Assignment 3 - Week 8 Essay 3Instructions:  Develop an essay of 1,000-1,500 words. Be sure to argue a particular point of view in your essay (your thesis) and cite varied examples from the readings

Joseph Conrad’s Critique of Imperialism in ‘Heart of Darkness’

Jacques Ridore

University Affiliation

Imperialism generally refers to the period during which African and Asian countries were colonized by Japan, the United States and the European world. With interventions like printing, ships and weapons, the European countries felt as though they were better than the rest of the world. In his own visit to the Congo, Joseph Conrad’s views on imperialism were influenced. Conrad’s understanding of imperialism was thusly influenced by his exploration of the dark country. The following is an-depth discussion of Conrad’s views on imperialism as expressed in the book ‘Heart of Darkness’. To put matters into perspective, this paper is founded on the postulation that in his book, Joseph Conrad presents a critique on imperialism. Ultimately, the culmination of this discussion will be a well-researched paper that comprehensively builds the body of knowledge with reference to the subject of discussion.

By noting the different instances of abuse of power, the author criticizes the role of imperialism in Africa and Congo to be specific. More objectively, he highlights that the abuse of power by Europeans on the basis that they had relatively superior weapons defeated the cause of imperialism. “As Marlow travels from the outer station to the central station and finally up the river to the inner station, he encounters scenes of torture surely and near slavery’. In this case, the author criticizes the abuse of power by Belgians and the extents to which they would go in order to make the natives surrender to them. Abuse of power ne gates the role of colonialism, highlighting the fact that the Belgians were not the Congo to simply colonize their land but their property as well.

Ivory plays a symbolic role in the text. It is a symbol of imperialist greed and the commercialist perspective that they held. The fact that ivory is constantly mentioned throughout the text cannot be brushed away. Rather, the deduction that is made is that the author uses ivory to criticize the exploitative nature of imperialism. It is what the manager at the central station thinks about, it is what the white agents think about and it is what the brick maker also thinks about. Considering the fact that ivory fetched a good price in the European markets, Conrad criticizes imperialism, noting that imperialists did not have the interests of the natives at heart. Instead, they served their own interests. The everlasting greed of the white man in ‘Heart of Darkness’ is consequently depicted through ivory. This greed is what dissociates them from moral values.

Joseph Conrad further criticizes the idea of imperialism by associating it with racism. He does this by highlighting that the imperial powers often considered themselves better and superior to the natives, and part of this superiority complex was a racial factor. Their conquest for the earth makes the natives their slaves, as depicted in how they openly mistreated them. Basically, what Conrad point out in this case is that imperialists thought they has the right to treat the natives in such cruel ways, majorly because they had a different color of the skin from them. By doing so, he places a critique on imperialism.

Important to note is the fact that the author does not really disregard imperialism. He criticizes it but does not disregard it. As a matter of fact, through the protagonist, the author actually notes that the role of imperialism was to civilize the natives. Marlow says ‘I had gotten a heavenly vision to civilize you’. In this case, he acknowledges the fact that civilization was the priority objective of imperialism in as much as imperialism turned out otherwise. In this case, he also highlights his intentions to help Africans advance and progress. Equally, by noting the fact that he was an imposter, he acknowledges that he invaded foreign land, where he did not really belong to. As noted, Joseph Conrad mainly tells his experiences through the character of Conrad and as such, the reader can deduce that he was not against imperialism, he simply criticized it.

This analysis has clearly illustrated how Joseph Conrad criticizes the idea of imperialism particularly through his experiences in the Congo. His critique is mainly based on the negative tendencies of imperialism and this discussion has highlighted greed, racism, commercialization, exploitation among others. The author expresses this through his characters, mainly Charles Marlow the protagonist and Mr. Kurtz. While these two are out in a faraway location, they really are doing more than making a fortune. All in all, the author asserts his position of imperialism through these the events in the novel, mainly presenting criticism against imperialism.

References

Conrad, J. (1990). Heart of Darkness. Courier Corporation.