Colonialism and the heart of d
Colonialism and the heart of dBy: Adam Hendren
Colonialism and the Heart of Darkness Heart of Darkness, by Joseph Conrad, is a work that strongly attacks colonialism and its affects not only upon the native population but also upon the colonizers invading the land. Conrad experienced being colonized as a young boy in a Poland under Russian occupation. He also witnessed the affects of colonialism upon a colonizer while he commanded a river steamer in the Dutch Congo. He relays these experiences through the eyes of his character Marlow who is a riverboat captain as well. The attacks upon colonialism come in three classes: directly, ironically, and metaphorically. Conrad attacks colonialism directly throughout the book. Obvious and scathing statements are made telling of the horrors of colonialism. One example is Marlow and his description of the Roman colonization of ancient Britain: They grabbed what they could get for the sake of what was to be got. It was just robbery with violence, aggravated murder on a great scale, and men going at it blind�. The conquest of the earth, which mostly means the taking 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 140). Through this statement Conrad attacks the vicious and selfish nature that colonialism infests upon colonizers. Another direct attack is Marlows description of the natives. They faced hardships and atrocities, many of which they could not physically or mentally endure. Here Marlow gives a dark picture of their plight. They were dying slowly�it was very clear. They were not enemies, they were not criminals, they were nothing earthly now, nothing but black shadows of disease and starvation lying confusedly in the greenish gloom. Brought from all the recesses of the coast in all the legality of time contracts, lost in uncongenial surroundings, fed on unfamiliar food, they sickened, became inefficient, and were then allowed to crawl away and rest (Conrad 156). This sears a terrible and inhuman picture that colonialism brings to reality. The utter incompassion and brutal nature of colonizers are...
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