Theme Of Imperialism In Joseph Conrad's Heart Of Darkness

In an imperialistic world, to survive is to protect oneself, a lesson in which Marlow learns during his travels. Without the protection of anyone, all he has is himself. All the characters in Conrad’s Heart of Darkness play a role, yet their identity and their role is obscure to the readers. This novella explores many issues all relating back to imperialism, and it is imperialism that causes the uncertainty in the social ranking. As Marlow travels down the river, he encounters the torture and cruelty bestowed on the slaves. This depicts the ruthlessness of capitalism. Yet, later on the men who work for the Company speak about the treatment of slaves as civilizing them. This portrays the men’s belief of being superior, and lead the readers in believing that the natives are truly barbaric and savages. However, once Kurtz emerges in the book, the reader’s perspective is influenced and leaves the readers confused. As the reader continues to read, the social classes become more and more muddled.
Throughout the book, Marlow sees and hears many strange customs. Naive and confused, he doesn’t know his own identity or the world’s global hybridity, until his aunt gets him a job as a …show more content…
Imperialism gives lower classes a mixed identity, for they are the ones doing the work and are important to the higher classes. The opportunities of trade and exchange in culture, give the lower classes opportunities to rise. Through trade and cultural interaction, the classes and ideologies of the European world are redefined. Thus, in the Heart of Darkness it depicts the result when humans change the social system of checks and balances. The power in which people gain, especially the power over other humans, is inevitably corrupt. Conrad has used this narrative to portray the strain of understanding the world beyond oneself and about one’s ability to judge another person’s social