In the novella, Heart of Darkness, by Joseph Conrad, it centers on Marlow, an introspective sailor, and his journey up the Congo River to meet Kurtz, an idealistic man of great abilities. Marlow’s journey is consistently dark, gloomy and threatening. During this journey, Conrad uses themes and symbols to portray the struggles of Marlow, Kurtz and the judgment of “civilized” Europeans. Once Marlow has arrived in Congo he encounters scenes of torture, cruelty, and near-slavery…in other words imperialism. The definition of imperialism is the, “policy, practice, or advocacy of extending the power and dominion of a nation especially by direct territorial acquisitions or by gaining indirect control over the political or economic life of other …show more content…
During this time the Kingdom of Belgium saw Leopold II ascend to the throne to become its second king in 1865. He was an intelligent and ambitious dynast who became a colonial genius and the European powers recognized his authority. Belgium infiltrated the Congo River basin and formed a colony. Leopold’s colonial policies were not intended to “civilize” or develop the basin. His true goals were to exploit riches from Congo and profit from them. Conrad shows the true way of imperialism and how their “trade” of ivory is taken by force and natives are controlled through violence and intimidation which is the Company’s benevolent project of “civilization.” This is only a slight hint of Leopold’s barbaric ways and how he stripped the natives from their homes and, “…placed them behind fences in faux villages” (Stanard). However, for Marlow, Africans in this book are …show more content…
The Congo River is the key to Africa for Europeans. It allows them access to the center of the continent without having to physically cross it; in other words, it allows the white man to remain always separate or outside. The river, “with a length of 2,900 miles (4,700 km), is the continent’s second longest river, after the Nile” (Pourtier). The river is a challenge on its own and it seems to want to expel Europeans from Africa altogether. This river is the key source to gain the riches of the basin and, “with its many tributaries, the Congo forms the continent’s largest network of navigable waterways.” (Pourtier). The current makes traveling upriver slow and difficult, but the flow of water makes traveling downriver, back toward “civilization,” rapid and quick. Perhaps the river is slow when going towards the interior because it does not want to be there anymore than the people traveling the river do. It also moves faster downstream away from the interior to get away from the evil. The river portrays the hesitation of Marlow going into the heart of darkness and how quickly he wants to get away from it. Access to the river allows Marlow to see both sides of the continent and it divides Marlow from the natives and the evil ways of Kurtz. The river symbolizes the invisible thread that connects our good side with our bad side; just as it connects with the good
The book mainly chronicles the efforts of King Leopold II of Belgium which is to make the Congo into a colonial empire. During the period that the European powers were carving up Africa, King Leopold II of Belgium seized for himself the vast and mostly unexplored territory surrounding the Congo River.
In truth, the river is the border between the gothic space, the Other, and normal space in the novella. For example, in the beginning of the story, when Danillo and Katherine were travelling home on the Dnieper, they witnessed a rising on the side of the Other. “A withered corpse rose slowly from it [one of the graves in a graveyard]. one could see he was suffering terrible agonies” as he begged for air (Gogol 18). Things that should not happen, that should not be possible, happen on the other side of the Dneiper because that is the gothic space.
The Massacre River was, in fact, Danticat’s inspiration to write the book (Wachtel 108). She sees the river as “both sad and comforting” in Hispaniola’s history (Wechtel 107). The river is both a site of grief and a site of hope. Although so many people have died in the river, Haitians still use it to “cleanse their labor’s residue off their bodies, reconnect with their community, and pay homage to their dead” (Shemak 96). Danticat also sees the river as dividing between torment and hope (Bell xi). This idea of water being both divisive and comforting is prominent throughout the novel.
When Leopold came to power in 1865, he was incredibly disappointed at Belgium’s lack of power in the imperial world. Every other western European nation by had this time had taken on colonies as part of their empire; and therefore had been acquiring incredible wealth due to their new markets and exploitation of the native peoples they encountered. Belgium, itself, was a small country, and unlike their neighboring nations, they had not yet entered into the colonial scene. This all changed when the famous explorer Henry M. Stanley accepted Leopold’s proposal to return to the Congo acting as an agent of the crown whose mission was to obtain the signatures of all the native chieftains living in the Congo. Using despicable and manipulative tactics, Stanley was able to acquire over 450 treaties which paved the way for the declaration of nearly one million square miles of the Congo River Basin as the property of King Leopold II.
Symbolism is a recurring theme in this novel, the river and fish symbols both contribute to the overall growth to the protagonist, Lily, and to the storyline as a whole. “The river has done its best, I was sure, to give her a peaceful ride out of this life. You can die in a river, but maybe you could be reborn in it too” (Kidd 229). The river as a symbol represents life and death, Lily mentions how it brought May’s death but also brings life too, for example, a baptism is sometimes done in river with symbolizes rebirth. This influential symbol contributes to the organization of the storyline by partly helping Lily come to terms with May’s death, in turn, keeping Lily content and the story continuing. “They held me down on the bank and hooked
The Scramble for Africa was essentially driven by the idea of “New Imperialism.” “New Imperialism” started the era of colonialism amongst the European powers – specifically Great Britain, France, Belgium, Germany, Spain, and Portugal. It was driven by the idea of Social Darwinism, to aid the “dark people” on the “dark continent” of Africa because they were in need of “saving.” Imperialism became the primary focus through the late nineteenth century, and into the twentieth century; dividing the African continent into areas to be colonized under European rule. Although the countries primary focus was to spread Western religions and culture to the African continent, violence was used amongst the native peoples to further successful developments of the new European colonies. One of these colonies was the Belgian Congo, ruled by the Belgian King Leopold II. Under The King’s rule, acts of violence against the African people occurred regularly. Violence was believed to be a necessary component in the process of building a successful Belgian state.
The path went from multiple places in the South and eventually brought the slaves to cross the Ohio River, which is another huge symbol in the folksong. The Ohio River was the initial door into the North, and the slaves were determined to cross it. “The river between two hills / follow the drinking gourd / There’s another river on the other side / follow the drinking gourd…” The man aforementioned would be a Railroad worker who would transport the slaves from one side to the other. The river was an aggrandized landmark for all slaves who were looking to
Imperialism is the act of one country overtaking another country. Often, the motive behind this is for resources, as portrayed in Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness. Other times, a country may want to expand their territories, or force their beliefs and customs on another land. This is seen in Francis Ford Coppola's Apocalypse Now. In Apocalypse Now, protagonist Jerry Willard is sent on a confidential mission during the Vietnam War. While voyaging up the river, Willard notices the excessive tactics used by the Americans. America advertised that they went to war with Vietnam to prevent the spread of communism. However, it is obvious that throughout most imperialistic literature the group colonizing natives are the true savages. Considering that this theme is frequent among imperialistic writing, one may assume that imperialism is a violent, unnecessary concept used by brutes with no sense of open-mindedness. One may deduce that America may have had an ulterior motive in attempting to take over Vietnam. In Conrad's Heart of Darkness, imperialism is viewed by Marlow as aggressive and insincere. Marlow often notes that the so-called savages show more restraint than the "civilized" men. In Conrad's novel, the genuine reasoning for pillaging African villages is to rob the land of it's most precious resource, ivory. Though, these pieces are contrasting in style, time period, and reasoning; the two works compliment each other and show the horrors of imperialism through the eyes of someone witnessing it.
"Eventually the watcher joined the river, and there was only one of us. I believe it was the river." The river that Norman Maclean speaks of in A River Runs Through It works as a connection, a tie, holding together the relationships between Norman and his acquaintances in this remote society. Though "It" is never outwardly defined in the novella there is definite evidence "It" is the personality of the people and that the river is running through each individual personality acting as the simple thread connecting this diverse group of people.
Over the course of human history, many believe that the “Congo Free State”, which lasted from the 1880s to the early 1900s, was one of the worst colonial states in the age of Imperialism and was one of the worst humanitarian disasters over time. Brutal methods of collecting rubber, which led to the deaths of countless Africans along with Europeans, as well as a lack of concern from the Belgian government aside from the King, combined to create the most potent example of the evils of colonialism in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century’s. The Congo colonial experience, first as the Congo Free State then later as Belgian Congo, was harmful to that region of Africa both then and now because of the lack of Belgian and International attention on the colony except for short times, the widespread economic exploitation of the rubber resources of the region, and the brutal mistreatment and near-genocide of the Congolese by those in charge of rubber collecting.
Turning to rivers, they appear first when Marlow is discussing the blank spots on the map. He says that these yellow spaces are filled...
Imperialism, Symbolism, and Materialism in Heart of Darkness. In Conrad's Heart of Darkness Marlow, the main character, symbolizes the positiveness of Imperialism. Marlow, as a character, realizes the evil that negative Imperialism has caused and decides it is truly unnecessary. When Marlow states, "I have got a heavenly mission to civilize you," he expresses his good intentions to help the Africans progress and advance.
“ 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.” (Conrad 65) So stated Marlow as though this was his justification for ravaging the Congo in his search for ivory. Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness shows the disparity between the European ideal of civilization and the reality of it as is evidenced by the domination, torture, exploitation and dehumanization of the African population. Heart of Darkness is indicative of the evil and greed in humanity as personified by Kurtz and Marlow.
In “The Negro Speaks of Rivers”, the river stands as a symbol of endlessness, geographical awareness, and the epitome of the human soul. Hughes uses the literary elements of repetition and simile to paint the river as a symbol of timelessness. This is evident in the first two lines of the poem. Hughes introduces this timeless symbol, stating, “I've known rivers: I've known rivers ancient as the world and older than the flow of human blood in human veins” (Hughes 1-2). These opening lines of the poem identifies that the rivers Hughes is speaking about are older than the existence of human life. This indicates the rivers’ qualities of knowledge, permanence, and the ability to endure all. Humans associate “age” with these traits and the longevity of a river makes it a force to be reckoned with. The use of a simile in the line of the poem is to prompt the audience that this is truly a contrast between that ancient wisdom, strength, and determination of the river and the same qualities that characterize a human being. The imagery portrayed in the poem of blood flowing through human veins like a river flows ...
Throughout Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad, a sense of imperialism is present. Imperialism is defined as “acquiring and holding colonies and dependencies”. Through the novel, many of the travels Marlow encounters contain imperialist ideas. The whole continent is used as a symbol for this theme. So therefore you can tell that imperialism is just as bad as the disease that many people get from the Congo, they become infected.