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What Does Heart Of Darkness Symbolize Imperialism

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Heart of Darkness literary essay
Throughout history humans have taken colonialism to take control over nations or region to turn into their own territory. In 1884, many European countries were in competition for land and power. Which was called the Berlin Conference where many European nations such as Great Britain, Germany, Russia, and France appeared to looked for natural resources and land in Africa. At that time Africa had great wealth in natural resources such as diamond, copper, and coal. In the Berlin Conference, each European nation were able to claimed their own African territory. Which led years of colonization by Europeans countries to have power over 90% part of Africa. Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness is a novella about Marlow’s journey to the Congo. He is on his way to meet Kurtz who people describe him as an “important agent” who works for the Belgian company. While, in the Congo Marlow describes the specific things he saw in the Congo. In the novella Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad, Kurtz’s character represents the ambition and determination …show more content…

The author Conrad uses specific symbols to represent colonialism. For example, ivory is one the main symbols in the book that shows colonialism because ivory is a natural resource of the Congo that the Europeans want. At the end of the book Kurtz character trait is seen as ambition and determination for power. Not only that but Krutz was also a greedy and violent person to the African natives in the Congo. He overuse his power by torturing the natives for ivory. For the Europeans the natives are important to supply ivory and other goods in the Congo. The journey to the Congo reveals how the purpose of colonialism is for the power of territory and natural resources. Through Marlow’s journey to the Congo and into the Heart of Darkness of the Congo and

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