Ministry of Darkness

In The Pearl, Steinbeck captures the destructive effect of colonialism on the indigenous people. This parable includes many motifs that depicts how greed and corruption can be a destructive force and overwhelm an individual. The novella portrays two contrasting forces that shape a person’s future. It depicts a world in which humans shape their own destinies. However, forces beyond human control can sweep at any moment and completely change the course of an individual’s life. It can be…

King Leopold's Conquering and Exploitation of the Congo Adam Hochschild vividly tells the story of how King Leopold conquered and exploited the Congo in the novel King Leopold's Ghost: A Story of Greed, Terror, and Heroism in Colonial Africa. The book is written in third person telling the story from the time Henry Morton Stanley was born to time of Congo claiming their independence. Hochschild discusses the horrific things that happened in Congo at the hands of King Leopold and how Henry…

6 Tips for First Time Safari Traveler Traveling changes our lives in a huge way. Once you get the taste for traveling to far off lands and unknown places, there is no going back or stopping, even if you wanted to. Almost every person these days lives by a wish list or as we travelers like to call it - the ‘bucket list’, and going on an adventurous and once-in-lifetime African safari happens to unfailingly be a part of most bucket lists. Planning a safari isn’t like planning to backpack the…

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…

Heart of Darkness Darkened my World Although a novel filled with extensive figurative language and impressive control of language, Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad bored me. Marlow, a well-traveled seaman who narrates his story in the Congo, is a man I simply could not relate to, which inhibited me from truly appreciating his story. To put it simply, I just didn’t like it. The narrative style bored me and Marlow’s story itself was not exciting. I don't particularly enjoy history, which…

times of chaos, people will desperately look for something positive or orderly such as in Heart of Darkness (by Joseph Conrad) when Marlow stood amazed at the well-kept Chief Accountant. Even in chaotic areas however, someone may meet a charismatic individual, like how Marlow met Kurtz, and begin to obsess over that person instead of something that reminds them of home. For Marlow in Heart of Darkness, his complexity grows as he transitions from obsessing over the end of his journey, to…

In Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness, symbolism is quite prevalently used to portray the development of the heart of darkness. Conrad used a variety of symbols, including characters, objects, and ideologies to demonstrate this. The first narrator and the main protagonist, Charlie Marlow, had contradicting opinions on the colonization of Africa. Conrad juxtaposed these opinions to show the discrepancies between them. The first narrator had a romanticized view of colonization however Marlow…

The Symbols of Darkness In the adventures of an ancient civilization in the novella of Heart of Darkness, Joseph Conrad uses many symbols to explain the underlying theme of the story. Many similar symbols also appear in the 1979 movie Apocalypse Now; director Francis Ford Coppola also uses symbols within the context of a violent and turbulent time of the Vietnam War to provide explanation and context. These symbols help explain the underlining themes and context for the audience to fully…

land, and their people. Some of these areas included parts of India. Imperialism was defined as the control or colonization of land and people, with the use of “military force” or other ways of inhibition. Within the subtext of the novel “Heart of Darkness” we are able to see how even though the imperialistic time had ended, the British empire still felt that imperialism was key to being prosperous and all other countries who were not under their control were “savages”. Joseph Conrad the author…

The jungle looked like a child had sploshed layers of solid blue, white and green paint on a blank canvas, the blue strip of sky, white line of sweltering bubbly clouds and a vast green canopy stretching beneath. It created a sign - a flag, the blue, white and green banner of the jungle, surmounted on high to declare the jungle’s glory and prowess, demanding dominance over any other lifeform because it’s a jungle out there. The canopy is a thick green blanket; it smothers the jungle until one…