European Colonialism And Imperialism In Heart Of Darkness By Joseph Conrad

Africa; “one of the darkest places of the earth” (Conrad pg.6) where there is “cold, fog, tempests, disease, exile, and death” (Conrad pg.7) around every corner and from where no one has returned. Humans need other humans to keep them accountable. Without accountability a person loses all restraints, is driven by his natural desires, and civilization is ultimately lost. Although the job of the Europeans who go to Africa to collect ivory is to humanize the natives, the natives prove to be more civilized than the Europeans themselves. Without social restraints, there is nothing to stop men from yielding to the darkness of their hearts. The Europeans went to Africa to obtain ivory and to make the natives civilized. The pilgrims were a group of Europeans that were in charge of making the natives work and treated the natives as livestock. They forced them to work and did not feed them or provide them with essential equipment needed for everyday life. There was no one there to uphold the laws of Europe so the pilgrims used brute force and guns against the natives to make them work for nothing. A pilgrim said, “Anything can be done in this country. …show more content…
They gave into the darkness of their hearts and were cruel to the natives and to each other. The natives had several people holding them accountable and they showed restraint and morality. In this way the natives were more civilized than the Europeans. The irony demonstrated here is that the Europeans tried to civilize and humanize the African natives, but in the end the natives were more civilized than the Europeans. The Europeans were cruel and heartless towards the natives. They abused and killed them for fun, thinking that they were helping to civilize the natives to some degree. Yet in their actions they demonstrated that when there is no accountability you lose all restraints, you are driven by your natural desires, and ultimately, civilization is