Symbolism in Heart of Darkness

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Symbolism in Heart of Darkness

When Conrad writes Heart of Darkness, the British colonial empire is at its height. Britain is the preeminent world power during the second half of the nineteenth century. She has colonies around the world including Africa. The Heart of Darkness centers around Marlow, a sailor, and his journey up the Congo River to meet Kurtz, reputed to be an idealistic man of great abilities. Marlow takes a job as a riverboat captain with the company- a large ivory trading firm working out of the Congo. As he travels to Africa and then up the Congo, Marlow encounters widespread inefficiency and brutality in the Company's station.

In Heart of Darkness, Conrad packs this story with symbolism. Symbols are objects, characters, figures, or colors used to represent abstract ideas or concepts. Its plot is simple enough on the surface but beneath the surface, lays the book's complicated themes and most importantly, symbols. Conrad gives much food for thought about the nature of humankind and the possibilities for both good and evil using these symbols. This paper will therefore discuss how Conrad uses symbolism to convey the theme of Imperialism between Europe and Africa.

Almost every action, object and character in Conrad's book has a deeper more relevant meaning behind it. The images from the Thames in Heart of Darkness lend support to the belief that this is, at a basic level, a novel about imperialism. At the beginning of the novel, Conrad connects the Thames to the Congo. The Thames is "a waterway leading to the uttermost ends of the earth." It is connected to the Congo like "an interminable waterway." It is connected both physically and symbolically. It is connected physically as all rivers are connected to each other. It is also connected by shared humanity and connected economically.

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Marlow, as a character, symbolizes the positiveness of Imperialism. Marlow realizes the evil that negative Imperialism has cause and decides it is truly unnecessary. When Marlow states, 'I had got a heavenly mission to civilize you,' he expresses his good intentions to help the Africans progress and advance. Furthermore, when he says, 'I was an imposter,' Marlow recognizes the fact that he is an invader into foreign land, yet he sticks to his moral values. Marlow observes many kinds of abuse of power by other whites, simply because they have better weapons of war. When the manager severely battered a young black boy for the burnt shed Marlow disapproves. However, when he sees abuses and unjust treatment he does not physically try to stop it. Instead, he just turns away and accepts that it is happening. That is one of Marlow's flaws; he does not support his convictions.

Marlow also symbolizes the uncorrupted men that traveled to foreign lands to help the 'uncivilized' become cultured, but unlike the others, Marlow does not become indoctrinated by an alternative motive. He is able to see through the materialistic ideals that plague the men before him. Marlow has the open-mindedness and sensitivity that is absent during Imperialism, but does not have the courage or power to stop the abuses that is going on. Marlow is proof that when confronted, a man's evil side can be both informative and perilous.

The manager is the epitome of the negative effects of the institution of Imperialism. He is corrupt, uncaring, arrogant and self-centered. He symbolizes the arrogance of Europeans as they encounter native Africans. His good health symbolizes the everlastingness of Europeans who invades Africa and their ability to continually come to Africa and rape it of its natural resources. He is the true symbol of the evil and cold-heartiness of imperialism. The manager is an illustration of an 'established imperialist power'. He is well settled in, as demonstrated by the fact he controls all the stations. An example of his power over others is when he has the black boy thrashed for the burning of a shed. In addition, he wishes to destroy Kurtz and gain a monopoly on the ivory trade. The manager's discussion with his uncle is yet another example of his ruthlessness. Marlow realizes the manager is evil and has a certain dislike for him, as do all of the natives. Through this, symbolizes the overall detestment of imperialiszed countries toward the aggressor. By assigning all the blame for the terrible conditions on the manager, Conrad stresses the feeling that Europeans are not 'bringers of technology, but distributor of immoral corruption.'

Kurtz is one of the more interesting and enigmatic characters in the book. Kurtz was once what Marlow is, however, he becomes increasingly corrupt, as he is isolated from civilization of Europe. He exploits the Africans for their ivory. Kurtz truly symbolizes Europe, in that his mother and father are half-French and half-Europe. He is also a 'renaissance man' and very talented. He stands by his virtues and symbolizes the good intentions of Europeans. Under the influence of the manager, though, his sinister and harmful side is exposed. Kurtz has gained the respect of Marlow as well as the natives and that symbolizes the minor amount of respect given to the imperialists by the natives due to their advance degree of technology. His terminal illness represents the eventually death of imperialism due to its inability to adapt and respect the culture and peoples of the invaded country.

Kurtz's oil painting of a blindfolded woman carrying lighted torch has a distinct significance. It symbolizes the blind and foolish ivory company forgoing its way into the jungle and enlightening the savage natives. However, they do not really realize the detrimental effect they have on Africa. Most important the painting shows Kurtz's understanding of his role and position in the continent. Overall, Kurtz symbolizes Europe towards the end of imperialism when they began to recognize and realize their actions as harmful and evil. Kurtz's relationship to the mistress represents Europe's love for their imperialized country, however, the passion is only temporary. When Marlow tells Kurtz's girlfriend that, the last words on his lips were she, that symbolizes the nobleness of imperialists and desire to 'explore for the mother country' and do things in her honor.

In Heart of Darkness, Conrad successfully manipulates color, the imitation of color and descriptions of color to convey his symbolic messages to the readers. When Marlow is starring at the map on the wall of the Brussels office, he observes large sections of red, which he remarks as always good signs of civilizations. The red denotes English territories abroad. He also recognizes yellow areas that represent his homelands.

Darkness and its opposite light, are contrasted in Heart of Darkness to reveal the irony of imperialism. Traditionally, light and darkness represent civilization and the uncivilized world, respectively. In some cases, the description of darkness appears racist, yet it serves to reveal how the opposite of the European colonialist way of thinking is true. Marlow tells his shipmates about his childhood dreams of visiting uncharted places on maps. However, once a space has been discovered by Europeans, it had ceased to be a blank space of delightful mystery - a white patch for a boy to dream gloriously over. It had become a place of darkness (). Once the location has been discovered by the civilized world, it was exposed to the light of development. Without the arrival of the light of the Europeans for use in comparison, the Congo would be neither light nor dark; it is civilization that creates the primitive darkness. The initiative that compels imperialism is the idea that the radiance of civilization will bring light to the darkness of uncivilized nations. However, since the darkness does not exist until the light arrives, the notion of imperialism places a result before its cause. The irony of imperialism is introduced in the first scene of the novel, where the narrator states that London seemed condensed into a mournful gloom, brooding motionless over the biggest, and the greatest, town on earth (17). The pinnacle of European civilization is covered in darkness, the same darkness that surrounds the uncivilized Congo, a colossal jungle, and so dark green as to almost be black (8). Marlow describes the black natives of the jungle as possessing bone, muscle, a wild vitality, an intense energy of movement, that was as natural and true as the surf along their coast (8). Despite their outward dark appearance, they inside they are vibrant. There is an irony in that behind what the colonists see as darkness, brightness shines though. When black inhabitants are forced to work under the conditions of European mechanical labor, they acquire expressions of the deathlike indifference of unhappy savages (0). The imposition of European progress brings the men closer to savagery. The people that the colonists view as savage become even more so when placed in chain gangs, which suggests that it is the Europeans who actually possess the savageness. A further indication of the dark side of imperialism is the setting of Marlows narrative. The sun is setting before he starts his tale. When he is finished, it is fully dark and the tranquil waterway leading to the uttermost ends of the earth flowed sombre under and overcast sky (5). This symbolizes how the sailors were exposed to the true darkness of their disposition. The darkness and grave tone are similar to the somberness of the chain gang. When Europeans are exposed to the bleakness of imperialism, their darkness is revealed to them, just as when the Africans were exposed to imperialism and became engulfed in the European gloom.

Conrad uses light instead of darkness to indicate something that is an illusion, or hiding the truth. Along the river in the Congo, the blind whiteness of the fog obscures the vision of the men on the steamboat (58). The brightness of the fog does not illuminate the darkness of the jungle, but it masks it. In a sense, light actually serves as darkness. Similarly, the supposed enlightenment of imperialism is in fact darkness. This is further shown in the accountant, who was devoted to his books and maintaining European culture in the jungle setting. The accountant is the epitome of imperialism, yet inside his office he is described as barred from neck to heels with narrow strips of sunlight (). The image that is portrayed is bright and illuminated by rays from the sun, but there is also an image of bars enclosing the accountant. He is imprisoned by his false ideals. The light that surrounds him masks the true nature of imperialism; he believes in the advancement of his civilization and the imposition of its customs on other cultures. He comes from the same origins as the native peoples, however. Additionally, the previous captain of the steamboat is suggested to have died because the sun got too much for him in Africa (). In this case, the sun represents the illusions he held concerning imperialism; eventually, he could not live with them.

The disillusionment of imperialism eventually leads to the death of Kurtz. He entered the jungle with the intention of civilizing the native peoples, but his last words, The horror! The horror! expresses his realization of the true nature of imperialism (86). Though Marlow expresses the loss of his illusions as well, is able to survive the experience by creating illusions for another person. Kurtzs Intended sincerely believes in Kurtzs greatness and his value to civilization and imperialism. She has never experienced the darkness of Africa, and her illusory ideals are intact. Marlow perpetuates her illusions and does not tell her the truth about Kurtzs fate. He recognizes the faith that was in her, before that great and saving illusion that shone with an unearthly glow in the darkness, in the triumphant darkness from which I could not have defended her-from which I could not even defend myself (). While he could not sustain his own illusions, it would have been too dark-too dark altogether to destroy her faith (4). Due to her unconditional belief, the Intended is full of light. To expose her to the darkness of the truth would be too horrid for both of them. This is because, while she has faith in Kurtz, Marlow believes in her faith. Marlow must retain faith in some principle now that he does not believe in the ideals of civilization and its expansion through imperialism. The Intended is satisfied in preserving her faith, and Marlow endures by knowing that he has secured and can depend on her faithfulness to Kurtz and imperialism.

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