Running head: 1

Colonization in Heart of Darkness

COURSE NAME: Modern Novel

(BS ENGLISH)

An assignment submitted in 6th semester, section B

By
Menahel Nosheen, Amima Jamil, Lajpat Rai

To
Maam Anum Ilyas
At the
Institute of English Department
National University of Modern Languages (NUML)
Islamabad, Pakistan
(07th April/2021)
 2

Introduction:

Joseph Conrad is one of the famous novelists in the history of English literature. His famous
novel “Heart of Darkness” (1902) is the exploration of complex human nature as well as the
relevant matter of colonialism. Heart of Darkness is an autobiographical novel, which contains
theme of Colonialism, which is tempted to Human nature that results clash between civilizations and
ideologies.

John Conrad has narrated his own experiences while his visit to Belgian Congo, where he
experienced real terrors of barbarism shown by colonizers. He even ends the novella with the word
of "horror". There was no life, comfort, or stability except wilderness and darkness. Joseph Conrad
in his novella Heart of Darkness tells about colonization that it is just a cruel process that is used just
for conquer people, for ruling, for domination, for gaining power. He says that it is savage fight
where the top priority is just ruling without knowing the value of human life. According to Marlow
the reason behind colonialism is greed for ivory which is very usable for European. Civilizing the
people is not the main aim behind this it is just for ivory.

In modern schools Colonialism defines a concept, which appreciates capabilities of powerful

states to dominate and exploit comparatively weaker societies. Heart of Darkness is pure depiction
which portrays the beginning and extent of savagery exerted on African colonies in 1890.
Dehumanized efforts created chaos in Congo, which leads us to clash of two mighty civilizations
(Black and White) that is not yet resolved. Whole novella describes the gloominess inside human
heart, The Heart of Darkness.

Colonialism in Heart of Darkness:

The story begins with Marlow (an ivory transporter), commenting on the shattering
gloominess on an English village Gravesend. Civilizing the people is not the main aim behind this it
is just for ivory. Marlow represents author's psyche and feelings for the damage has been done to
striving colonies by these looters. Conrad reveals human vanity and its dark insights and tries to
create a rational difference between good and evil.

Conrad undercovers Colonialism and utilizes few representative characters to achieve this.
The fundamental one being the shadowy and subtle Kurtz, who addresses the entirety of Europe. In
the novella Kurtz is a character which abruptly follows human desires, and create mess in uncivilized
society, dominance was not only profound lust, it was crushing, humiliating, and brutally killing
creatures of the same kind Through Marlow's journey up the Congo and into the Heart of Darkness,
 3

the appalling tools of colonialism are uncovered, and the genuine motivation behind colonialism and
the European industrialist approach is uncovered.

“Mr. Kurtz was at present in charge of a trading-post, a very important one, in the true
ivory-country, at "the very bottom of there. Sends in as much ivory as all the other put together”.

Kurtz represents an enigma in the philosophy of nineteenth-century colonialism. He is a

classic example of a white man of Colonialism who went to Congo to civilize that region. According
to Marlow the reason behind colonialism is greed for ivory but not to civilized the natives. Here
Conrad explores the true purpose of colonialism. 

“I've seen the devil of violence, and the devil of greed, and the devil of hot desire; but, by
all the stars! these were strong, lusty, red-eyed devils, that swayed and drove men -- I tell you”.

White colonialism is the main interest and concern of the narrative of Heart of Darkness. The
conduct of the white Europeans is described with noteworthy and compelling touches. In the time of
Colonialism, the white men seem to be selfish and hypocrite. Moreover, they also look cruel and
inhuman. The story covers the inhuman and barbaric attitudes towards the native blacks of
Colonialism by the white men.

“Each man had an iron collar on his neck, and they were all chained together”.

It is shown that the locals were generally stripped, naked and were moving like ants.
Moreover, it is portrayed that about six were generally fastened to each other and they were punished
on the grounds that they disregarded the laws of white men. White men are very apathetic regarding
the lawbreakers and torment them savagely. Thus, the ruthlessness and torture of colonialism and the
Europeans makes the Natives fear the colonizers, and the Europeans utilize this fear for their
potential benefit to get what they want.

“In a few days the Eldorado Expedition went into the patient wilderness, that closed upon it as
the sea closes over a diver. Long afterwards the news came that all the donkeys were dead. I know
nothing as to the fate of the less valuable animals. They, no doubt, like the rest of us, found what
they deserved. I did not inquire.”

The above lines are written in an ironic way because this shows that Marlow sees the white man as
less valuable animal. It exhibits that Marlow has come to suspect moral inventions, and that is why
he doesn’t seek any further information regarding the Expedition. He mentions a “patient
wilderness” to take into consideration the readers of the vast scope of nature and its dangerous
attributions.
 4

 “It was unearthly, and the men were—No, they were not inhuman. Well, you know, that was the
worst of it—the suspicion of their not being inhuman. It would come slowly to one. They howled
and leaped, and spun, and made horrid faces; but what thrilled you was just the thought of their
humanity—like yours—the thought of your remote kinship with this wild and passionate
uproar”. 

In the second part of the novel Marlow voyage up the river toward inner station where he gets a brief
view over the local natives along the riverbank. This engagement troubles Marlow because this
shows that he has kinship with these men whom he calls inhuman throughout his journey. At this
moment Marlow seems to accept the limit of his own feelings. These moments are considerably
more crucial of colonialism and more amusing and ironic about generalizations.

"You should have heard him say, 'My ivory.' Oh, yes, I heard him. 'My Intended, my ivory, my
station, my river, my – ' everything belonged to him."

 In the above lines Kurtz says that everything belongs to him only. Either it is ivory or station or
Intended. Kurtz is here to civilized natives, but he colonialized the area by using his power by ruling
and having control over the natives.

Colonialism in Relation to other Theories:

West has decorated Colonialism with an imagery and vocabulary which constructs its real
structure in the Western world. Heart of Darkness prevails Western views about the existence of
universal human rights, which are subjective and illogical. The major flaw in the novella is, it only
portrays the Colonialism from European perspectives that is why novella implicitly expresses racist
comments on Africa and its people. "A lot of people, mostly black and naked, moved like ants"

This perspective legalizes Colonialism because it was an attempt to civilize savages. Besides this
they prescribed that their religion legitimizes harsh actions over savagery, (Said,1978). Their
atrocities and torture turned out to be the practice of trade and project of civilizing, mission of
civilizing was a precursor to European general psyche of their being at the top of civilized ladder,
that they are superior on racial, national and cultural basis than any other civilization.

These notions paved the ways for one of most striking theories and movements, post-Colonialism.
Post-Colonialism is a responsive theory to Colonialism, which focuses the victims, narratives about
Colonialism. Chinua Achebe is one among first native writers who drafted the actual colonial
impacts, who called Conrad as "Bloody Racist". Furthermore, he added that when he read the Heart
of Darkness for first time at university level, he was pitied by the words author had employed for
 5

Achebe's race, (An Image of Africa). Post-Colonialism was a reaction to European hegemony and
Colonial impacts, it said that history in Africa was only scripted from the angles of elites, it is
obligatory to rescript it according the real facts. Heart of Darkness is literary cannon for Britain and
other European countries, which foresee their brute impacts on number of innocent colonies, and
political, economic, social, and cultural loss they have given to Africa.

Along with this, Colonialism can be seen from the prism of Nihilism, which defines every human
activity as frivolous attempt. Marlow had an image that everything was vanity; nothing and no one
could remain immortal. Whether it is most powerful Kurtz or European hegemony. At the end of the
novella and grievous demise of Kurtz, he commented on life "My Destiny! Droll thing life is-that
mysterious arrangement of merciless logic for a futile logic". Conrad at last wanted to put forward
the idea of inevitable death.

Colonialism in Heart of Darkness could be an implantation after the influence of Freudian

psychoanalysis studies. As Sigmund Freud was also presented his studies at the same duration when
Conrad written this novella. Conrad would want to shade light on the internal oppressed dark human
desires, that Freud called Unconsciousness. According to Freud human mind is organized on three
levels; Consciousness, that is our general day to day experiences, Preconsciousness, where resides all
our memories and could be brought back into consciousness. At last, there is this unconsciousness, a
part of our brain that contains repressed feelings and unacceptable urges. "Here, we find things we
are not aware of". (Freud 335)

Heart of Darkness was written in 'Victorian Age’ that strictly followed code of conducts, unbearable
to crimes, adultery, and religious forgery. It is possible, that colonialism was co-product of the
organized restrictions in Europe, which Englishmen were not bound of in Africa. It also reflects the
notion that what if a person, is set completely free! Marlow asserted at the beginning of the novella,
that rather than working, it was good to have a self-discovery. “I don't like work- no man does- but I
like what is in the work- a chance to find yourself"

This very chance that Marlow had mentioned would relate to our dark devilish psychological side of
our mind. Even there was a personality conflict between there being in England and their behavior in
Africa. Kurtz's lady in England referred him as a remarkable man, she had never met, there is
paradoxical irony when, Marlow agreed with her even after having all the knowledge about real
Kurtz. Perhaps he considered Kurtz, as someone who achieved his actual self-knowledge that every
human opts to acquaint.
 6

References

Achebe, China. (1963) "An Image of Africa: Racism in Conrad's Heart of Darkness. London

Freud Sigmund. On Metapsychology: The Theory of Psychoanalysis. Harmondsworth. Penguin.

1984.

Frances B. Singh (1978) The Colonialistic Bias of "Heart of Darkness".

https://www.sparknotes.com/lit/heart-of-darkness/

H.S Zins. (1998). Joseph Conrad and British critics of colonialism. Botswana Journal.

Inger Hanson. (2015). A Freudian Perspective on Colonialism in Heart of Darkness. Institutionen

For Sprak Och Litteraturer.

Joshua Dwayne. (19960. "The Impacts of Colonialism on African Economic Development".

Kovel, Joel. (1995). On Racism and Psychoanalysis. Psychoanalysis in Context, Paths between

Theory and Modern Culture. Routledge. London.

Shidqi, H. (2020). A Post-Colonial Study: Orientalism as Portrayed in Joseph Conrad's Heart of

Darkness

Said, E. (1978). Orientalism. London: Routledge

Young, R.J. (2001). Post-Colonialism: a Historical Introduction. United Kingdom: Blackwell.