Maps and boats are two key symbols in Conrad’s ‘Heart of Darkness’. Boats also afford the tale with a place in which to occur, and afford Marlow with many of their dialects and philological stances. Both are devices of Imperialism. The large map in the Company’s waiting room is color coded. Red means good work is being done, while purple indicates ‘where the jolly pioneers of progress drink the jolly lager-beer’. This contrasts mightily with the blank spaces, Marlow so admired in his childhood. Europeans have relocated into those spaces and accurately colored them in for the maps themselves. One of the many ways that this undertaking has been realized, and also the oppression of the aboriginal populaces that were found, was through the dominance and indulgent use of technology. …show more content…
The bogus doctor who measures Marlow’s head is too lethargic and sedentary to actually journey to Africa, but he considers his ‘theory’ about ‘the mental changes of individuals, on the spot’ can be confirmed by gauging the heads of those who do make the voyage. He doesn’t see a single one of his patients when they return, so apparently he only receives accounts of them. He must, therefore, be attempting to institute an association between head shapes and capability to survive in the colonies. The suggestion that mental features, even mental aptitude, can be assessed from physical variances is one that reinforces the idea of European preeminence. Even though the doctor does not bother to reference the people of Africa, he is complicit in their