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European Imperialism

Part One

This part discusses what were the motivations for modern European imperialism, and

how Joseph Conrad’s novel Heart of Darkness portray its operations in Africa in the late 19th era

and their impact on the European characters, more so Kurtz. There were many motivations for

modern European imperialism. The first motivation was to obtain the resources required by

industries. The 1800 Industrial Revolution generated a necessity for raw materials for fueling the

developed transportation as well as machinery (Bonvini and Jacobson 90). Since many countries

never had enough natural resources, they colonized other lands and nations in search of

resources. Growing outside of its boundaries enabled a nation to penetrate overseas

marketplaces, where they wanted to transact their industrial products.

The other motivation was to expand marketplaces for manufactured goods. It was

important by 1870 for European industrialized countries to internationally enlarge their

marketplaces to facilitate them in selling goods that they could never sell locally on the land

(Bonvini and Jacobson 92). Entrepreneurs and investors had excess capital for investment, while

foreign investments motivated amplified incomes, regardless of the perils. The requirement for

low-priced labor and a stable source of resources necessitated that the industrial countries

preserve strong dominance over these new regions; directly dominating these areas entailed

introducing colonies under the direct European regulation. Moreover, the new imperialism’s
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monetary gains were restricted since the colonies were not well-off to use funds on European

products.

Nationalism, a spirit of pride in one's nation, also motivated modern European

imperialism. Individuals were proud of their expanding continents together with their gains. The

British domain was massive, and there was a land that had the sun shining on the territory

(Bonvini and Jacobson 94). Therefore, this generated a competition logic amongst European

republics to boast their supremacy and status globally. This rivalry exploded so far that intense

pressures among European nations and skirmishes commenced increasing.

On the other hand, Heart of Darkness examines the problems governing imperialism in

different ways. Marlow sets on a journey from the Outer Station to the Central Station and the

stream to the Inner Station; Marlow experiences scenes of brutality, torture, and near-slavery

(Fares 5). Therefore, in Joseph Conrad's novel Heart of Darkness, incidental scenery generates a

colonial company's harsh image. Besides, the motivation behind Marlow’s quests relates to the

pretense integral within the rhetoric applied in validating imperialism. Those who work for the

enterprise account for what they carry out as “exchange,” with their native Africans handling a

portion of a benevolent civilization plan.

In Joseph Conrad's novel Heart of Darkness, operations in Africa in the late 19th era has

different effects on the European characters, more so Kurtz. Kurtz is honest about never

exchanging goods and services; however, he uses might to take ivory. Kurtz defines his natives’

handlings with terms such as overthrow and extinction, thus, never hiding that he governs by

instilling fear and via violence (Fares 5). Kurtz's perverse honesty causes his disgrace, as his

achievement threatens to bring to light the crooked undertakings behind European practice in

Africa. Nevertheless, for Kurtz, Marlow, or the enterprise, Africans in Joseph Conrad's Heart of
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Darkness are typically objects. For example, Marlow calls his helmsman a machinery piece,

while Kurtz refers to his African lover as a statuary piece. Therefore, this novel takes part in

nonwhites’ abuses, which is disturbing and challenging to solve compared to the open oppression

of Kurtz or the Corporation’s men. for Marlow, Africans become a setting, a human screen

contrary to which he might exercise his experiential as well as logical efforts (Fares 7). Their

presence and their exotism facilitate Marlow’s self-contemplation. This dehumanization is

challenging to recognize, gauged by colonial oppression or open racial discrimination.

Part Two

This section discusses Chinua Achebe’s hypothesis in his article "An Image of Africa:

Racism in Conrad's 'Heart of Darkness'" that the novel is flawed because of what he considers its

racism and because it did not advocate ending European imperialism. In his article "An Image of

Africa: Racism in Conrad's 'Heart of Darkness," Chinua Achebe explores the prejudice the

Westerns hold consistent with how they view Africa. As Chinua Achebe argues, the descriptions

and fascination with the darkness of the African land as well as the skin color portray Africa as

the Europe antithesis (Achebe 14). According to Conrad, it is Europe that might conquer the

darkness. On the other hand, Chinua Achebe goes against Conrad’s philosophies that there is

danger in the relations with people and regions, which are yet to defeat that brutality because

they might overwhelm the civilized individuals. Chinua Achebe criticizes Conrad's novel “Heart

of Darkness” for depicting African natives as vague “savages” or spectators. Besides, Chinua

Achebe terms Conrad as a ‘bloody racist’ apart from a generous hero whose anti-imperialist

beliefs seized him from significant disapproval (Achebe 14). According to Chinua Achebe,

although Conrad might never have been a racist and imperialist, the novel misrepresents

Africans.
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In addition, Chinua Achebe thinks that Conrad's novel is flawed due to the author’s

employment of the storyteller, Marlow. According to Chinua Achebe, Marlow is a literary

device, and by using him, the writer appears to go into significant trouble fixing insulation layers

between the past’s moral universe and himself. Besides, Chinua Achebe argues that Conrad

wanted to draw a blockade of Sanitaire among himself and his storyteller’s ethics along with

mental illness (Achebe 16). Chinua Achebe feels that Conrad has mishandled the care hunt

because he abandoned hinting at an alternate reference frame where Conrad would disapprove of

his characters’ deeds and ideas.

Chinua Achebe maintains that the novel’s author managed to retreat from the frame

narrations. Chinua Achebe gives a clue to the audience that Marlow, the narrator, should never

be treated with seriousness or respected. Nevertheless, it becomes clear that Conrad not ‘thought

it necessary doing so, and Marlow's connections to Kurtz depict this since Kurtz is ‘corrupted’

by the Congo’s 'darkness,' which infuriates Chinua Achebe (Achebe 18). Thus, Chinua Achebe

holds that Conrad is racially biased by using Marlow as a storyteller who often portrayed

Europeans and European culture negatively. Therefore, If Marlow is Conrad, then Marlow’s

discriminatory attitudes would mirror Conrad’s racist attitudes towards African natives.

Therefore, Chinua Achebe feels that Conrad's novel 'Heart of Darkness” is biased and flawed

since it never advocated for the end of European imperialism. Chinua Achebe believes that what

is offensive to some must be banned.

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Works Cited

Achebe, Chinua. "An image of Africa: racism in Conrad's Heart of Darkness." The Massachusetts

Review 57.1 (2016): 14-27.

Bonvini, Alessandro, and Stephen Jacobson. "Democratic imperialism and Risorgimento colonialism:

European legionnaires on the Argentine Pampa in the 1850s." Journal of Global History 17.1

(2022): 89-108.

Fares, Ashraf Abu. "A Bakhtinian Reading of Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness." International Journal

of Literature Studies 1.1 (2021): 05-09.