. Kurtz hanged the heads of the butchered blacks around his homestead. This portrays the high level of imperialism as the activities of the colonialists “Mr. Kurtz” are inhumane and demoralizing (Youngbirg, 15). In the Heart of Darkness the black people are looked down upon, they are hardly people; they are like metaphors for savage primitive man. The Europeans brutalize and enslaves them regardless of their age, gender and culture. The European imperialism is deceitful as the Africans are lured into forced labor and slavery. All this is done to the benefit of the European people. The Africans suffer in the hands of the colonialists both physically and mentally, some of them are even butchered and their heads are hung in the imperialists’ compound as a sign of showing them how petty and useless they are to be treated like animals. The Europeans in the Heart of Darkness are seen as civilized and informed people. The civilization in the heart of darkness appears to be unreal. This is because the Africans through forced labor and slavery have been used to work towards the civilization in the Heart of Darkness. They are respected and even worshiped as it has been portrayed in the case of Mr. Kurtz. Mr. Kurtz is offered a warm welcome wherever he goes as he is considered a god (Conrad, 26). He is even worshiped by the Africans as they fear him. The Europeans are viewed as wise and leaders by the Africans, this is because they have taken advantage of the ignorance of the Africans and used them in their economic activities. The Europeans have also brought change to the villages in Africa and they have taken up leadership. On the other hand, the European civilization comes out to be deadly to the Africans and is also portrayed as dead. This is because of the hardships that the Africans went through in the hands of the Europeans in the name of civilization. Africans were brutally abused and enslaved by the Europeans in the process of “civilization”. The Africans have been treated with a lot of cruelty; they have been beaten and killed in the name of civilization. The civilization is termed as dead because of the deaths of Africans that came about in the process. The civilization in the heart of darkness is also termed to be self-deluded. This is because all the activities that are involved in the process are to benefit individuals. The Europeans are the only people that benefit from this (Conrad, 17). Marlow, in the heart of darkness has been portrayed as civilized and the only person with a human heart. Marlow is able to see the cruelty of the European people and looks for an approach to condemn it. Mr. Kurtz falls ill, Marlow appears to be happy and with less concern about Mr. Kurtz. This feeling was brought about by the hatred/ dislike that Marlow had for Mr. Kurtz due to his cruelty to the Africans. Marlow is seen to be the only person sympathizing with the Africans and how they were being assaulted, brutalized, tortured and butchered. Marlow is viewed as the only righteous person who seems to be concerned about Mr. Kurtz’s cruelty (Conrad, 86). The Africans were for once able to enjoy peace during this time. Marlow on the other hand was busy going round trying to establish what Mr. Kurtz has been doing during his time in Africa. Marlow was not pleased by Mr. Kurtz’s actions as he had never achieved anything positive. During Mr. Kurtz’s illness, Marlow was able to see the damages brought about by his actions and the fear that he had inflicted to the Africans. Marlow saw this to be cruel and he decided to make him go away by telling him that he was going to be killed if he was found to be alive. He has been seen to condemn Mr. Kurtz’s cruel actions and to have sympathized with the Africans. Marlow has also been seen as a liar. Marlow lies to protect Mr. Kurtz as he was afraid to sell him out to the people. Marlow learns that bitterness and cynicism are the wrong responses (Conrad, 87). Marlow was shocked when he saw the level of cruelty that he saw in Mr. Kurtz’s character. He was able to learn that the human character can change and be cruel beyond measure. The Heart of Darkness portrays Mr. Kurtz as cruel and a racist. Mr. Kurtz enslaves the Africans and leads them into forced labor. Mr. Kurtz is seen to be the origin of all the problems that the black people were going through. In The Heart of darkness portrays he is seen to be the cause behind racial discrimination, the torture of the Africans, enslaving of the Africans and colonialism. Mr. Kurtz uses the Africans to exploit their own resources for his own selfish gain. He is able to achieve this through forced labor and the help of the slaves (Conrad, 17). Mr. Kurtz’s character is inhumane as he is very hostile to the Africans and he barely treats them as humans, to him the Africans are illiterate and meaningless people who are there to enslave and use to achieve his own selfish needs. The Africans are butchered and their heads are hung in Mr. Kurtz’s compound, this portrays his character as inhuman and very cruel. Mr. Kurtz embraces imperialism and colonization of the Africans as he is able to benefit through it by acquiring enough slaves and exploit the resources in their lands. During Mr. Kurtz’s illness, he was very weak and he could not do anything by himself. Mr. Kurtz was left to lie in bed all the days during his illness. At this time he was not able to go about his daily duties. The Africans were for once able to enjoy peace during this time. Marlow on the other hand was busy going round trying to establish what Mr. Kurtz has been doing during his time in Africa. Marlow was not pleased by Mr. Kurtz’s actions as he had never achieved anything positive. Throughout his stay in Africa had inflicted pain and suffering to the Africans and given them a negative view of the European people. On his sick bed, Mr. Kurtz was visited by Marlow but Marlow never found him at his home. Mr. Kurtz was crawling away do to fear for his life as he was told that people were out there looking for him so they can kill him. Marlow followed the path created in the grass by Mr. Kurtz as he was crawling away from his home to go and hide. Mr. Kurtz told Marlow that he was crawling away to go and complete his unfinished business (Conrad, 15). Mr. Kurtz’s intentions were based on his own selfish desires. All he wanted was to enrich himself and his region of origin. All the labor that was acquired through the slaves and the forced laborers was benefiting the Europeans alone as to the Africans it was exploitation to both the people and their resources. The colonization of the Africans would see Mr. Kurtz’s plan work and in that way he would have achieved his goals. His main intentions were to acquire as many slaves as possible to work for him and to grow as a leader who will get all his things done through people and by the people. Mr. Kurtz’s character and actions were all out of greed and his selfish desires. He oppressed and tortured the Africans to inflict fear which would enable him to rule over them (Conrad, 15). His system of ruling over the Africans was based on fear rather than respect and his accomplishments. Marlow is seen to be portrayed as a good man with a heart to be able to distinguish between what is bad and what is good. He has been seen to condemn Mr. Kurtz’s cruel actions and to have sympathized with the Africans. Marlow has also been seen as a liar. Marlow lies to protect Mr. Kurtz as he was afraid to sell him out to the people. Marlow also lies to the people that he is a prominent and a very well-known person in his home country as he wants people to see him as a man of great achievement and importance. Marlow was unable to tell the truth to the people because they looked up to him with many expectations and he did not want to disappoint or discourage them. This is portrayed when people come complain to Marlow of their misfortunes. Marlow was unable to tell the truth to the people because he sympathized with them (Conrad, 15). In the Heart of Darkness, racism is part of a way of life. The Africans in this case are looked down upon, they are hardly people; they are like metaphors for savage primitive man. The Europeans brutalize and enslave them regardless of their age, gender and culture. The Africans are ill-treated and made to work under harsh conditions and brutalized in the same all this was to benefit the Europeans. This is the highest case of racism as the Africans were looked down upon (Conrad, 48). The novel Heart of Darkness portrays racial discrimination, colonialism and brutalization of the Africans at its worst state. Work Cited Conrad, Joseph. Heart of darkness. Charlottesville, Va.: University of Virginia Library, 1996. Read More