“Imperialism” stems from the Latin root word imperium, literally meaning supreme power. Throughout history, all imperialistic pursuits required the establishment of a “supreme power,” overturning the balance of power, giving one group of people greater authority. As a result, social checks and balances are disrupted, leading to exploitation of the colonized, yet the public is often unaware, falling victim to a socially induced misperception of social life. This misperception is termed “false consciousness,” derived from a Marxist concept referring to the systematic misrepresentation of dominant social relations (Little), including the belief that capitalism promotes political freedom (Ratner, 2013). In response, post-colonial literature works
…show more content…
In effect, the intensity of this description translates to the reader. Conrad also manipulates “the principle of end weight” (Nofal, 2013), where heavier phrases like “I could see every rib” and “each had an iron collar on his neck” are placed at the beginning of clauses, catching the reader off-guard with unsettling information. The descriptive, carefully structured form of Heart of Darkness paints a painfully uncomfortable image for the reader, highlighting the severe oppression of the African people and contributing to the decline of false consciousness concerning colonial capitalism. George Orwell brilliantly reveals financial exploitation through the Book of the Brotherhood: The Theory and Practice of Oligarchical Collectivism. The Book, although fictional, applies to both the fictitious situation in 1984 and real world political interests, for example:
Whichever power controls equatorial Africa, or the countries in the Middle East, or Southern India, or the Indonesian Archipelago, disposes also of the bodies of scores of hundreds of millions of ill-paid and hard-working coolies. The inhabitants of these areas, reduced more or less to the status of slaves, pass continually from conqueror to conqueror. (Orwell,
In effect, the intensity of this description translates to the reader. Conrad also manipulates “the principle of end weight” (Nofal, 2013), where heavier phrases like “I could see every rib” and “each had an iron collar on his neck” are placed at the beginning of clauses, catching the reader off-guard with unsettling information. The descriptive, carefully structured form of Heart of Darkness paints a painfully uncomfortable image for the reader, highlighting the severe oppression of the African people and contributing to the decline of false consciousness concerning colonial capitalism. George Orwell brilliantly reveals financial exploitation through the Book of the Brotherhood: The Theory and Practice of Oligarchical Collectivism. The Book, although fictional, applies to both the fictitious situation in 1984 and real world political interests, for example:
Whichever power controls equatorial Africa, or the countries in the Middle East, or Southern India, or the Indonesian Archipelago, disposes also of the bodies of scores of hundreds of millions of ill-paid and hard-working coolies. The inhabitants of these areas, reduced more or less to the status of slaves, pass continually from conqueror to conqueror. (Orwell,