Colonialism in ''The heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad

 

Heart of Darkness surrounds Marlow a sailor and his journey to Congo. Marlow saw severe mismanagement and brutality in the firm's stations as he went to Africa and Congo. The native people of the area were forced into serving the Company, and now they endure dreadful overwork and mistreatment at the hands of the Company's agents. 

During this time, Kurtz gains more of his attention. The manager appears to view Kurtz as a danger to his position.  The ship's maintenance was delayed because Kurtz is allegedly sick, which adds to the overall cost. After obtaining the necessary components for his ship's repair, Marlow and the manager embark on a protracted, challenging journey up the river with a group of agents, a crew of cannibals, and a few agents (whom Marlow refers to as pilgrims due to their peculiar habit of carrying long, wooden staves wherever they go). Everyone on board feels a little uneasy due to the impenetrable jungle and the deafening quiet, and travelers get more relaxed when they see a glimpse, of a native village.  Marlow also observes the poor condition of the natives. He saw that the natives were so weak and didn't even get enough food they were treated like slaves and were not given importance they were even not allowed to use the basic resources of their own land. Although Marlow saw everything with his own eyes, he tried to prove them right but finally accepted the reality.

Colonialism in Heart of Darkness

Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad is a clear example of Imperialism. In 1899 the British and French had occupied seventy percent of the world and Imperialism was at its peak. The British had all the power, prosperity, and wealth.  Imperialism is the major theme of the Novel.  The Congo was defeated by the British army. The British started utilizing their resources and its natives for labor. Marlow in the Novel stated that “It was just robbery with violence, murder on a great scale”. Imperialism is essentially the European conquest of African countries for assets, the writer has shown the reality of Europeans, which was hidden in the slogan of spreading civilization.

The Africans under the dominance of Europeans were living a pathetic life; the white man thought that they were powerful so they could do anything. The Europeans came to Congo for the civilization of its natives but in reality, they came, for the trading of ivory, their greed brings them. All of this is explored by Marlow. We also felt that Conrad is justifying British imperialism by calling it efficiency.

Marlow meets the chief we see how the white man is getting all the facilities while living in another country and the natives of the country are living a very poor life, They were given unfamiliar food, and they were weak. Marlow saw a group of laborers. The joints of the limb were like knots in a rope, all were connected through the rope and every Individual had a collar around his neck. On the other day, he saw a Man who killed himself; he hanged himself, who knew the sun was too much for him or the country. Then he saw “Black shapes kneeling, lying, sitting between the trees,. In the Novel, we see when a boy who is too weak to walk even comes close to Marlow and gives him Biscuits shows that the Europeans are so blind to their power and colonization that they do not even see the pathetic condition of the natives.

Conrad unfolds the duality and inhumanity of the white man. They do not call the natives slaves but also do not treat them like humans as well. The natives were dying slowly; they were not enemies or slaves but seemed just like black shadows. Kurtz who took part in every ritual of black people especially in sacrifice customs basically was the first class agent; he stood for “Heart of Darkness” and imperialism. When Kurtz accepts that “they do not trade ivory but take it by force and power, he also uses the words “defeat and murder” for natives” which is a clear example of imperialism.