How Does Joseph Conrad Use Of Imperialism

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Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad is a novella that explores the inhuman treatment of African people as they were brutally enslaved by European rulers under the umbrella of colonisation. Through this novella, contemporary audience are able to recognise immoral actions which largely practise corruption, discrimination and ultimately, imperialism. Joseph Conrad, has successfully illustrated to contemporary audience the Victorian era values on colonisation and civilisation being a productive force that allows the rise of British empire, to be greatly contradictory to the first hand experiences of colonisation and civilisation consisting of excessive corrupted power resulting in the maltreatment of the innocent and vulnerable.
Through imperialism it is evident that an individual with high power and authority holds the capability to abuse their workers for self gain and greed. Within the Heart of Darkness, it is clearly evident that through imperialism, the Europeans had immensely
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Through this quotation it is further emphasised that large companies, such as Kurtz “ivory” business, abused the basic fundamental rights of the “slaves” for self gain and satisfaction. The juxtaposition of “dance of death and trade” portrays to the audience how the Africans were extensively exploited in order for the Europeans to gain a large market share. In addition, the downgrading of the Africans is identified through symbolic imagery within “they were not enemies, they were not criminals, they were nothing earthly now, nothing but black shadows of disease and starvation, lying confusedly in the greenish gloom”. This portrays the insolent attitude held by the Europeans, leading them to heartlessly downgrade the Africans, which lead them to have no control over themselves and their bodies. They were greatly objectified to be working machines rather than human. By referencing

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