Essay on Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad

Most writers tend to present stories that illustrate the issues taking place in their society. They use the stories as ways of expressing their opinions or communicating to their audience on the significance of certain issues (Peters, 2001). Most of the common topics that the writers present focus on issues such as feminism, racism, gender, poverty, political authority, religious conflicts, morals and so forth. Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad is a good example of the stories that focus on issues that affect the society. The story illustrates a connection between the values in the Victorian era and the modern world. The story revolves around the aspects of confusion, solitude, and doubt in regards to the issue of imperialism. It can be viewed as an analysis of the imperial activities that the Europeans engaged in through its characters. The story can be approached in two ways by which it may be viewed as a censure towards a certain traveler who takes advantage of the opportunities provided by imperialism or a story that reflects the significance of domestic values. It can also be viewed as an element that critiques the hypocrisy that was present among the European countries that participated in imperialism (Peters, 2001). The analysis puts into focus how far we can understand Heart of Darkness by Conrad in its contemporary setting.

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The major characters in the story include; Marlow and Kurtz. The story begins with Marlow who is a sailor who is on a mission to travel towards Congo River to link up with Kurtz. Kurtz was viewed to be a knowledgeable individual who had plenty of talents. Marlow agrees to work as a riverboat captain for a Belgian company that operated its business lines in the Congo region. During his journey to Africa, he witnesses plenty of oppression and inadequacies in the stations that belonged to the company. The inhabitants of the area work under strict conditions of the company such that they supper plenty of oppression from the agents of the company. It can be viewed that oppression from the industries differs from the situation present in the settlements of the white man. After arriving at the main station, Marlow meets the manager who appears to be obnoxious. Marlow also discovers that his means of transport is sunk. His period at the station increases his interests on Kurtz. After some time, Marlow manages to get the equipment that he requires to finish his ship and heads to the river with the manager and a few of the natives. They walk through a jungle whereby they come across some of the villages that belong to the natives. The group finds a pile of wood with a note instructing them that the wood belongs to them but they have to take necessary precautions. They manage to get the steamer running but get attacked by a group of natives who shoot arrows at them. Marlow manages to scare them with the ships whistle but unfortunately loses one of the natives who had accompanied him. The crew then heads to Kurtz station with the expectation of finding him dead but instead meet a Russian entrepreneur who tells them that he had left the wood with the note for them. The trader tells them that Kurtz has developed in terms of knowledge and skills and hence cannot be compared to other people in terms of the moral judgment. He further tells them that the savages worship Kurtz or rather treat him to godlike and has frequently engaged in the trade regarding ivory. Kurtz is then brought out to the station while on a stretcher by the natives. The natives leave him and disappear into the woods whereby Marlow and his crew board him on the steamer. The Russian then reveals to Marlow that the previous attack had been staged by Kurtz for Marlow and his crew to head back and believe that he was dead. Kurtz tries to get away during the night, but Marlow manages to catch up with him. By then, Kurtz health is already deteriorating. The head back to the steamer and Marlow sets sail. During the journey, Kurtz interacts with Marlow and then entrusts him with some documents by which one of the documents focuses on the need for civilizing the savages. Unfortunately, the steamer stops functioning which makes the crew stop the sail and fix it. Kurtz dies in the process while mumbling the words the horror while on Marlows watch who becomes confused. Marlow also gets sick after some time but manages to recover and sails back to Europe. He visits Kurtz fiancee who is still traumatized by the loss. She praises Marlow for his achievements and questions about Kurtz last words. To prevent disappointing her, he tells her that Kurtz last words were her name. The whole story presents the aspects of oppression during the precolonial era where people who were uncivilized were taken advantage of. Kurtz can be viewed to be among those who are blatant with their aim for repressing the savages instead of viewing them as equal to everybody else. His focus is on getting ivory regardless of the pressures that the savages are experiencing. Nonetheless, before he dies, he notes that there is a need for civilizing the Africans for them not to be exploited. He dies with plenty of regrets and the view that what was happening to the Africans was horrific (Joseph, 2017).

The context of the story is during the imperialism era where European countries were busy exploring in order to get new lands where they can dominate. Various forms of oppression take place in the areas that they occupy, and most of them view the African as savages who are only helpful when it comes to the provision of labor. Individuals such as Marlow are unaware of what is viewed as acceptable treatment due to the various features associated with the colonialists. In regards to the contemporary society, the story can be associated with the concept of racism (Peters, 2001). It can be viewed that the current situation in regards to class affiliates with the treatment that the blacks were given during the imperialism era in addition to other minority groups. Heart of Darkness employs a complex structure illustrating the nature of European imperialism and the associated hypocrisy (Peters, 2001).

Marlows journey takes him through various scenarios of torture in regards to the stations owned by the Belgian company. He witnessed the savages being mistreated, given hard work and exposed to stressful situations. The men working at the stations describe their activities like trade and the treatment accorded to the savages as a strategy of civilizing them. For Kurtz, he does not trade but engages in a forceful acquisition of ivory. He denotes his interaction with the savages as a form of extermination. Nonetheless, his idea of control results in his sickness and death despite feeling the need for presenting to the public on the oppression and torture that the Europeans subjected to the savages (Moore, 2004). Marlow refers to the savages as some forms of objects. He describes Kurtzs mistress as an object of the statuary and refers to his helmsman as a machine. It can be perceived that the story presents the oppression that the nonwhites were subjected to. From Marlows perspective, the Africans are objects that require supervision and can be manipulated in regards to existential challenges. The oppression, in this case, becomes a difficult concept to comprehend when compared to aspects such as discrimination or racism. A good example is the evil acts that the people at the stations subject the Africans. It includes two evils such that the lesser one is viewed to be a bit sensitive to the Africans despite causing immense harm. The circumstances surrounding Marlow makes him confused for he is unsure of whether to blame the hypocrisy exhibited by the colonists, the colonial bureaucracy and individuals such as Kurtz who do not hide their intentions. In other words, the world is already complicated for it be judged as complicated. Marlow comes across several acts that make the conditions of the savages unbearable while at the station. A good example is witnessing the workers blasting away without any substantive reason. Also, the fact the author excluded the role of the woman in the story illustrates the view placed on women before the precolonial era. The women are depicted as mistresses and whose place in the society is on domestic responsibilities (Moore, 2004).

The oppression present in Marlows time makes one question on whether the same situation, even though not directly, is reflected in the contemporary world. In regards to economic factors, the people who are affected the most when the economy collapses are the minorities. Also, a majority of them are in the low-class levels and hence showing that there is still a bit of struggle when it comes to achieving equality. The same argument can be applied to the fact that a majority of the people who are incarcerated belong to the African American community in the United States. Also, most of them come from low-income families and hence staying in jail becomes inevitable when compared to the majority groups. The fact that they make part of the majority group in prison reflects the inequality that was before the postcolonial era in regards to race (Moore, 2004).

As stated earlier, the analysis puts into focus how far we can understand Heart of Darkness by Conrad in its contemporary setting. Conrad presents the features of the world during the imperialism era. He depicts the world that is full of oppression whereby the oppression is relatively justified. The justification makes it difficult to comprehend the nature of the oppression when compared to aspects such as racism and discrimination. It can be viewed that the effects of the imperialism era are still felt in the current world by which there is still plenty of inequality in regards to race and social class.

References

Conrad, J. (2010). Youth, heart of darkness, the end of the tether. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Moore, G. M. (2004). Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness: a casebook. New York: Oxford University Press on Demand.

Peters, J. (2001). Envisioning Africa: Racism and Imperialism in Heart of Darkness (review). MFS Modern Fiction Studies, 47(4), 1054-1056. http://dx.doi.org/10.1353/mfs.2001.0101