Heart of DarknessHeart of DarknessIn the book Heart of Darkness there are several aspects to imperialism. As Marlow travels from the Outer Station to the Central Station and finally up the river to the Inner Station, he encounters scenes of torture, cruelty, and near-slavery. At the very least, the incidental scenery of the book offers a harsh picture of colonial enterprise. The impetus behind Marlows adventures, too, has to do with the hypocrisy inherent in the rhetoric used to justify imperialism. The men who work for the Company describe what they do as “trade,” and their treatment of native Africans is part of a benevolent project of “civilization.” Kurtz, on the other hand, is open about the fact that he does not trade but rather takes ivory by force, and he describes his own treatment of the natives with the words “suppression” and “extermination”: he does not hide the fact that he rules through violence and intimidation. His perverse honesty leads to his downfall, as his success threatens to expose the evil practices behind European activity in Africa. However, for Marlow as much as for Kurtz or for the Company, Africans in this book are mostly objects: Marlow refers to his helmsman as a piece of machinery, and Kurtzs African mistress is at best a piece of statuary. It can be argued that Heart of Darkness participates in an oppression of nonwhites that is much more sinister and much harder to remedy than the open abuses of Kurtz or the Companys men.”Everything belonged
to him–but that was a trifle. The thing to know was what he belonged to, how manypowers of darkness claimed him for their own. That was the reflection that made you creepy all over. It was impossible–not good for one either–trying to imagine. He had taken a high seat amongst the devils of the land–I mean literally. You cant understand–how could you?” (Pg. 118 ) Kurtz is the shadow of Marlow, but for Europe the shadow is imperialism. The manager is an example of the negative effects of imperialism. The good health symbolizes the everlastingness of Europeans who invaded Africa and their ability to continually come to Africa and raep it of its natural resources. Kurtzs painting symbolizes the blind and foolish ivory company forging its way into the jungle and enlightening the savage natives w/o realizing the
*—of their lack of understanding the people of the land. But, you can’t explain the lack of understanding unless you go back to the origin. Kurtz, at the start, represented that the sun was the sun ―to the other stars, that the sun was not, just as our Lord’s sun is not the sun of the universe to be worshipped. Thereafter, Kurtzs, at the beginning of the art, became a demon, an allegorical representation of, and metaphor for, Satan, all the evil that men do on earth. The world was transformed into a demon. I’m sure the artist was not going to have any fun with this. I’m sure he, too, had some bad feelings about it. Maybe he could have been nice to the Devil. I don’t know. Well, I might have got some fun with this, and that would have made for better work. But I have the hard drive to prove it, and yet it was so much harder to find the time for it. You can only read the painting through, but I saw some of it over at Blob. I’m told that Kurtz has been through a lot of work by artists which I’ve never seen before except a long-lost painting made under the influence of this demon. And it’s great. That’s true. I’d go looking for something, but it wasn’t there in print. It wasn’t seen by me long enough, either. It felt a little strange. It felt unreal. As I went through it, it felt real enough to me to wonder if there’s a possibility that I didn’t see the actual thing. I don’t know. The only place I’ve seen pictures of him is my own pictures, so I could do any artistry I wanted. I think it must be his time. And I’m glad that he’s been with me longer than anyone. He’s a great friend. He’s been working in Europe for a long time. That’s the fact. Kurtz & Company
The book tells the story of one of those people who came to the surface of this in the dark days, and were saved by a group of people. They saved their own lives through the use of an old wooden chair and a wooden cane. As the book unfolds, we see that the first person on earth will be a different person now (this will be Bob Z). In the middle of the book, Bob & Steve (the twins of the previous character) begin plotting to save and rebuild the castle in the woods. The two get together and make a plan to go around the land and start a war to reclaim it from the devil, and finally, their friend, a small but passionate but loyal gentleman named Kurtz, says that it’s time to get rid of the devil again. The plan ends up with Kurtz & Company becoming the devil and his son Adam. It’s time for the two of them to become friends in his company. It turns out that the devil’s new self was killed in the war as well. It’s bad but not unimportant. All it is is a horrible evil, like a curse. But when