English Language and Literature Studies; Vol. 5, No. 1; 2015 ISSN 1925-4768 E-ISSN 1925-4776 Published by Canadian Center of Science and Education 13 Historicizing Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness: A Critique of King Leopold II’s Colonial Rule Isam Shihada1 1 Associate Professor of English Literature and Gender Studies, Department of English, Gaza Strip, Palestine Correspondence: Isam Shihada, Associate Professor of English Literature and Gender Studies, Department of English, Gaza Strip, Palestine
In the center of the African continent lies the Congo, a territory that was still mostly unknown at the time the novella Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad was published. The book itself is set in the Congo, where the main character Marlow took a job as a riverboat captain for a company. The plot seems fairly linear within the frame story structure, following Marlow as he starts this new life. Throughout the novella we can observe that a suspenseful environment is created through the mention of illness
European countries met at a conference in Berlin to discuss their machinations to conquer Africa and exploit it for its raw materials. King Leopold II of Belgium, who ruled from 1865-1909, decided that the Congo was their private territory and they would rule it. He decided to split the Congo into fifteen territories, make the natives pay taxes, while purloining the native’s culture and homes. They also created trading companies for the natives to work in exchange for the
HEART OF DARKNESS In Heart of Darkness, Joseph Conrad develops the idea that people will abandon their morals when there is no social obligation to follow them. Kurtz’s exceptional success is constantly referred to referred to throughout the book; Marlow first hears of him from the manager when he boasts that Kurtz is in charge of their most important trading post and that “he is a very remarkable person.” (Conrad, 1899:228). Before he came to the Congo, Kurtz was the epitome of a civilized European
Rudyard Kipling vs Joseph Conrad Both Kipling’s “White Man’s Burden” and Conrad’s Heart of Darkness deal with the subject of imperialism, but in two completely different manners. Rudyard Kipling is trying to say that despite the good intentions of the western world to spread civilisation, the natives of the colonised lands will complain about their newfound “freedom” from the darkness of their uncivilized state. To achieve this, Kipling uses an allusion to The Bible, specifically the freeing of
Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness utilizes light and dark to shape his character’s beliefs and actions during the period of Belgian imperialism. For centuries, light and dark have been common motifs in literature, used to depict the subconscious personality of characters. Conrad uses the contrast of light and dark to highlight both the power and oppression felt during Belgian imperialism in the African Congo, resulting in a change of character in Marlow and Mr. Kurtz. In Thomas Foster’s How to
Books have always given you the ability to explore the psyche of characters in their stories; however, the ability to compare the psychoanalytical side of the characters and the authors is not always possible. In “Heart of Darkness” by Joseph Conrad and “Hunger Artist” by Franz Kafka, one can delve deep into the psyche of the characters as well as the authors who penned the stories. The psychological damage that each character goes through is more than just the plot and the setting of the stories;
My book that I read was Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad. The book is about on how the main character is a sailor by the name of Marlow, He goes on a journey through the Congo River to find and meet Kurtz. While on the adventure he stops at Central Station and his steamboat gets destroyed. Once Marlow has been there for a while he thinks about getting to Kurtz even more he is anxious to meet him. He eventually gets his steamboat fixed. And he is on his way to meet Kurtz, but things still interfere
Heart of Darkness is novel written by Joseph Conrad. It took place on the boat whish sat up Congo River. The writer wanted to write about problems and disadvantages of European colonization in the north of Africa. The writer told the story of ship in the Congo River trip. At Frist, the writer told about how Britain was a black point in people history as African countries which surfer from European colonialism. In European colonialism, white man considered himself above the law and he is the
in the novel Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad. Heart of Darkness is about Marlow, a worker for a European trading company, traveling down the Congo River to retrieve the ivory trader, Mr. Kurtz. Along the way Marlow witnesses the poor treatment of natives at the trade stations, the overall conditions of the trade stations, as well as hearing more and more about Kurtz, the man Marlow