King Leopold's Ghost

The Archetypal Lens of Good vs. Evil in Heart of Darkness In Heart of Darkness, Joseph Conrad focuses on the main characters of Marlow, the story’s narrator, who recounts his journey into the interior of the Congo, and Kurtz, an ivory trader, who is shrouded in mystery as Marlow is eager to meet him. Through the archetypes of the hero’s journey and shadow, both Marlow and Kurtz become deeply affected by their setting, which illuminates the theme of good versus evil. Throughout Heart of Darkness,…

Some inherit “darkness” lies at the center of every individual. Joseph Conrad’s The Heart of Darkness explores this through the journey of Charles Marlow, who, as he ventures into the Congo, comes to realize that to believe those of a more advanced society are above this base savagery is to tell oneself lies. The hypocrisy of imperialism is a prominent theme throughout Conrad’s novel and it is reflected in not only the thoughts of Marlow, but the pervasive ill treatment of the native Africans as…

The novella Heart of Darkness written by Joseph Conrad in 1899, which is set in the Congo, Africa in 1890. It is based on the narrator Charles Marlow travels to the Congo, in the heart of Africa to relieve a brilliant ivory trader named Krutz, who is working for the Belgium Government. While there is a complexity on British identity of Joseph Conrad, the role he played in the development of British literary history is significant. The writings of Conrad were not inherently English but…

Joseph Conrad’s novel Heart of Darkness is a story filled with overwhelming condemnation of imperialism. This dark allegory describes the journey of the narrator, Marlow, into the dark interior of the African continent and his fascination with the mysterious Mr. Kurtz who dominates the inhabitants of the region. The power Mr. Kurtz holds over the natives enables him the ability to be the best and most economically savvy in the ivory trade. As Marlow moves through the story he becomes aware that…

In Heart of Darkness, Joseph Conrad portrays the colonization in Africa through Marlow, the young protagonist’s journey into the Congo and his confrontation with Kurtz, the most capable ivory collector. Of all the Europeans, Marlow alone is there for curiosity and therefore has neither profit to make nor a noble cause to fulfill, which gives him the ability to see what is happening to the land and its people and the mission to civilize Africa becomes an absurd lie. Conrad exposes the cruelty and…

“He struggled with himself, too. I saw it -- I heard it. I saw the inconceivable mystery of a soul that knew no restraint, no faith, and no fear, yet struggling blindly with itself.” (Conrad, 140). This isolation and internal conflict, within Kurtz, is the epitome of what occurs when one is caught in a seemingly inescapable situation; losing all unnecessary components of life and relying purely on instinct and intuition. Joseph Conrad compels the readers to question the ways of thinking that…

conference where it was decided to finalize the colonial partitioning of the African continent. It was decided to give the control of Congo King Leopold’s hand. Under the administration of King Leopold II, Congo became one of the greatest international scandals of the early 20th century. From 1885 to 1908, it is said to be the time of slavery under the personal rule of King Leopold. From 1908 to 1960, Congo had colonialism. From 1965 to 1996, it was the dictatorship in Congo. During these three…

Joseph Concrad’s Hard of Darkness Heart of Darkness follows one man's nightmarish journey into the interior of Africa Aboard a British ship called the Nellie, three men listen to a dude named Marlow recount his journey into Africa as an agent for the Company, a Belgian ivory trading firm. Along the way, he witnesses brutality and hate between colonizers and the native African people, becomes entangled in a power struggle within the Company, and finally learns the truth about the mysterious Kurtz…

4. The Congolese Ivory Trade was the exploitation and abuses of the Congo region of Africa by King Leopold II of Belgium and the Belgian State during the late 1800s. King Leopold II, the monarch of Belgium at the time, is credited for modernizing the Belgium state, as well as for his atrocities and lies against the Congolese people. During the Berlin Conference, King Leopold convinced the U.S. as well as every major and important power in Europe to recognize the legitimacy of his claim to an…

Some critics argue that Conrad is exposing colonialism in his novel, one of those critics is H. S. Zins who claims that:" when Conrad was writing his anti–colonial and anti–imperial Heart of Darkness. In that African novella he described imperialism as robbery with violence" (1). This is true when he describes the Belgian colonization of Africa, but when he describes the British colonization he praises it and celebrating imperialism. Said in his book Culture and Imperialism states that: "Yet…