Józef Teodor Konrad Korzeniowski was raised in a particularly polarising period in human history, with one of the most significant events being the aptly named: “Scramble for Africa”. Commencing near the end of the 19th Century, and bleeding into the next, this period saw major geo-political powers use both their influence and strength to acquired large swathes of inhabited land on the African continent. Conrad experienced both the rise and the fall of New Imperialism, and from it he drew inspiration and was able to create one of his more prolific pieces: “Heart of Darkness”. Published at the turn of the 20th Century, Joseph Conrad’s “Heart of Darkness” explores a British Sailor’s recount of his time spent in the Belgian Congo, and the horrors that he witnessed within. Additionally, Conrad has used this piece to express and
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He comments that the destruction and pain brought upon the natives of the land to such a great extent that it is almost biblical in nature, referring to the plagues brought down upon Egypt as punishment. He further deliberates that such unjust treatment would only be warranted if the offending party is guilty of a severe transgression, implying that if this is not the case, then the actions committed by the Belgians would be akin to torture.
Conrad has depicted this barbarism within his novella, Heart of Darkness through Marlow’s descriptions of the atrocities committed by Kurtz and the Company alike. One of the more overt displays of the abhorrent treatment and brutality which accompany Imperialism is Kurtz’s showcase of severed heads. Marlow describes that:
“I was not so shocked as you may think… I had expected to see a knob of wood there, you know… there it was, black, dried, sunken, with closed eyelids—a head that seemed to sleep at the top of that pole, and, with the shrunken dry lips showing a narrow white line of the teeth, was
He comments that the destruction and pain brought upon the natives of the land to such a great extent that it is almost biblical in nature, referring to the plagues brought down upon Egypt as punishment. He further deliberates that such unjust treatment would only be warranted if the offending party is guilty of a severe transgression, implying that if this is not the case, then the actions committed by the Belgians would be akin to torture.
Conrad has depicted this barbarism within his novella, Heart of Darkness through Marlow’s descriptions of the atrocities committed by Kurtz and the Company alike. One of the more overt displays of the abhorrent treatment and brutality which accompany Imperialism is Kurtz’s showcase of severed heads. Marlow describes that:
“I was not so shocked as you may think… I had expected to see a knob of wood there, you know… there it was, black, dried, sunken, with closed eyelids—a head that seemed to sleep at the top of that pole, and, with the shrunken dry lips showing a narrow white line of the teeth, was