In his book, King Leopold's Ghost: A Story of Greed, Terror and Heroism in Colonial Africa, Adam Hochschild explores how the 'civilized western society' is consumed with so much greed, envy and pride that they are unable to open the eyes and witness the brutal impact of their action. The book focuses on not only the course of colonizing a nation and exploiting it of all its humanity and wealth but also focuses on the impact of the deed. It highlights the legacy of the colonialization and how it shapes the world influenced by it. Following the discovery of most of the world, major powerful European countries used their power to colonize this newly discovered nations but being a small nation,
Belgium lacked behind there superpowers. It was only …show more content…
Most people, including the Westerners, were too afraid to document the cruelty of the tyranny, some who did went unnoticed due to Leopold's worldwide stance as a famous philanthropist. But, some of the savagery can be explored by reading Joseph Conrad's Heart of Brutality, as it was inspired by the brutality in Congo by the force Publique. It was only when the publicist, Edward Dene Morel realized that Leopold was enforcing slave labor in Africa, did the brutality of Leopold came under the light. Morel, like Leopold was smart enough to manipulate media's attention and thus created a newspaper in order to highlight Leopold's savagery and cunning personality hidden under the façade of a humanitarian. Morel, along with Roger Casement, managed to create enough buzz against Leopold that he failed to control the international outcry against him and his regime. But he, and after his death, the Belgian government managed to create a façade of "Congo Question" by convincing the international community of human right that adequate reforms have been undertaken to control the brutality of enslavement of Congolese people. Even though Morel and casement achieved a great accomplishment on various fields, the idea of freedom of Congo is far from the truth. Indeed, even now, Congo is heavily under the influence of its colonial and western-imperial past as the current dictator, Joseph Mobutu, continue to use brutal force to rule over the nation. He
Belgium lacked behind there superpowers. It was only …show more content…
Most people, including the Westerners, were too afraid to document the cruelty of the tyranny, some who did went unnoticed due to Leopold's worldwide stance as a famous philanthropist. But, some of the savagery can be explored by reading Joseph Conrad's Heart of Brutality, as it was inspired by the brutality in Congo by the force Publique. It was only when the publicist, Edward Dene Morel realized that Leopold was enforcing slave labor in Africa, did the brutality of Leopold came under the light. Morel, like Leopold was smart enough to manipulate media's attention and thus created a newspaper in order to highlight Leopold's savagery and cunning personality hidden under the façade of a humanitarian. Morel, along with Roger Casement, managed to create enough buzz against Leopold that he failed to control the international outcry against him and his regime. But he, and after his death, the Belgian government managed to create a façade of "Congo Question" by convincing the international community of human right that adequate reforms have been undertaken to control the brutality of enslavement of Congolese people. Even though Morel and casement achieved a great accomplishment on various fields, the idea of freedom of Congo is far from the truth. Indeed, even now, Congo is heavily under the influence of its colonial and western-imperial past as the current dictator, Joseph Mobutu, continue to use brutal force to rule over the nation. He