Inhumanity And Savagery In Joseph Conrad's Heart Of Darkness

Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad follows an unnamed narrator as he tells the story that a man named Marlow told him. Marlow takes a job where he is sent down to Congo, Africa and is the captain of a ship. The ship’s job is to travel along the river and give supplies to the different ivory camps, but along the way he hears about Mr. Kurtz and becomes enthralled with this mysterious man. All the while, Marlow is building up these expectations of what Kurtz will be like, only to be let down when he meets the man in the flesh. While Conrad certainly did make this novella historically accurate, he did chose to focus primarily on the idea of inhumanity and savages. Conrad actually inverts the common ideas of savagery and portrays the Europeans as the savages instead of the opposite. This theme can also be

During the scene where Willard and his crew search the boat of natives, they end up shooting and killing all of the passengers because they believe them to be harboring weapons or explosives when in actuality the only item they were “hiding” was a puppy. If the crew had only taken a few moments before shooting to make sure there were no dangerous materials on board, instead of killing them because it was assumed they were dangerous, then innocent people would not have died. The crew shots their guns simply because it was easier than the alternative. Because the crew did not control themselves or their actions, innocent native people died. Instead of trying to help these native people, the crew members exterminate them, and instead of being careful of the strange land the crewmembers walk around and act like they own it. The “civilized” Americans are supposed to be the ones with restraint, and they should be very cautious of a strange land, but because of their inflated egos they see themselves as