Conrad-Heart of Darkness (Book Review Sample)

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HEART OF DARKNESS
Conrad finished writing Heart of Darkness in 1899 and the same year published the book. It is Conrad's most influential work. It narrates of Charles Marlow's story traveling up the river Congo (Conrad, pp. 98). He was the steamship captain and encountered a French company that claimed some stations along the river. The company exported ivory via the river. He comes across many people who remind him of human greed and suffering because of going for opportunities of wealth at the expense of other people. The most driven person is Mr. Kurtz, a trade agent for the company who has traveled far into the wilderness more than anyone else has. Marlow encounters rules of civilization reversing out in the bush. By the time Marlow meets Mr. Kurtz, he finds him in a poor mental state and ill.
Darkness represents human nature, reality and corruption of decency when faced with obstacles. There is a description of Africa, Brussels, and England as gloomy and somewhat dark even when the sun shines brightly. In the book, there is the failure to see another human being that is failing to understand that person and re to establish any sympathetic communion with him/her. Marlow in his journey in Africa witnesses brutality and hate between colonizers and the native African people. He then meets Kurtz, a mad agent, who succumbs to madness, diseases and eventually death. Marlow experiences a journey of devastation. He sees demolitions from explosions, native black men chained together, wasted and demoralized. The workers toil to death. Many characters work to fulfill their tasks out of imprudent obligation or uncontainable lust for power and wealth.
Both Marlow and Kurtz are heroes in their way. Marlow's journey is heroic. He starts out trying to be the breadwinner. His first plans were to make money but encounter more. He searches for Kurtz despite encountering obstacles in the search. He rejects brutality of colonial Africa and realizes he has his own heart of darkness while the society is brutal. Marlow eventually is appalled by what he saw and realizes he could easily be like Kurtz. He learns from Kurtz's failure into cruelty. His realization, acceptance and the constant struggle to maintain integrity is heroic knowing that he encountered many hindrances.
Conrad is a racist. He wrote about Africa in a western imagination rather than portraying the continent as it is in reality. He mocks the African people and resources. He says they are ugly and in some way human. He denies Africans their full and multifaceted humanity. Africans were portrayed as brutes without language other than grunts. They also had no work except entering the evil forest to plague Marlow. Conrad did not use Africans as characters in his book but as supports. He said that Africans belonged to Africa only and not elsewhere. Conrad dehumanizes African religious practices to superstitions and supports colonization of the Africans.
The European society viewed African society as the uncivilized world. They see Africans as inhuman and inferior compared to Europeans. They see Africans as people who are closed minded. Africans have resources like ivory that they do not take the advantage to trade and get money. People like Kurtz take advantage of their race to misuse resources in Congo. They stereotype Africans as wild because they refuse to follow the missionaries. There is a death pit where Africans go to die which is seen as unearthly creatures. Africans crawl on hands and knees to drink water from the river that is animal-like and degrading. Africans are indistinguishable, primitive and savage according to Europeans.
The major challenge Marlow comes across recognizes his capacity to commit the same kind of crimes as Kurtz and falling in a similar lawless anarchy (Conrad, pp.130). On arriving at the lower station, he had to learn how to cope with the harsh reality in the area. White company men enslaved Africans who finally died out of starvation. He encounters rusting ships floating in the harbor. The wanton destruction destroyed them. He also had to repair the ship he was to command. It had sunk in the river. He does get enough material to repair the ship. One time, Africans fire his ship with arrows as he goes to find Kurtz.
Kurtz does not seem to have been mad when he came to Congo. He becomes mad in his pursuit of ivory. Kurtz went into the wilderness in the Congo forests. The wild and erotic nature of the Congo contributed to his decline (Conrad, pp.83). He involves li...