Heart Of Darkness American Imperialism Essay

In Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness, European imperialists eagerly flood into Africa to enlighten the “savages” who openly roam and maintain their naturalistic way of life. However, due to the Africans’ unwavering dedication to nature, nature acts as not only a guide for life but as a protector. Due to these two juxtaposing forces clamoring for power over the Africans, a complex power dynamic develops. In order to observe how the power dynamic changes and decipher who ultimately wins, one must analyze Conrad’s use of the binary opposition of light and dark as a descriptive tool throughout the novel. Through observing the association of light and dark within Africa’s original depiction, the Belgian headquarters, and the grove of death one can

As European imperialism gains a tight grasp on the European culture, Africa sees interference with its natural state. To the European’s, Africa’s nature provides an exceptional resource to have, not for growing in unity with nature but for taking advantage of its resources. Many European’s wished to travel to Africa in order to make “a few francs a-month” and aspire to reach a level of greatness equal to Mr. Kurtz’s: “a first-class agent… [he] sends in as much ivory as all the others put together” (Conrad 37). To do so, however, one must travel to the imperialism company’s headquarters in Belgium. He or she must make the treck to its location on “a narrow and deserted street in deep shadows” and ascend the “ungarnished staircase, as arid as a desert, and open the first door” where he or she will see “two women… knitting black wool” (Conrad 24). The dark and eerie mood that the Belgian headquarters sets up marks the beginning of the reader’s experience with the complex power imbalance between nature and imperialism. In this setting the imperialism remains in an established country and does not battle with nature; however, the immense power that imperialism has over both the mood and the physical setting should not be diminished or ignored. The darkness establishes the evil power that lies within European