Heart of Darkness
An Introduction
A cartoon depicting
King Leopold of
Belgium.
-Congo River
And rainforest
Africa
Today
“…that magnificent African cake.“
-King Leopold II
Note the
boundaries of
each country.
Lines were drawn
by Europeans
without respect
to geography,
ethnicity, or
allegiance.
Democratic
Republic of the
Congo
(Modern Day)
Population: 64, 606,759 (2007 est.)
Average Life Expectancy:
44 years (males), 48 years (females)
People Living with HIV/AIDS:
450,000
Conflict in the DR Congo has
resulted in an estimated 5.4 million
civilian deaths since 1996.
Ethnic Groups: Kongo 48%, Sangha
20%, M'Bochi 12%, Teke 17%,
Europeans and other 3%.
Official Language: French (official),
Lingala, Kingwana, Kikongo, Tshiluba
Average Literacy: 77.3% of total
population, (Males:86.6%,
Females:67.7%)
Religions: Roman Catholic 50%,
Protestant 20%, Islam 10%,
Kimbanguist 10%
Remember Imperialism and Colonialism?
Imperialism: stronger nations attempt to create empires
by dominating weaker nations economically,
politically, and/or militarily
Colonialism: one country’s domination of another
country or people—usually achieved through
aggressive, often military, actions
Economics—increased need for raw
materials (rubber and ivory in the Congo
Free State)
 Nationalism—competition among stronger
nations
 Military—need for military presence around
the world
 Humanitarian—“civilize” the natives with
powerful country’s religion, culture, and
academics



1841– Scottish
explorer David
Livingstone begins
exploring central
and southern Africa
1856 - His
descriptions of his
journeys increase
European
appreciation of
African culture

1871 - British
journalist and
explorer Henry
Morton Stanley
finds Livingstone,
then continues
traveling in Africa
and works to open
the lower Congo
River to European
commerce.

1879-1884 – Leopold financed Stanley’s
expedition up the Congo River
From Kongo Basin to Congo Free State
How did Leopold promote this agenda?
Stanley was his man on the ground, utilizing a
combination of promises, threats and trickery.

One
of Stanley’s methods when meeting a
new chief, was to attach a buzzer to his hand
which was linked to a battery.
When
A young
King Leopold II
the chief shook hands with Stanley he
got a mild electric shock, which convinced the
chiefs that Stanley had superhuman powers.
The
agreements allowed the Belgians into the
Congo to take its rich natural resources.
1876 –
called a conference in Brussels
to establish the
International African
Association, a private
holding company disguised
as an int’l scientific and
philanthropic association.
Said it was “to open to
civilisation the only part of
our globe where
Christianity has not
penetrated and to pierce
the darkness which
envelops the entire
population.”


Publicly announces determination to free
Congolese from Islam brought by Arab slave
traders and bring Christianity to the
“natives”exploits Western prejudices
against Arabs to raise money for his efforts
Privately instructs hired explorer to
“purchase as much land as you will be able
to obtain” with bolts of cloth and trinkets
and states the “absurdity” of granting any
political power to the Congolese people
Believed overseas colonies were the key to a
country’s greatness
 Desired to establish a colony for Belgium
and turns to unexplored central Africa
 Due to geographical position, its narrow
approach to the sea, and the mystery of its
interior, the Congo basin had escaped much
of the ravages of the slave trade.
 Perhaps stood less likelihood of opposition
with this area of the continent



A dispute between Portugal, France, and
Leopold of Belgium about land at the
mouth of the Congo River inspired
European leaders and the US to hold the
Berlin West Africa Conference
The conference recognized the
sovereignty of King Leopold over the
Congo Free State, but trade in the area
was supposed to be open to all nations




Leopold claimed all rubber trees and
ivory in the region
The Congolese were often
kidnapped and put in traveling
forced labor camps as well as
conscription in Leopold’s private
army
Construction of railroad system for
quick transportation of supplies to
stations
Transport rubber and ivory from
interior to Congo River ports - then
to Europe
Workers that did not bring in
enough rubber were often killed or brutalized.
And now…a video

Rubber Tax – required to pay but
not reinvested in the Congo
– Local chiefs required to supply
men to collect rubber
– Work carried out under supervision
of armed sentries
– Wives and children held hostage
until rubber collected and
delivered
– Quotas required 25 days of
harvesting
– Failure to meet quota results in
hands being cut off, other torture,
and death

Native laborers who failed to
meet rubber collection
quotas were often punished
by having their hands cut off.

The Kongo Basin had
became the Congo Free
State, 900,000 square miles,
in essence the private estate
of Leopold.
Brutality was widespread.
Soldiers were told to not
waste bullets on animals. To
prove that they had not
wasted bullets, the right
hands were removed from
children and adults.



Congolese population drops from 20-30
million to 9 million
Genocide of up to 15 million men,
women, and children





Much of Western Europe and America also guilty of
imperialism during Leopold’s reign
Era from the 1870s on was called “the New
Imperialism”, when focus shifted from trade and
indirect rule to formal control of vast overseas
territories ruled as political extensions of their
mother countries
Western consumers appreciate cheap rubber prices
too much to investigate Leopold’s practices
Leopold manipulated the press to support his
expansion of Christianity in Belgian Congo
Africans considered barbarous and uncivilized. Ex:
Congolese man displayed with an orangutan in
Bronx Zoo, later commits suicide after being
rescued by black American ministers



Advent of photography allows journalists to travel
to the Belgian Congo and photograph the atrocities:
skulls of murdered Congolese lining gardens of
colonial administrator’s homes, children without
hands, concentration camps
Public outcry leads to first ever international human
rights crusade, and phrase “crimes against
humanity” coined
International protest caused Leopold to establish a
“commission of inquiry” in 1904, which revealed
that Congolese people were victims of a slave labor
system and other human rights abuses




Leopold instituted reforms, which proved
ineffective
Genocide of Congolese largely forgotten
1908 – Belgian parliament voted to annex
the Congo Free State, making it a colony
known as the Belgian Congo
1960 – Becomes the Independent
Republic of the Congo, then Zaire, now
the Democratic Republic of the Congo
A positive legacy?





The brutality that King Leopold brought to Africa is
beyond understanding.
But the response to what was seen in the Congo
brought about a positive occurrence…modern
humanitarianism.
The campaign to reveal the truth behind Leopold’s
“secret society of murders,” became the first mass
human rights movement.
This movement included Mark Twain and Sir Arthur
Conan Doyle.
Want to know more? Watch White King, Red Rubber,
Black Death…
Conrad-Our Author
Joseph Conrad
(born Józef Teodor
Konrad Korzeniowski.
1857-1924)




Conrad was a Polish novelist, writing
in English. Regarded as one of the
greatest novelists in the English
language, despite his not having
learned to speak English fluently
until he was in his twenties (and
then always with a strong Polish
accent). Orphaned at 12, at 16
moved to France and worked
aboard ships
Strongly inspired to adventure by
Stanley, believing the glowing
reports of Leopold's rule, Conrad got
a job on a steamer headed up the
Congo River.
1886 – He became a naturalized
British subject, enlisted in British
merchant service, and changed
name to sound more English
Joseph Conrad turned his Congo
experiences into Heart of Darkness,
published in 1899.


1890 – Worked on a steamboat traveling
up the Congo River
1899 – Reworked his memories into the
novel, published serially in Blackwood’s
Magazine


1902 – Published as a whole
Conrad said his story “is experience
pushed a little (and only a very little)
beyond the actual facts of the case”



Narrative Frame – like Chaucer – means
narrator is distant observer of events he
witnessed
Use of language – giving clear sense of
physical place hints at effect of the
exterior setting upon the interior soul
Continues tradition of Victorian
novel/History of British empire – tales of
adventure and travel in exotic places



The search for meaning in an ambiguous
universe
The isolation of the self in an alienating
society
Conflicts: civilization and savagery,
appearance and reality, innocence and
experience




Universality reflected in specific
experience
Imagery and its relation to themes
Physical settings reflecting psychological
landscapes of characters
Ways in which an author’s commentary
appears in literature
Critical ViewsWhat is
Heart of Darkness saying?
People are still in debate about what to
take away from Conrad’s novel.
 Is it an indictment of imperialism?
 Is it a racist parable?
 Literary criticism is often employed to
explore these issues.

Resources




http://www.webenglishteacher.com/conrad.h
tml
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/3516965.st
m
http://www.boondocksnet.com/congo/conten
ts.html
http://www.historywiz.com/leopold.htm