The Heart of Darkness Case

The Heart of Darkness tells an excellent story of a man’s journey into Africa. Marlow was an agent for a Belgian ivory trading firm where he went up the Congo and experienced how the European traders treat the natives in which he was shocked. Years later, he is aboard a British ship called the Nellie and he tells his story to three men on the ship with him.

During the time that Marlow went on his journey, European Imperialism was a major concern in African. The Heart of Darkness represents a good amount of criticism of imperialism. “He [Kurtz] began with the argument that we whites, from the point of development we had arrived at, ‘must necessarily appear to them [savages] in the nature of supernatural beings’ (Conrad, pg 61).” Kurtz, the chief of the Inner Station, shows how many Europeans believe they are superior to Africans and that they need to help them develop. Conrad also criticizes imperialism by stating, “The conquest of the earth, which mostly means taking it away from people with different colored skin or flatter noses, is not a pretty thing when you think about it. The only good thing about it is the idea behind it (Conrad, pg 7).” Not only is his saying that he does not believe that what Europe was doing at the time was a good idea, he is also uses racism and shows how Europeans saw the Africans at the time. Last, one of the central images with which Marlow characterizes the behavior of the colonists is when he says, “The flabby, pretending, weak-eyed devil of a rapacious and pitiless folly (Conrad, pg 19).” Marlow says that he has seen violence, greed, and ruthless desire, but the heartlessness of the men who ran the system amazed him. At this moment, he knew he would find out how terrible all of this pitiless really was (Conrad, pg 19). Marlow’s criticisms against imperialism have less to do with what it does to colonized people, but with what it does to Europeans. He suggests that is degrades Europeans by removing them from the civilizing context of European society.

During this time, the Europeans were trying to push imperialism into Africa and wanted to colonize them. This caused some consequences. Intestinally, Europe wanted to take over parts of Africa for different reasons, but of course the natives fought back and would attack Europeans coming in. The Heart of Darkness shows this when the natives attack the steamship that Marlow is on while they are surrounded by fog (Conrad, pg 53). This book also shows the racism that comes from the European’s in Africa. The Europeans constantly call them savages and say that they only grunt phrases instead of speaking. Marlow’s aunt also says to him before he leaves that she hopes he will aid in the civilization of savages and wean “those ignorant millions from their horrid ways (Conrad, pg 14).” This shows how the Europeans saw the Africans, which unintentionally created more dislike between the two countries.

        Throughout the novella, Marlow tries to understand the Africans and seems to have a positive attitude towards them most of the time. Marlow sees that they are like Europeans when he says, “They were not inhuman.” He sees that they were human like him and they were distant relatives (Conrad, pg 44). Marlow sees an African being badly beaten for being accused of starting a fire to a shed and he was screeching horribly (Conrad, pg 28). He then later sees the African sitting in the shade looking sick and trying to recover. When Marlow talks about this, it makes me think that he almost feels bad for the native because if he didn’t, Marlow probably would not have talked about it at all or would not have cared that he saw him later still trying to recover. Also, later in the story when Marlow is on the steamboat going up the Congo, everyone on the ship hears natives screaming nearby and they think the natives are going to attack, but Marlow doesn’t. He says that they gave him, “an irresistible impression of sorrow (Conrad, 52-53).” This also shows that Marlow doesn’t think of the Africans as horrible people and may just be filled with grief that the Europeans are there. However, while talking about them, he almost always calls them savages and compares one to a dog wearing feathers. He says, “To look at him was as edifying as seeing a dog in a parody of breeches and a feather hat, walking on his hind-legs (Conrad, pg 45).” Overall, I don’t think Marlow has a bad attitude toward the African people or completely dislike them, he just make racist comments.

        I think Marlow represents a heroic figure in this narrative. He is tough, honest, and a capable man. When Marlow learns about Kurtz, he continues his search for him in spite of many obstacles, like all of the times their ship broke down. Marlow rejects the brutality in the African colonies and makes difficult choices when he realizes that he has his own “heart of darkness”. However, he didn’t want to give up because that would provide no integrity. Considering the obstacles that Marlow experiences, his realization, acceptance, and constant struggle to maintain his integrity is heroic.