Heart of Darkness
By Joseph Conrad
Colonialism vs. Imperialism
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colonialism as practice and imperialism as the
idea driving the practice
Imperialism: first identified with ancient Rome.
Used in the late 1800s with an expansionist
connotation (Conrad mentions the Roman
empire on pg. 67)
Colonialism
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About the dominance of a strong nation over a
weaker one
acquisition of the colonialist, by brute force, of
extra markets, extra resources of raw material
and manpower from the colonies
While committing atrocities against natives, the
colonialist believes he is acting morally
Rationale for Colonialism
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The colonized are savages in need of education and rehabilitation
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The culture of the colonized is not up to the standard of the colonizer,
and it’s the moral duty of the colonizer to do something about polishing it.
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The colonized nation is unable to manage and run itself properly, and thus
it needs the wisdom and expertise of the colonizer.
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The colonized nation embraces a set of religious beliefs incongruent and
incompatible with those of the colonizer, and consequently, it is God’s
given duty of the colonizer to bring those stray people to the right path.
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The colonized people pose dangerous threat to themselves and to the
civilized world if left alone; and thus it is in the interest of the civilized
world to bring those people under control.
Effects of Colonialism
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Oppression: dehumanizes both oppressor and
oppressed
Erosion of colonized culture
Rejection among the colonized of everything
western
Advanced economy of land colonized
Post Colonialism
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expose to both the colonizer and ex-colonized
the falsity or validity of their assumptions
no culture is better or worse than other culture
Alienation: Colonialist is alienated in his own
land, leading to trauma
Ambivalence toward authority: victory of the
settler leads to ambivalence
Conrad’s Life
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Novel based on personal
experience: was a captain of
a steam ship on the Belgian
Congo
Part autobiographical, part
imaginary
Sought to attack “the
criminality of inefficiency
and pure selfishness” of
African colonialism
Marlow is perhaps Conrad
himself
Structure and Style of Heart of
Darkness
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Framing narrative: brings up
the question of memory
Most of the tale is being told
aloud
Conrad grips us with his
storytelling skills, but at the
same time he does not strive
to teach a lesson
Marlow has an ambiguous
and uncertain moral position
Marlow is cynical and never
reveals meaning, he
continues to ask questions
and suggest mysteries.
Structure Continued
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“Russian Doll” effect:
Kurtz is at the center of
the story, Marlow,
narrator, reader
Patterns of threes
Patterns of opposition:
dark/light,
inside/outside
Symbolism
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Light vs. Dark: contributes to the ambiguous
tone; depicts the moral uncertainty of the world:
white is not necessarily good (ivory a symbol of
greed), black not necessarily evil (suffering)
The River: Congo is the passageway to Africa,
but also is a source of struggle for Europeans;
Thames is a symbol for civilization
Themes
The Absurdity of Evil: The world has
ambiguous morality
 The Hypocrisy of Colonialism: Africans were
meant to be helped; instead they were
oppressed.
 Colonialism as a Source of Madness: madness
results from a separation from one’s normal
social context
 How does Conrad portray these themes?
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Conrad’s Ambiguous “Lessons”
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We must know evil – our own capacities for evilbefore we can be capable of any good
We must always atone for any allegiance with the
powers of darkness
As men, we are morally isolated from one
another
Life is profoundly meaningless: Kurtz’s death is
as meaningless as life
Freudian Reading
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Dreams are a clue to the inner workings of the
mind
Marlow’s journey is like a dream
Theory of the Id: we are all brutes and savages
on this level
Exploration of the dark recesses of the human
mind
Kurtz as merely a “voice”: the voice of Marlow’s
deepest psychological self ?
Truth of Experience vs. Clarity of
Ideas
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Truths of the psyche and human soul are messy,
vague, irrational, dark
Striving towards a recreation of our own dark
hearts
Pg. 86: “He was just a word for me. I did not
see the man in the name any more than you do.
Do you see him? Do you see the story? Do you
see anything? It seems to me I am trying to tell
you a dream…”