Essay On The Hypocrisy Of Imperialism In Heart Of Darkness

In the novel Heart of Darkness, Marlow is portrayed to be the narrator and Joseph Conrad’s alter ego. (Hochschild, 1). The use of sarcasm throughout the novel ties together well with his alter ego because many people don’t realize just how ugly the conquest of the Congo was. The conquest is actually described as noble in the novel, but it clearly isn’t. Stealing ivory and conquering someone else’s land isn’t exactly a noble act. The main character named Marlow points out, "The conquest of the earth, which mostly means the taking it away from those who have a different complexion or slightly flatter noses than ourselves, is not a pretty thing when you look into it too much" (Conrad, 7). As Marlow undergoes his journey up the Congo river, two major themes show up throughout the story. Both Marlow and his friend Kurtz experience the hypocrisy of imperialism and madness as a result of imperialism. The story focuses around the character Marlow, who is an Englishman and a sailor. He accepts a foreign assignment as a riverboat captain, employed by a Belgian trading company and as he travels through Africa and up the Congo, he discovers widespread inefficiency and native inhabitants being forced into the company’s service as they suffer …show more content…
It was the bloodiest chapter of Europe’s turn-of-the-century for Africa (Hochschild,6). These Europeans were willing to risk death to exploit the territory and subdue its people. The Africans that didn’t have their heads severed were living in a slave-labor economy and were pretty much being worked to death. Even though the Africans were deemed as savage, the Europeans actions proved them to be more savage than others. One could easily relate how the Africans were being treated to what the Nazi prison camps were like (Hochschild, 7). Marlow and Kurtz were the only ones in their right mind to really recognize the lies and horror that the Europeans were