ceased to be a blank space of delightful mystery – a white patch for a boy to dream gloriously over. It had become a place of darkness” (Conrad, 5). However, Marlow facilitates a sort of unmasking of that darkness, though he is not morally opposed to violence (Taylor, 197). This unmasking brings to light the inequalities between the natives and the outsiders though calls into question the ideologies of the West as well (Funge, 1261).
Kurtz represents even more racial inequality. He has lived his live based on cruelty and manipulation of the natives. His ultimate goal was to civilize the savages. In the documents that he leaves for Marlow there is a pamphlet that includes the phrase
“Exterminate all the brutes!” This phrase alone speaks …show more content…
Marlow describes going down the Thames as going back in time, to the earliest beginnings of the world. This is yet another reference to the uncivilized ways of people outside of London or the bigger cities. Though
Marlow does describe the glare of London as garish, he also says
that going away from it was like being cut off from everything one had ever known. The Thames is, therefore, the gateway to civilization as it leads one back to London and away from natives, savagery and uncivilized lands (Nofal, 78). And yet,
Marlow realizes the contradiction and doesn’t see London or imperialization as all mighty the way others, Kurtz perhaps, do.
Through Marlow, Conrad is able to give a ruthless critique to this colonial exploitation and, as a result, the notion that one race or way of life is superior to another (De Mul, 29). The use of light and dark in the imagery also holds a reference to race and inequality. Light and dark, of course, indicate contradictions between civilized and uncivilized but also is, of course, a reference to skin color.
There are myriad occasions of racial inequality in
Kurtz represents even more racial inequality. He has lived his live based on cruelty and manipulation of the natives. His ultimate goal was to civilize the savages. In the documents that he leaves for Marlow there is a pamphlet that includes the phrase
“Exterminate all the brutes!” This phrase alone speaks …show more content…
Marlow describes going down the Thames as going back in time, to the earliest beginnings of the world. This is yet another reference to the uncivilized ways of people outside of London or the bigger cities. Though
Marlow does describe the glare of London as garish, he also says
that going away from it was like being cut off from everything one had ever known. The Thames is, therefore, the gateway to civilization as it leads one back to London and away from natives, savagery and uncivilized lands (Nofal, 78). And yet,
Marlow realizes the contradiction and doesn’t see London or imperialization as all mighty the way others, Kurtz perhaps, do.
Through Marlow, Conrad is able to give a ruthless critique to this colonial exploitation and, as a result, the notion that one race or way of life is superior to another (De Mul, 29). The use of light and dark in the imagery also holds a reference to race and inequality. Light and dark, of course, indicate contradictions between civilized and uncivilized but also is, of course, a reference to skin color.
There are myriad occasions of racial inequality in