Regarded as one of the greatest novelists to write in the English language, Polish-British writer Joseph Conrad gave us The Heart of Darkness (1899), a novella considered to be a parable on human nature. The events taken place in 1890, after Conrad himself sailed up the river of the Congo Free State–at the time under the control of King Leopold II of Belgium–inspired him to write a novel condemning imperialism. It describes the voyage up the Congo River of the narrator Charles Marlow as he is sent on a journey to find Mr. Kurtz, an ivory trader. Originally issued as a three part serial, the novella consists of Marlow retelling his experience to those with him during another trip sailing up the River Thames in England. In addition, Conrad draws parallels between England and the Congo depicting both as the heart of darkness drawing attention to the hypocrisy of Colonialism and Imperialism.
Heart of Darkness gives explicit commentary to racial relations and the image of the African man, specifically the Congolese man, shaped by Colonialism and Imperialism. The description of Marlow’s journey presents a hierarchical difference between the Colonialists and the Native Africans due to his descriptive and ‘loaded’ language. Marlow describes the African man as ‘black shapes, criminals, enemies, savages, primitive, prehistoric, a piece of machinery, black shadows of disease and starvation, and n*gger,’ presenting them as inferior due to their race. As well, he makes certain implications that feed into stereotypes and generalizations about Black people still prevalent in today’s society such as African people being primitive, lazy workers, dependent on the White man as they cannot take care of themselves, and as dumb.
As the West has pushed this narrative of the African man, it became the predominant view for while but through globalization and progress regarding racial equality it is no longer spoken of and seems to only appear during hostile situations. For example, during altercations regarding racial tensions in the United States many have made comparisons of African Americans as gorillas and referring to them as backwards, primitive, or savage-like. The pushing of a racist narrative can be explained theorized through Nicholas Mirzoeff’s explanation on the basis of visual culture in which Colonialists in 1492 pushed their perspective and their view of the natives and of Colonialism as a good thing therefore becoming the predominant view for the time period.
While in contrast, Marlow describes the White man in a positive way, almost admiringly, referring to one white man as elegant and amazing while describing his clean attire and look. These comments are used as justifications for Colonialism and a hierarchical system based on race and appearance.
As well, Conrad’s description of how Colonial empires and its citizenry viewed ‘unknown’ lands to them as empty and for their taking coincides with another one of Nicholas Mirzoeff’s theories that shapes visual culture. Mirzoeff explains how Colonists viewed Africa as ‘the dark continent,’ disregarding the natives already there with an established way of life instead claiming the land as their own. In the Heart of Darkness, this becomes a prevalent topic as Marlow often describes Congo as empty due to King Leopold II exploiting the country’s people and resources freely as he desires even referred to as Leopold’s backyard. For Capitalistic and Mercantilistic means this is why in the novella, the natives are forced to work for the Company in which they are extremely overworked.
Director Francis Ford Coppola’s 1979 American epic war film Apocalypse Now is about the Vietnam War, starring Marlon Brando and Martin Sheen. The film was loosely based on Heart of Darkness following a similar river journey from South Vietnam to Cambodia undertaken by Captain Benjamin L. Willard who is on a secret mission to assassinate Colonel Kurtz, a renegade Army Special Forces officer accused of murder and who is presumed insane. The film touches upon similar topics as the book such as that racial hierarchy and considering other’s land as less than and for the West’s taking.
During the film, reference to Vietnam’s French Colonial history is made as the French feel it is their home and their right to be there with the purpose of Capitalistic expansion and the creation of businesses. The French’s willingness to hold onto all their colonies were all justified by the undermining of those that were already there. The French therefore implemented French ways like in Algeria, going as far as to make it an extension of France with many pied-noirs born there and granting French citizenship to some native Algerians.
In one specific scene, they call attention to the purpose of American political interference due to millions of deaths of American soldiers but coming to no concrete resolution at the end of the war essentially losing it’s original purpose such as the war in Iraq and Afghanistan. Many wars since the heavily mediatized Vietnam War have had large amounts of backlash and protests, even being deemed acts of Neo-Colonialism/Neo-Imperialism so the United States can show their power in the global arena.
With almost a century’s time difference, both touch upon similar themes regarding Colonialism, Imperialism, and racism with events relevant to the time period in which the media was created. Although no longer the dominant narrative of ethnic minorities due to globalization, Colonialism has adapted to the different social and economic system in which we live in the 21st century, as it is a fight for power and wealth leaving those who are vulnerable at the hands of those at a higher hierarchical status.
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