Criticism Of Imperialism In Joseph Conrad's Heart Of Darkness

According to Wikipedia, imperialism represents the tendency of a state to extent and conquer other wicker lands. In my opinion, one of the most interesting themes in Joseph Conrad`s Heart of Darkness is imperialism. The novel is about a trading European Company which exported ivory from Africa. The main character and the narrator of the story is Marlow, a seaman who obtained a job on a steamboat for that Company. In the novel the river, the location and the name of the Company are never specified, and also not important for the interpretation of the novel, as Marlow said „It was the farthest point of navigation and the culminating point of my experience” (Conrad, 5). Anyway, if we desire a sociological or historical type of lecture, knowing

At the outer station, Mr. Kurtz is presented as a „very remarkable person (...) in charge of a trading post” that brought to the company important amounts of ivory. But the Central Station knew that he was using terrible methods. By finding Kurtz’s report, Marlow understands that „all Europe contributed to the making of Kurtz” (Conrad, p 43), meaning that imperialism gave the opportunity for thoughts of cruelty to rose up in one’s mind. Also it allowed the amplification of latent evil.

Marlow explains Kurtz’s behavior by saying that solitude, „the utter silence”(Conrad, 43), the absence of neighbors (along with the public opinion) and the lack of public order institutions leads to the emergence of the most obscure, dark desires and temptations. He also points out that one must have a great inner power to remain upright in such free of constrains surroundings.

In conclusion, the theme of imperialism, as shown in Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness, illustrates how natives were treated in a colony and how isolation and the absence of social constrains can trigger dangerous psychological transformation. Imperialism is not analyzed from a political point of view, because the author doesn’t blame it