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  • Essay / Novel Review: 'Heart of Darkness' by Joseph Conrad

    Conrad's first two works were based on his experiences in Malaya, The Madness of Almayer and An Outcast of the Isles (1896). His best work dates from 1897, Le Nègre du “Narcisse”, a moving story of life on board a ship. He followed it with his many notable works in the following years. Heart of Dark in the first collection is notable for its overwhelming sense of evil and corruption and its excellent tropical backgrounds. It is simply a very impressive and fascinating work of art. The art lies in the depiction of the imperialist approach, that is, the unsympathetic and inhumane relations between the natives of Central Africa and the European colonizers who became an embodiment of evil due to their prolonged stay on the dark continent of Congo. It contains many autobiographical elements and its narrator Marlow is considered the spokesperson for Joseph Conrad: but despite their great resemblance, they also differ a little. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an original essay The first chapter of the novel is an excellent distillation of various themes. All themes are linked to two major characters: Charles Marlow and Mr. Kurtz. The themes used in the novel are: the theme of evil, the theme of imperialism, the theme of lack of restraint, the theme of isolation, the theme of exploring darkness and the theme of reality and the appearance. All themes are skillfully interwoven to produce a unified artistic beauty, pattern or design; and on the whole it produced a spellbinding effect on the mind of the reader. The lights of the ships were moving down the fairway - a great movement of lights up and down. And further west, on the heights, the site of the monstrous city was still marked ominously in the sky, a menacing darkness in the sun, a sinister glow under the stars. And this too, Marlow said suddenly, was one of the darkest places on earth. (Part 1, Heart of Darkness) When a trundle bed with a sick man (an invalid upcountry agent) was placed on it, he showed mild annoyance. “This sick man’s groans,” he said, “divert my attention, and without that it is extremely difficult to guard against clerical errors in this climate.” (Part 1, Heart of Darkness). White men have always treated black people as “the others” and have always presented a theory of civilization of the uncivilized. According to this rhetorical theory of civilization, they have always manipulated the sources of the colonized for their thirst for wealth and power. Their inhumane behavior towards the colonized has always described their evil deeds. The hypocrisy of "civilized" Europeans is evident in the acts of torture, cruelty and near-slavery inflicted on the natives in the name of their enlightenment. In reality, Africans were merely objects for Europeans to use in their demands for booty. It is an act of hypocritical imperialism that is still at work in the contemporary world under the banner of globalization. The West continues to colonize our thoughts, our culture, our economy, etc., if not directly, then indirectly. Imperialism, as defined by the Dictionary of Human Geography, is "an unequal human and territorial relationship, usually in the form of an empire, based on ideas of superiority and practices of domination, and involving the extension of the authority and control of a State. or people rather than another. It is often seen in a negative light, as simple exploitation of indigenous people with the aim of enriching a small handful. The Heart of Darknessis a distinguished masterpiece by Joseph Conrad dealing with the great problems of the world. All of Marlow's experiences were Conrad's reactions to what he observed during his trip to the Congo. White imperialism was presented through the different characteristics that the novelist came in contact with. The White Man's Company ruled the Congo. Savages and wild men were its victims. “I was thinking of very ancient times, when the Romans first came here nineteen hundred years ago…. Lights have come out of this river since…. [It] is like a fire running across a plain, like lightning in the clouds. We live in the glitter – may it last as long as the old earth keeps rolling! But the darkness was there yesterday. (4)Marlow, the narrator, gives the dominant note to the theme of imperialism. This idea told by Marlow from the beginning of the novel. Marlow spoke of the ancient Roman conquerors of Britain. In history, it is mentioned that the ancient Romans were very brutal and inflicted many cruelties on the English. The ancient Romans plundered everything they could find in Britain. As Marlow points out, the conquest of Britain was “robbery with violence.” Marlow did not view conquest as a sentimental pretext but as a non-selfish idea. All conquerors could be pardoned! A conqueror could be excused if he carried out construction work in the uncivilized country he captured by force. Marlow did not use the phrase "The White Man's Burden", but he expressed this idea very implicitly and was not obtrusive and preachy in the novel. The white man had certain obligations and responsibilities towards the uncivilized people whom he physically and mentally subjugated. He came with various strategies to rule the country. But his motivation was not to be humanitarian but to help the savages for moral reasons. “Hunters of gold or in search of glory, they had all gone to this stream, carrying the sword and often the torch, messengers of power in the country, bearers of strength. with a spark of the sacred fire. What grandeur had not floated on the ebb of this river in the mystery of an unknown land! (Conrad 1.6). Marlow's experience in the Congo indicates that the white man was not carrying out his duty carefully. The white man was brutal and savage in extracting the ivory. The Congo, which was full of mineral resources, was exploited and misused by explorers in order to become rich and imperialist. All the characters in the novel talked incessantly about ivory and the natives of the Congo were exploited by enticing them into this trade. Mr. Kurtz, one of the protagonists of the novel, was so obsessed with everything that he once threatened to kill the Russian man just for a small amount of ivory. Sandbanks, swamps, forests, wilds - little food worthy of a civilized man. , nothing but Thames water to drink. No Falerne wine here, no landing. (5) “They were men enough to face the darkness. » (5) “They were dying slowly – that was very clear. They were neither enemies nor criminals, and they were nothing earthly now – nothing but the dark shadows of disease and famine...” (18) White men were selfish and hypocritical. They were simply wasting time and effort showing that they were doing constructive work. They started the project aimlessly. For example, they planned to build a railway project in Congo and the natives were forced to work like animals. People moved like ants. The men were chained to each other and made to work without any rest or relaxation.,.