IMPERIALISMAND JOSEPH CONRAD’S HEART OF DARKNESS

VICENTE, YAZET, LIZBETH & MATEO

VICENTE’S EXAMPLE

"'He (the harlequin) suspected there was an active ill-will towards him on the part of these white men that—.' 'You are right,’ I said, remembering a certain conversation I had overheard. 'The manager thinks you ought to be hanged.”

Chapter 2

The manager's racism extends towards Russians as well. He wants to kill the harlequin simply because he's different from the others. That, or maybe he just doesn't like the guy's silly clothes.

YAZET’S EXAMPLE

“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.”

Chapter 2

This example shows racism and imperialism, the way belgians treat the natives so they can surrender to them. Also, slavery is commonly attatched to imperialism and here we can see how people were treated like slaves. They are treated this way so they can see that the belgians are stronger.

LIZBETH’S EXAMPLE

“The man seemed young, almost a boy” said marlowe, “ but you know, its always hard to tell.”

Chapter 2.

This is racist because it shows how Belgians think all African natives are the same. They think that they all look young like boys because they don’t have a balanced nutrition and they are all weak and small.

MATEO’S EXAMPLE

“A black figure stood up, strode on long black legs, waving long black arms. He had a face like a grotesque mask.”

Chapter 3

This is very racist because they are judging the natives by their skin color. The Belgians thought that they were superior because of their skin color and that gives a clear example of racism.

CONCLUSION

Joseph Conrad used a lot of factors of racism and imperialism while writing heart of darkness because he was English. This means that maybe he supported racism, or was aware of this phenomena. When Conrad wrote the book, imperialism and racism were happening at the moment. Heart of darkness is a book with a lot of real life background and based on Conrad’s experience at Congo.