Heart Of Darkness Imperialism

Conrad’s Perspective on the Natives of Africa and the Pacific In two of Joseph Conrad’s most famous works, Heart of Darkness and Lord Jim, Conrad writes about a European entering into a world of natives. In Heart of Darkness, Marlow is piloting a boat up the Congo River while Jim is traveling in the Pacific in Lord Jim. Although these books have different plots, they use the same literary techniques and ultimately have the same message for European imperialists. In both Heart of Darkness and Lord Jim, Conrad uses imagery, style, and tone to both portray native peoples in Africa and Southeast Asia and to protest European colonization and imperialism. In writing Heart of Darkness, Conrad drew extensively from his own experiences in the Congo.

Finally, when Marlow does arrive in Africa, although the Africans are depicted as savages, it is the Europeans that coldly exploit the Africans and exacerbate the problems of the continent. Part of Conrad’s perspective is that he can write from experience about the Congo. Conrad’s narrator in Heart of Darkness, Marlow, is a seaman like Conrad. In another parallel, Marlow and Conrad also both grew up with a fascination of unexplored areas of the Earth (Raskin 116). Marlow represents Conrad in many of his works, including Lord Jim. Like Conrad, Marlow despises his surroundings and many of his European counterparts. Conrad uses a frame story with Marlow as the teller to begin his story. Before Marlow gets to his journey through the Congo, he tells the group present about the Romans in Britain (Raskin 118). This historical parallel is used to illustrate the dangers of imperialism. The Romans invaded Britain as Europeans colonize Africa. The danger as Conrad sees it is that when civilized men go to uncivilized places, they become barbarians. Rome was destroyed by barbarians only after the Romans encroached on the barbarian lands (Raskin

Many people have drawn different conclusions about humanity from Heart of Darkness. T.S. Eliot the horror in Heart of Darkness as the horror of life, not just the horror of the Congo (Raskin 114). Bertrand Russel thought that the main point was that the civilized European was shown to be dangerously close to becoming a savage (Raskin 114). Finally, André Gide noted the imperialism somewhat, but was more interested in the general setting of Africa and its effects on humanity during Conrad’s time than the imperialistic nightmare of Conrad’s time (Raskin