The Consequences of Imperialism in Heart Of Darkness Essay

The darkness of the heart

Imperialism-- is it the same as invasions? Is it the same as pain?? Conrad try to make us go to a world where darkness is shown, where human cruelty is a common thing ,and money is more important than life, this was the life of the colonies in Africa. The invasion of the white people into the Dark Continent. The atrocities of mankind.

In Conrad's Heart of Darkness Marlowe, the main character, symbolizes the positive side of the imperialism. Marlowe, as a character realizes the evil that negative imperialism had caused. When Marlowe states, "I had got a heavenly mission to civilize you," he expresses his good intentions to help the Africans progress and advance. Later, when he says, "I was an impostor," Marlowe recognizes the fact that he is an invader in this foreign land, yet he sticks to his moral values.

Marlowe observes many kinds of abuse of power by the other whites, simply because they have better weapons than the black men, like when the manager severely beats up a young black boy. However, when he sees abuses and unjust treatment he doesnt try to stop it. Instead, he just turns away and accepts that it is happening. That is one of Marlowe's flaws; he does not support his beliefs.

Marlowe also symbolizes the uncorrupted men that traveled to foreign lands to help the 'uncivilized' become cultured, but unlike the others Marlowe does not become influence by an alternative motive. He is able to see through the materialistic ideals that had influenced the men before him. Marlowe was open-minded and sensitivity that was mostly absent during imperialism, but doesn't have the courage nor the power to stop the abuses that where happening.

The manager is the negative effects of Imperialism. He is corrupt, arrogant, supercilious and self-centered. He symbolizes the arrogance of Europeans as they encountered native Africans. His good health may symbolize the everlasting domination of Europeans who invaded Africa and their ability to exploit Africa and take away all it of its natural resources. He is the true symbol of the evil and cold-heart of imperialists.

The manager was an illustration of an established imperialist power. He was well settled in, as demonstrated by the fact that he controls all the stations. An example of his power over others was when he had the black boy thrashed because he burned of a shed. In addition, he is expansionist and wishes to destroy Kurtz and gain a monopoly on the ivory trade The word ivory rang in the air, was whispered, was sighed. You would think they were praying to it. A taint of imbecile rapacity blew through it all, like a whiff from some corpse. The manager's discussion with his uncle is yet another example of his ruthless and amoral.

Marlowe realizes the manager is evil and has a certain dislike for him, as all the natives do. Through this, symbolizes the overall heat of imperialized countries toward the aggressor. By assigning all the blame for the terrible conditions on the manager, Conrad stresses the feeling that Europeans were not bringers of technology, but distributors of immoral corruption. The conquest of the earth, which mostly means the taking it away from those who have a different complexion or slightly flatter noses than ourselves, is not a pretty thing when you look into it too much."

Kurtz is one of the more interesting characters in the book. Kurtz was once what Marlowe is, however, he became more and more corrupt as he was isolated from the civilization of Europe. He exploited the Africans for their ivory. Kurtz truly symbolizes Europe, in that his mother and father were half-French and half-Europe. He is also a "renaissance man" and very talented. He stands by his virtues and also symbolizes the good intentions of Europeans. Under the influence of the manager, though, his sinister and harmful side is exposed. And the lofty frontal bone of Mr. Kurtz! They say the hair goes on growing sometimes, but thisahspecimen was impressively bald. The wilderness had patted him on the head, and, behold, it was like a ballan ivory ball; it had caressed him, andlo!he had withered; it had taken him, loved him, embraced him, got into his veins, consumed his flesh, and sealed his soul to its own by the inconceivable ceremonies of some devilish initiation. He was its spoiled and pampered favorite

Kurtz had gained the respect of Marlowe as well as the natives. His terminal illness may represent the eventually death of imperialism due to its inability to adapt and respect the culture and peoples of the invaded country. Kurtz's oil painting of a blindfolded woman carrying a lighted torch has a distinct significance. It symbolizes the blind and foolish ivory company forging its way into the jungle and enlightening the savage natives. However, they do not really realize the detrimental effect they have on Africa. Most importantly the painting shows Kurtz's understanding of his role and position in the continent.

Overall Kurtz symbolizes Europe towards the end of Imperialism when they began to recognize and realize their actions as harmful and evil. Kurtz's relationship to the mistress represents Europe's love for their imperialized country; however, the passion is only temporary. When Marlowe tells Kurtz's girlfriend that the last words on his lips were her that symbolizes the nobleness of imperialists and desire to 'explore for the mother country' and do things in her honor.

In Heart of Darkness, Conrad successfully manipulates color, the imitation of color and descriptions of color to create a symbolic message to the reader. Conrad uses black and white repeatedly to describe good and evil. Although the "invaders" are white, Marlowe describes them as having black souls, while the oppressed blacks are described as having pure and white souls. Marlowe's predecessor is also killed over two black hens. In the Brussels office, Marlowe sees white women weaving black cotton, while in Africa he sees black women with white cotton. One of the more distinctive examples of color symbolism occurs when Marlowe noticed a starving, young black boy with a rope of white cotton around his neck. This symbolizes the white men choking the people of Africa.

Throughout Heart of Darkness Conrad is trying to express to his readers that Imperialism is immoral and degrading. Using various forms of symbolism, through Marlowe, Conrad expresses his views. Conrad is most likely not opposed to Imperialism completely but shows his belief that the white man is too materialistic to understand how spiritually advanced the natives are. He believes that in Imperialism, the oppressor, Europeans, are too arrogant and evil in dealing with the "uncivilized natives." However, he also believes that Africa is too large to have any momentous impact by European invasion, as shown when the French ship is unaffectedly shelling the African coast. Conrad's main message that he tries to reveal to the reader is that man's greatest sin is his atrocities to m