Ideology in Heart of Darkness - Essay Example

?Topic:  Ideology in Heart of Darkness Introduction Heart of darkness is a story written by Joseph Conrad, a polish man who set out to Africa to findthe darkness of the heart reflecting in white men of Europe. He set his journey to the African sub – continent to find the dark heart of a white man which astonished him excessively According to Walker (2004,pg. 225-236)“Never comfortable with his adopted English culture, Conrad used his experiences in different parts of the world during his career in the merchant navy to explore in his writing aspects of cultural dissonance and cultural isolation” This story is written by Conrad in the 19th century and revolves around the journey of a white man to African continent to engage in trade with another black trader in Congo. As per , Yanse(2008)“Heart of Darkness" by Joseph Conrad is a story of a man’s journey into Africa’s dark heart to find a missing explorer. This is a metaphor for the journey into the dark heart of man”. This journey gave realization to the author that white and black skin color does not have relativity to the purity of the heart. He in this book focuses on the ideologies like White ideology, imperialism and slavery on the black race of Africa. “Conrad warns us of the “fascination of the abomination” and the “regrets, the longing to escape, the powerless disgust, the surrender, the hate, that would ensue when we encounter the truly wild other out there”(Harkins). Here the main ideology reflected by the writer is the white ideology, imperialism and slavery practiced by the white over the black men. It is unfortunate to know that white considers themselves to be a superior race and attempts forcefully to conquer the black for the purpose of slavery. According to Conrad, the white men are considered white only because of their skin surface and their heart is completely covered with evilness and darkness. The dominant white ideology largely reflects the aspect of cruelty, violence and arrogance of Europeans race. Here Kabala (2001) states that, “Africa's campaign for reparations for the injustices of slavery and colonialism recently gained significant ground.”Slavery and the slave trade were appalling tragedies ... a crime against humanity, and should always have been so,” Dominance of White Ideology White ideology is the core racist thoughts and principles of Europeans which gives an idea that only whites are exceptionally beautiful, ideal and perfect among all races. In olden times, the white men considered their race to be superior and believed that all the richness and wealth belongs to them exclusively. According to Post Colonial (2002)“A large part of colonial expressions of distaste for African treatment of women and consequent reformist zeal arose in the fact that women's work effectively removed African men from the control of colonial power, ideology, and economic pressures”. White practiced hostile attitudes to the other races and treated them as slaves and servants, which is a heinous act. This can be counted as a sort of imperialism where a stronger race or nation takes over other race by power or by force. Caswell(2003)writes that,“Imperialism occurs when a strong nation takes over a weaker nation or region and dominates its economic, political, or cultural life” .This white ideology lead to the emergence of violence and atrocities of the west to the people of other ethnic backgrounds. The author Joseph Conrad in his book “Heart of darkness” states that men of white clan show their dominance on black people, just because their skin is black in color. Europeans, who took over the lands of Africans and exploited their national wealth and power, also did not forget to torture them to great level. The author in his book mentions that just being white in complexion does not imply that they are good at heart. The author being white could never separate himself from his white racial background and on the other hand, he also despised the cruel mentality of white men towards the black race. The ideology of Imperialism in the theory There is a very visible prominence of white ideology in the story as the white colonialism in Congo was shown widely in the book written by Conrad. As per Pavlakis(2010,pg1532-5768)“In remote districts, away from prying eyes, a few Europeans backed by an impressed African army terrorized villages to deliver rubber, provisions, and men. The massive disruption of local society, tendency of the system to encourage violent behavior in the pursuit of profits, and the consequent death toll made the Free State a dramatic and tragic example of colonial exploitation and oppression”. There was elaborate trade activities existed in Congo at earlier times and the natural resources of the country were being exploited by the Romans and British at staggering level. Meiers(1999,pg.11) writes that,“Colonial policies -not laws which were so often not enforced established the context within which the slavery operated”. The author attempts to show how white men exploited the Congo for natural resources that was scarce in the European nations. According to Thomas (2007)“Before 1960, when Congo gained independence from France, "the whites practiced slavery on the Bantus," said Jean-Bernard Nzamongo, pastor of an all-Pygmy evangelical Christian church in Enyelle. "Now, it is the Bantus who practice slavery on the Pygmies” The British men enslaved black and performed cruelty to the black men in an attempt to use them as manpower and to exploit their resources and here we can very well see the ideology of imperialism highlighted by the author. The white men being white skinned had a dark heart and men with black skin had pure heart is a fact which Conrad is trying to reveal to his readers effortlessly. Nubienam (2001) claims that , “Arabs are Caucasians whose racism and religious imperialism is responsible for the destruction of African civilizations” The ideology of slavery in the story The story “Heart of the Darkness” shows that slavery was a prominent aspect prevailed during the years of white dominance in Africa. In this story character Marlow who is a protagonist travel to Africa on a business motive .And the here story exposes the darkness of human nature in three dimensions. These are the darkness of Congo region, the darkness of white men in treating black men,and darkness in every human being to be cruel and violent. The story highlights the ideology of slavery in Africa enacted by Romans and British in the previous centuries. “Slavery in Africa, the institution of slavery as it existed in Africa, and the effects of world slave-trade systems on African people and societies. As in most of the world, slavery, or involuntary human servitude, was practiced across Africa from prehistoric times to the modern era”(Wright,2000). Here the ideology of slavery is mentioned to show the dualism in human nature which is goodness and evilness. African Culture(2011) “The Europeans brought the kings rifles, ammunition, and other goods. Then the African slaves were packed into big sailing ships. The ships took them to the Colonies of America and to the island nations of the Caribbean”. This portrays the atrocities of white men and how they exploited the people of African countries showing their supremacy over humanity. In the book Joseph writes that Congo men were treated as slaves and utmost heinous acts were done to them to cause physical and mental harm. Walvin (1992,pg.32)refers that, “The line between freedom and slavery is blurred. It is also misleading to lump together all unfree people as slaves”. Conflicts in ideology of imperialism and slavery The story has the shades of imperialism and slavery and both these have reflected well throughout out the story. Concord (1999) claims that ,“Slavery began in prehistoric times and has been practiced ever since. The slavery of ancient times reached its peak in Greece and the Roman Empire. During the middle Ages, slavery declined. Then, during the 1500's and 1600's, the colonization of the New World by Europeans resulted in a great expansion of slavery” . The imperialism of whites was prominent during the era of Roman and British rule in Africa. The white race was the supreme symbol of imperialism and they wanted to conquer the whole world in the name of their white supremacy. “Slavery and the slave trade were appalling tragedies ... a crime against humanity, and should always have been so” (Ukabiala,2001).The black being the darkest of the race were always subjugated and enslaved for the benefit of Europeans. Evidently, in the story there is also a high constitution of racism and suppression on black people. “As such, racism designates one nationality as a master race and the others as servants or slave races, a so-called underclass”(Afrospear,2008). The white in those times considered they to be the masters and blacks were treated as their servants. Not only blacks, even the Asians and Latinos were treated inferior by White men. Guiler(2000) mentions that ,“Stories of fabulous wealth had been told regarding the “Dark Continent” but Europeans, even at the height of slavery a century earlier, had yet to penetrate the interior”. The darkness in the story is revealed more, when the author’s two characters fight between death and life in the name of the trade. Nolan(1998) mentions that,“In the nineteenth century European drive for possessions in Africa, the moral rationalization of the "civilizing" mission was used to justify colonialism”. Here in the story we can see that imperialism was more superior ideology than slavery. The white were stationed in African continent especially Congo for the exploitation of the natural resources of the region. They wanted to gather the entire natural wealth from the Congo region and then export it to their countries. It is utter Foolishness to mention that White would settle in humid and hot continent just to enslave black men. Witte(2001)explains that ,“For the last 40 years it has seen political repression, civil war and mass suffering. The key to that experience is the way the West first colonized the area and then ruthlessly put down those who tried to oppose the great powers” Conflict with imperialism and White ideology When comparing imperialism and white ideology, the latter take the supreme position as it is a striking feature of the whole story. The reason for this is that when one read the book “Heart of Darkness”, the first thing which crosses the reader’s mind is the white ideology of West. On the contrary, the imperialism is more about the encroachment of Romans and British men to a nation abundant in rich natural resources to exploit it. Apparently, in the story, the supreme ideology of white race strikes pre-dominantly in the book “Heart of Darkness”. As per, Zins (1998,pg.52-61)“In the prevailing atmosphere of the late Victorian era-racism and biological determinism, colonial expansion and imperial philosophy-the writing and pamphleteering of Conrad, Casement and Morel were quite exceptional”. The imperialism is obvious in the story, but it is happening for a reason which is to make the nations of white prosperous. But the reason for enslaving the black is due to the fact that white consider themselves supreme, beautiful and pure. It is not the skin and appearance which make a person pure, but it is the purity of the heart. The main evil activity of White men was the cruel treatment of black men as their appearance was dark and not praise worthy. But in totality, the concentration of the story is on the treatment of white men of the black race and the ideology reflecting strongly is White ideology of the west.Wallace(2011) writes that .“Ideology translates to the science or study of ideas. However, ideology tends to refer to the way in which people think about the world and their ideal concept of how to live in the world”. Dominance of white ideology The white ideology is dominant theme in the story “Heart of darkness” as we can see from the starting to the end, the dominating presence of white in Africa. There is an imposition of segregation by white men on the Black race and they are treated in a very atrocious manner .Segregation is not an idealistic principle and it is mainly evident in the idea of white dominance. Cell(1982,pg.23)“Segregation in separation of race, class or ethnic groups by enforced or voluntary residence in a restricted area”. The blacks are not black by choice, and white being naturally fair is treating human as if they have committed some sort of crime .Here we can see the imposing of ideas and principle on black people for the utilization and exploitation of their manpower and natural wealth. “The slave trade between Western Africa and the America's reached its peak in the mid-18th century when it is estimated that over 80,000 Africans annually crossed the Atlantic to spend the rest of their lives in chains”(Eye witness,2011) Conclusion The ideology observed in the book “Heart of Darkness “are three, that of white ideology, imperialism and Slavery. But in the end, the most dominant ideology takes the dominance by resolving all the contradiction and conflicts placed by other ideologies present in the discussion. “The dominance of a particular ideology may limit or inhibit philosophical enquiry”(Lutz,2004,pg.180).An ideology always give opportunity for an elaborate philosophical enquiry in to the false and original facts contained in the subject matter. In the book by Conrad, there can be seen various ideologies conflicting each other but there always is one ideology which fights its way in to a dominance Here in the story white ideology is reflecting throughout the story as white business men Marlow come to Congo to acquire natural materials from black tradesmen. The white men have intimidated, forced and created violence on black race for the inequality just seen on the fore front of skin. According to Bloom (2009, pg.16), “Through Marlow’s tale readers were made aware of the horrific aspects of imperialism and white ideology that might have been previously unknown to the public, or which have gone generally unacknowledged and uncontested” The slavery and imperialism is also a prominent part of the story, but the core ideology is the white ideology because white men is the practitioner of all the heinous activities in African continent. Bibliography African Cultural centre. 2011. SLAVES. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.africanculturalcenter.org/4_5slavery.html. [Accessed 28 March 11]. Afrospear. 2009. White Supremacy, Imperialism and Fascism in America. [ONLINE] Available at: http://afrospear.com/2009/03/26/white-supremacy-imperialism-and-fascism-in-america/. [Accessed 28 March 11]. Bloom, H., 2009. Heart of Darkness . 1st ed. New York: Infobase Publishing Conrad, J., 1996. Heart of darkness . 1st ed. New York: Palgrave Macmillan Caswell,T.. 2003. Imperialism. 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[ONLINE] Available at: http://www.un.org/ecosocdev/geninfo/afrec/vol15no3/153racis.htm. [Accessed 28 March 11]. Wallace,O.. 2011. What is Ideology?. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-ideology.htm. [Accessed 28 March 11]. Walvin, J., 1992. Slaves and slavery: the British colonial experience . 1st ed. Manchester: Manchester University Press Walker, G., 2004. Joseph Conrad-International Narrator. Journal of Research in International Education , 3/2, 225-236 Witte,L.D.. 2001. Dark heart of imperialism. [ONLINE] Available at: http://pubs.socialistreviewindex.org.uk/isj92/kimber.htm. [Accessed 28 March 11]. Wright,D.R. 2000. Slavery in Africa . [ONLINE] Available at: http://autocww.colorado.edu/~blackmon/E64ContentFiles/AfricanHistory/SlaveryInAfrica.html. [Accessed 29 March 11]. Yanse,C.. 2008. Heart of Darkness. [ONLINE] Available at: http://bookstove.com/classics/heart-of-darkness/. [Accessed 29 March 11]. Zins, H.S., 1998. Joseph Conrad and British critics of colonialism. Journal of African Studies, 1/12, 52-61 Read More