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Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad reads as a powerful critique of European imperialism during the 1800’s. Conrad was able to base the events in his novel off of actual events he experienced during his own journey to Africa in 1890 up the Congo River. Marlow, the novelist’s alter ego, tells the story and analyzes the European presence and purpose in Africa. Marlow represents the positive aspects of imperialism and realizes the harm that the negative imperialism has inflicted on Africa when he arrives there. He begins to associate imperialism with “the conquest of Earth” that is driven by the ideal that it is the right thing to do and witnesses first hand the destructive nature of this ‘invasion’ by the Europeans. Thus, throughout the remainder of this book, Conrad uses his own language and terminology as well as the observations of Marlow and the transformation of Kurtz to actively portray the corruption and negative consequences of European imperialism. Therefore, through the narration of a Heart of Darkness, Conrad is able to critically assess European imperialism during the 1800’s. Marlow, an Englishman who recently returned from his occupation as a steamboat operator on the Congo River in Africa, is telling the story to a group of men. Marlow is also the voice of reason in the novel. Unlike those who are already in Africa, Marlow realizes that the presence of the Europeans is not assisting the Africans and witnesses first-hand the senseless and atrocious acts committed by the European workers. When he first reaches the mouth of the Congo River, Marlow witnesses a French man-of-war firing into the bush of the African shore. Marlow seems to be the only one on the boat to be amazed at the absurdity of this action. “a projectile gave a feeble screech – and nothing happened. Nothing could happen. There was a touch of insanity in the proceeding, a sense of lugubrious drollery in the sight; and it was not dissipated by somebody on board assuring me earnestly there was a camp of natives – he called them enemies! – hidden out of sight somewhere.” Clearly, Marlow realizes how worthless and ridiculous this action actually is. He sees this again when he is walking through the ‘grove of death’ and witnesses the workers blasting a mountain with dynamite under the pretense that it is for the railroad, even though it clearly is not.
Approximate Word count = 1480
Approximate Pages = 5.9
(250 words per page double spaced)
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