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European Imperialism In Africa

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The Reality of Progress and Imperial Domination in Africa Europe in the 1900s was a place of science and politics, a place where progress was the goal of society. Many products and inventions came to be in the revolutionary factories just as new political parties sprouted up like wildflowers. As the enlightened Europe started to seek profit and knowledge, kings and parliaments alike began to look overseas for new territories. These new colonies started to gain attention for the material goods that were flowing out of their ports. As Europe saw new goods like rubber and ivory, some started to question where it all came from. To maintain the power Europeans held over native people, the simple and brutal colonization came under a new name; …show more content…

“These round knobs were not ornamental but symbolic; they were expressive and puzzling, striking and disturbing- food for thought and also for the vultures; but at all events… they would have been even more impressive, those heads on stakes.” People like Kurtz never thought about the people they were affecting, only ever the goods they could sell, to the point where heads of “rebels” were on pikes or hands were separated from limbs. For Kurtz the price of ivory was a few dozen heads, for most European imperialists the price was a hand or limb. This is even more clear in Kurtz’s last words, “I am lying here in the dark waiting for death… The horror! The horror!” Kurtz only ever cares for himself, not once mentioning the crimes against humanity or even his fiance’s name. In his last moments Kurtz mentions darkness, that which has overwhelmed his heart has also taken his …show more content…

This darkness is sometimes called lust; lust for power and wealth consumed Kurtz. “ Anything approaching the change that came over his features… It was as though a veil had been rent. I saw on that ivory face the expression of somber pride, of ruthless power, of craven terror…” In more than one way Kurtz personifies Europe, mad with power and obsessed with control. This lust for material goods made many people rich, but at what cost? If the goal of the civilizing mission was to teach the natives civility, then they had only enforced the concept that the world is run by barbarians. Another name for this darkness must be human nature, it is difficult to restrain yourself over something you desire. But then what to say of savages who give, cannibals who surrender flesh for respect. As it is in the book, the white men who oversee the company represent their homeland, Europe. Kurtz is a product of these men, the abomination that they have unleashed upon the land and its inhabitants. They represent the true heart of darkness- lust, and their submission to

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