Heart Of Darkness Research Paper
"What redeems it is the idea only. An idea at the back of it; not a sentimental pretence but an idea."
"Those who read me know my conviction that the world, the tempered world rests, notably, on the idea of Fidelity."
This is a running theme through most Conrad's books. As a sailor he learned that to survive, every crewman did the job he was assigned, and that the survival of the ship, and therefore the community, depended on each man doing his duty.
The heart of darkness can be read as a political critique of western imperialism as exercised by the Belgians, who more or less raped the Congo of its resources while brutalizing the country's people and making them slaves of unbridled political avarice.
At the time Heart of Darkness …show more content…
The word "ivory" rang in the air, was whispered, was sighed. You would think they were praying to it"
The word "ivory" has taken on a life of its own for the men who work for the Company. To them, it is far more than the tusk of an elephant; it represents economic freedom, social advancement and an escape from a life of being an employee. The word has lost all connection to any physical reality and has itself become an object of worship. Marlow's reference to a decaying corpse is both literal and figurative: elephants and native Africans both die as a result of the white man's pursuit of ivory, and the entire enterprise is rotten at the core. Bewitched by a new country and the material prospects, they are incapable of using their power and authority to some useful end.
The ultimate aim of the Europeans was the extraction of wealth, ivory, etc and not the salvation of the Africans. Their aim sprang out of their passion for wealth and not any humanitarian impulse. Thus their conquest did not merit any redemption. It was a sin with no recompense.
They might pretend to be
"Something like a emissary of light, something like a lower sort of
"Those who read me know my conviction that the world, the tempered world rests, notably, on the idea of Fidelity."
This is a running theme through most Conrad's books. As a sailor he learned that to survive, every crewman did the job he was assigned, and that the survival of the ship, and therefore the community, depended on each man doing his duty.
The heart of darkness can be read as a political critique of western imperialism as exercised by the Belgians, who more or less raped the Congo of its resources while brutalizing the country's people and making them slaves of unbridled political avarice.
At the time Heart of Darkness …show more content…
The word "ivory" rang in the air, was whispered, was sighed. You would think they were praying to it"
The word "ivory" has taken on a life of its own for the men who work for the Company. To them, it is far more than the tusk of an elephant; it represents economic freedom, social advancement and an escape from a life of being an employee. The word has lost all connection to any physical reality and has itself become an object of worship. Marlow's reference to a decaying corpse is both literal and figurative: elephants and native Africans both die as a result of the white man's pursuit of ivory, and the entire enterprise is rotten at the core. Bewitched by a new country and the material prospects, they are incapable of using their power and authority to some useful end.
The ultimate aim of the Europeans was the extraction of wealth, ivory, etc and not the salvation of the Africans. Their aim sprang out of their passion for wealth and not any humanitarian impulse. Thus their conquest did not merit any redemption. It was a sin with no recompense.
They might pretend to be
"Something like a emissary of light, something like a lower sort of