COLONIALISM
IN JOSEPH
CONRAD’S HEART OF DARKNESS
Rizki Mulya Romadhona, Nur Lailatur Rofi’ah
ABSTRACT
A study was done on a literature work, novel by Joseph Conrad’s Heart of
Darkness . this study is done because this novel does not contain a story that
entertain but also inform the adequate data about the historical aspect to its reader. The phenomenon that informed is
colonialism and its influence toward the changing character of the story.
The objective of the study is to describe the colonialism that written in
the Heart of Darkness and and its influence toward the changing character of
Mr. Kurtz.
This study used the qualitative description
as research methodology which involved with library research, internet
browsing, historical text that related to
the research study.
The result of this study shown that the colonialism in the novel was a
mission of civilization toward the savage that had been distorted in to a
force, exploitation violence to the native. And the colonialism spirit and its
circumtances can influence person inside become savage too.
The conclusion of this study is that civilization can not be the reason of
colonialism, whereas the violence and exploitation are only done by savage.
Keywords : Heart of Darkness, Colonialism, Changing Character.
INTRODUCTION
What a piece of work is a man
How nobel in reason!
How infinite in faculty!
Inform and movin how express
and admirable!
In action, how like an angel!
In apprehension, how like a
god!
The beauty of the word,the
paragon of animal.
(Shakespeare)
There are many
reasons for people reading a literature work. Such as, reading for escape,
reading to learn, reading to confront experience and reading for aesthetic
pleasure (Hoeper,1990:1). It cannot be denied that literature is
part of a country’s
heritage, human civilization and reference to history.
We can understand more about human feeling and social civilization in a country
more by seeing through its literature
work. Writers usually write what they imagine, think and feel. So, when the reader reads a literature work, it is a
kind of communication type between the writer and
the reader. Wonderfully, the reader who lives in modern time possibly
communicating, learning and understanding about anything what happened in the past time
through the book. So, literature is
not merely a fiction. Defining literary value is a matter of observing what
happen to texts (Easthope,1991:57)
An
important movement in literature was aestheticism,
which claimed that the main aim
of art was to evoke feeling and beauty. There are three
branches of literature, poem, prose and drama (Rees, 1973:2). For the writer, reading a literature work carries
different kinds of sensation, for example, a
poem can soften heart, a prose can inspire through
its conflict and drown us in to deep reading
because its suspense, whereas drama carries
deep emotional feeling. The literature its self
can be responded in an emotional or intellectual way, depending
on our moods and intellectual and aesthetic needs. Studying literature also an
exercises for our brains, and makes us think for ourselves (Hoeper,1990:1).
As other literature works, poetry
and drama, novel grows in line with the
phenomenon which happen in its society. In the year 1800th, In a journal posted
by WCL students Sarah Hymowitz and Amelia Parker at www.wcl.american.edu/humright/center
write :
“By the mid 1800s, the western powers had established
colonies all along the African coast. Africa provided a source of cheap labor,
raw materials and new markets for these countries, which were going through the
Industrial Revolution. These colonizing
powers, however, began to compete with each other over control. They decided to hold a conference to set up
ground rules for colonizing Africa. In
1884, leaders from 14 colonial powers, including the United States, Belgium,
Portugal, Germany and Spain held the Berlin Conference, where they divided the
continent of Africa into 50 countries and claimed them for themselves. These divisions were made arbitrarily and
without any consideration of the common culture, history and language shared by
different groups of African people. They
often divided an ethnic group or brought enemies under the same
government. The map of Africa today
remains largely the same as when it was divided in 1884.
The spirits of colonialism was well-spread during 1800th.
In that time, many literary works raise the topic about colonialism such
as Plymouth
Plantation by William Bradford, The Conquest of New Spain by Bernal
Diaz, Slave in Algiers and A Struggle for Freedom by Susanna Rowson
and Heart of Darkness by Joseph
Conrad. Joseph Conrad writes Heart of
Darkness through
his journey to Africa where he met savagery toward people in Africa by the
pilgrim.
Joseph Conrad was involved in the in his own story and
seen the savagery in the realtime in 1800th and the Heart of Darkness is one of his finest book that he has created. Stallman
(1960:339) says
In 1890 he went to Belgian Congo to command a river
steamer – realization of a hope expressed as a child when he put his finger on
a map of Central Africa and said he would go there one day. From his
experiences in the Congo conrad was physically weakened but psychologically
awakened, and his writing career dates from this period, for he was then
writing his first book, Almayer’s folly.
Years later he gave his Congo story in one of his finest books, “Heart of darkness.”
By reading Heart of
Darkness, we get a good deal information about colonial Africa. Literature
serves as a social document and gives us insight to the custom, attitudes and
values of the time and place in which it was written. On www.litcharts.com/heartofdarkness state:
“Joseph Conrad’s
novel reside in the transition period between Victorianism, with its strict
convention and focus on polite society, and modernism, which sought to explode
old conventions and invent new literary forms to convey human experience more
fully. Conrad’s work was instrumental in his effort, particularly his
experimentation with the use of time and non-chronological narrative. Heart of Darkness also fits squarely
into the genre of colonial literature, in thich European nation from Africa to
the Far East in the late 19th and early 20th century.”
Conrad presented in the Heart of Darkness how the moist
air and the pressure
that includes the wild African jungle
atmosphere that
gripping
from beginning to end raises the same atrocities on the human
beings who trapped in this story was presented in his novel
that shows colonialism in
Africa during 18th century.
If we look back at the 1800th century, historically,
Congo was firstly a personal colony of King Leopold II of Belgium. In Regelind
Farn’s desertation (Colonial and postcolonial rewritings of “Heart of Darkness” 2005:6) He defines that
the borders of the huge state. Leopold exploited the country ruthlessly and
gave it very little in return. Congo was the name of Heart of darkness land,
now change to La Republique du Zaire in
the 1800th, when Henry Morton Stanley stepped on this land.
There is a close relation between the colonialism and the
empire in controling a land in the some time in 1800th because in that time the
empire of Europe explores the world in order to civilize, to control their
resources, to spread religion, etc and this intention can be done by hook or by
crook. Doyle (1986:46) defines that :
“Empire is a
relationship, formal or informal, in which one state controls the effective
political sovereignty of another political society. It can be achieved by
force, by political collaboration, by economic, social, or cultural dependence.
Imperialism is simply the process or policy of establishing or maintaining an
empire”.
In relation to this,colonialism, which is almost always a consequence of
imperialism, is the implanting of settlements on distant territory. (Said,1993:
8).
Even Conrad brings “colonial” theme
in his some writing, such as, Victory,
Nostromo and The Rescue. The history, phenomenon and well-description
situation in the novel Heart of Darkness that
appeals the writer most to analyze this novel. Conrad not only shows the
colonialism through his well-description in his novel but also reveals the
darkness side of human being desire to be wealthy by force, violence and
exploitation.
Based on
the objective of the study the writer has purpose as follows:
1.
To describe the colonialism in Joseph Conrad’s novel Heart of Darkness.
2.
To explain how the colonialism influences the change of the character of Mr.Kurtz in
Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness.
RESEARCH METHODE
Approach
In analyzing this research, the
study employs qualitative approach. Because the data are in the form of words.
As Biklen (1992:32) states that
“Qualitative approach research is descriptive, the data
collected are in the form of words or pictures rather than number. The written
results of the research contains quotation from the data to illustrate and
substantiate the presentation. The data include interview transcrippt, field
notes, photographs, videotapes, personal documents, memos, and other official
records. They often contain quotation and try to describe what particular
situation or view of the world is like narrative form.”
Meanwhile to
analyze the data, the writer uses content analysis. According to Brog and Gall
in Artanti (2003:16)
“Content analysis is kind of research technique to the
object systematic and qualitative description of the manifest content of
communication from especially written composition, novel news, newspaper,
magazines, advertise, etc.”
In this study, the
writer uses Joseph Conrad’s novel Heart
of Darkness as the object of research. Any data contains that describing
colonialism will be quoted as the prove in the analysis
Procedure of
Data Collection
1. Reading The Novel
For the writer, the Novel Heart
of Darkness is not strange anymore because this novel is already famous enough
and were observed by the literature lover.but still reading the novel carefully
is needed in order to understand the content of the novel deeply, The writer
toke several month to finish reading this novel (about 3 months)
2. Collecting The Data
The
writer employs library research and internet browsing. The writer searchs
conceptual of colonialism that occured based on the novel Heart of Darkness, and the relation between colonialism and its
influence to the changing character of Mr.Kurtz.
3. Quoting from the Data Corpus
The quotation
of the data corpus consists of words, phrases, clauses and discourses that
refer to Colonialism in Joseph Conrad’s Heart
of Darkness. The novel is printed in New York, United States of America,
editted by Robert Kimbrough in 1971.
In this
collecting data, the writer quotes the evidence which contains colonialism.
“They
were conquerors, and for that you want only brute force – nothing to boast of,
when you have it, since your strength is just an accident arising from the
weakness of other. They grabbed what they could get for sake of what was to be
got. It was just robbery with violence, aggravated murder on a great scale, and
men going at it blind – as is very proper for those who tackle a darkness. The
conquest of earth, which mostly means the taking it away from those who have a
different complexion or slightly flatter noses than ourselves, is not a pretty
thing when you look into it too much (Conrad; 1971:6-7)”.
“I’ve seen the devil of violence, and the devil of
greed, and the devil of hot desire; but, by all the stars! These were strong,
lusty, red-eyed devils, that swayed and drove
4. Analyzing The Data
To
analyze the data, which is the novel, the writer uses content analysis.
According to Brog and Gall in Artanti
(2003:16) “Content analysis is kind of research technique to the object
systematic and qualitative description of the manifest content of communication
from especially written composition, novel news, newspaper, magazines,
advertise, etc.” It can be seen that the content analysis is technique implied
in analyzing qualitative description such as novel, news, newspaper, etc.
ANALYSIS
This chapter will analyze the
colonialism that is described in Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness and character of Mr. Kurtz that represent in this
novel.
1.
1. Colonialism Described in Heart of Darkness
The history of Heart of Darkness starts in the Nellie, a cruising yawl, awaiting the
turn of the tide in the Thames river. There are five persons lounge on her
deck: director of companies; captain and also the host, a lawyer, an
accountant; marlow and the narrator. They exchang a few words lazily, mostly
silent. And some reason they don’t start play dominoes, the situation in the
lounge is meditative, and fit for nothing but placid-staring.
Marlow, sit cross-legged right
aft,leaning against the mizen-mast, starts the story about his experience in
Congo toward the other passangers in the ship and how map fascinates him,
especially its blank spots ”The biggest, the most black part” of the map that
appeal him so much.
“It had become a place of darkness.but there was in it one river
especially, a mighty big river, that you could see in map, resembling an
immense snake uncoiled, with its head n the sea, its body at rest curving afar
over vast country, and its tail lost in the depth of the land”
(Page:8)
Conrad never says explicitly
that the setting of the novel refers to Congo, but through geographic science
and history, we can find out the setting of Heart
of Darknes. “Heart” symbolizes the center point or what inside something.
Whereas “Darkness” symbolizes the
dark place in the earth which refers to some places that the black men mostly
live, the continent of Africa. The country of Africa that is passed by a big
river and the equator line is Congo.
Historically, the time of the
white comes to Africa is in the mid of 19th century, where the
expedition and exploration of a new world is up raising in Europe. Boustin
(1988:36)
“The exploration systematicaly to Central Africa by Europeans start in the
mid of 19th century. Among the explorers open that area is David
Livingstone, Richard F. Burton and Jhon H Speke. The most famous of them is
Henry Morton Stanley, who crosses the Afrika from Zanzibar to Atlantic,
explores the Tangabyika river and Uganda, and traces Congo river streem, King
Leopold II of Belgium pays him to open great area, which is now knoen as Republic
of Zaire. Stanley builds trading post and signs some treaty with the African
chiefs of tribes in the Organization that supported by the King”
This area
has been changed its name for several times. We may get confuse about the
changing of country’s name. Based on the timeline of this country’s name stated
on Regelind Farn’s desertation (2005:5)
that:
“The past and
present of the country that has been known as the Congo Free State (18851908), the Belgian Congo (1908-60), Zaire (1971-97) and
the Democratic Republic of the Congo has been the
focus of increasing public interest in recent years. Historical works (notably
Hochschild's) make a fascinating read and help understand the complex background of "Heart of Darkness".”
From the statement above, there
is the changing country’s name of Democratic Republic of Congo. But in the 18th until early 19th
that state is famous by Congo. The explorers and poet or literary workers call
Congo or Belgium Congo because it is famous as the personal colony of King
Leopold II of Belgium.
The colonialism in the Joseph
Conrad’s Heart of Darkness is
described through the Marlow’s experience during his voyage to Africa. Marlow
is a seaman that just returned from six-year “dose” of the far east and hunts
for a new ship. By his aunt’s help, he gets a job in an ivory company as a
river Captain to change the previous Captain that had been killed bacause a
scuffle with with native.
As the European mindset,
Marlow’s aunt thinks that the voyage is not merely to earn profit but also to
civilize the native. Making the natives bahave with morality, intelligent and
modern
“I was also one of the workers, with a capital – you know. Something like
an emissary of light, something like a lower sort of apostle. There had been a
lot of such rot let loose in print and talk just about that time, and the
exellent woman, living right in the rush of all that humbug, got carried off her
feet. she talked about ‘weaning those ignorant millions from their horrid ways’
(page:12)
Here shows
Marlow’s aunt’s naivety toward his journey to Africa. She is described as the
most European women that only hear unbalance information about the exploration
to the Africa and never undergo, living in the jungle. She is just the woman
who stay at home and see the expedition is a great and nobel work. Remember the
first type of colonialism is settler
colonialism, there is always the motivation they migrate from Europe to
Africa, they often motivated by religious, political,
or economic reasons. As the point of
marlws’s aunt’s point of view above, it states that the marlow’s journey is to
civilize the ignorance. But Marlow, that
has a dose of experience of explorations and deep feeling in this journey as a
sea man shockes his aunt with his statement:
‘I ventured
to hint that the company was run for profit’
(Page:12)
It means that, his coming is
not about doing charity in humanity mission but it is merely the economic
reason. In relation to this opinion, Mushtaq (2010:26) also defines in his
journal that :
“The image of the black people is stereotypical and provides a view of the
African people as being ‘others’ in contrast with the ‘self’ which is the
British empire. The ‘others’ are considered uncivilized, savage, and mindless
people; they are physically, emotionally and psychologically maltreated by the
whites, who consider themselves to be
superior, civilized, and intelligent. Marlow however believes that its
his aunts naivety to believe that his company intends to civilize the ‘ignorant
millions’, their motto is to exploit the resources of the colonies and to earn
as much profit as possible, since, in Marlow’s words, “Company was run for
profit”. This indicates that the empire’s motive behind keeping the control of
the lands is utilitarian rather than humanitarian”.
The theory that have defined by
Mushtaq above is stand in line with Binarism
Theory that introduced by Russel. Binarism also givee the significant
signal of colonialism. The words such as uncivilized,
savage, and mindless people reffer
to the native and the opposite words belong to the pilgrim. This theory also
shown the class of the native.
Marlow is the man that his mind
is abode both liking the empire, as the germs of wealth and civilization that
shown in the very beginning of the novel, and vice versa, hating the empire
after undergoing a journey in Africa.
While in the Thames river, Marlow
shows his admiration toward the Roman empire that lightens the Thames river and
brings the civilization to British. Their coming is spreading the wealth seed.
``I was thinking of very old times, when the Romans first came here,
nineteen hundred years ago -- the other day... Light came out of this river
since -- you say Knights? Yes; but it is like a running blaze on a plain, like
a flash of lightning in the clouds. We live in the flicker -- may it last as
long as the old earth keeps rolling! But darkness was here yesterday”. (Page: 5)
As the statement above, it is
vividly explained that Civilization mission might follow in the footsteps of
forced labour. The ruthless method of civilization practiced such as
colonization is allowed. Doing an exploitation, robbery with violence, murder
on a great scale from a different complexion or slightly flatter noses, is no a
big deal.
“They were conquerors, and for that you want only brute force – nothing to
boast of, when you have it, since your strength is just an accident arising
from the weakness of other. They grabbed what they could get for sake of what
was to be got. It was just robbery with violence, aggravated murder on a great
scale, and men going at it blind – as is very proper for those who tackle a
darkness. The conquest of earth, which mostly means the taking it away from
those who have a different complexion or slightly flatter noses than ourselves,
is not a pretty thing when you look into it too much”.
(Page: 6-7)
In this pharagraph, it is shown
the greed of white and the exploitation toward the native. From the mouth of the Congo, Marlow takes a short trip
upriver on a steamer. This ship leaves him at the Company's Lower Station.
Marlow finds the station to be a vision of hell—it is a ‘‘wanton smash-up’’
with loads of rusting ancient wreckage everywhere, a cliff nearby being
demolished with dynamite for no apparent reason, and many starving and dying
Africans enslaved and laboring under the armed guard of the Company's white
employees.
“A slight clinking behind me made me turn my head. Six black men advanced
in a file, toiling up the path. They walked erect and slow, balancing small
basket full of earth on their heads, and the clink kept time with their
footsteps. Black rags were wound round their loins, and the short ends behind
waggled to and fro like tails. I could see every rib, the joints of their limbs
were like knots in a rope; each had an iron collar on his neck, and all were
connected together with a chain whose bights swung between them, rhythmically
clinking. Another report from the cliff made me think suddenly of that ship of
war I had seen firing into a continent. It was the same kind of ominous voice;
but these men could by no stretch of imagination be called enemies. They were
called criminals, and the outraged law, like the bursting shells, had come to
them, an insoluble mystery from the sea. All their meagre breast panted
together, the violently dilated nostrils quivered, the eyes stared stonily
uphill. They passed me within six inches, without a glance, with that complete,
deathlike indifference of unhappy savages. Behind this raw matter one of the
reclaimed, the product of the new forces at work, strolled despondently,
carrying a riffle by its middle. He had a uniform jacket with the button off,
and seeing a white man on the path, hoisted his weapon to his shoulder with
alacrity.”
(Page:16)
The second type of colonialism,
Exploitation Colonialism, is shown
from the paragraph above. It describes the trait of whites exploit the native
to work. In relation to this, the classification of human being also shown by
mentioning their caste, class, or race base on their complexion, black men and white men. Also the disparity between them by showing what they do
and appearace description.
Marlow’s real introduction to
the land and the enterprise begins here. An insoluble mystery is coming to
Marlow after seeing this violence, that how come these black men are called
enemies, criminals and having outraged law, whereas, the whites who torture the
blacks shout doing the civilization mission and weaning those ignorant millions from their horrid ways.
Here it may be appropriate to
quote Karl Marx who also noted that “the profound hypocrisy and inherent
barbarism of bourgeois civilisation lies unveiled before our eyes .. .in the
colonies, where it goes naked”. Zins (1998:P.65-66)
This is the turning point of
Marlow’s opinion about the colonialism because he sees the colonialism
practiced by his own eyes. The noble mission that his aunt’s description is not
true. Moreover, he sees beyond greed of human’s lust.
“I have seen the devil of violence, and the devil of greed, and the devil
of hot desire; but by all stars! They were strong, lusty, red-eyed devils that
swayed and drove men - ” (Page:17)
His opinion toward the native
is also changed. Marlow doesn’t thinks the native as criminals and enemies but
as a victims of Colonialism of white. Sometimes, our opinion can be changed
after looking deeply inside to the phenomenon. Understanding from both side is
needed in order to have a comprehension.
As Marlow relizes about the
native will undergo as the result of colonialism that they will dying slowly.
“Black shapes crouched, lay,
sat between the trees, leaning against the trunks, clinging to the earth, half
coming out, half effaced within the dim light, in all the attidutes of pain,
abandonment, and despair. Another mine on the cliff went off, followed by a
slight shudder of the soil under my feet. The work was going on. The work! And
this was tha place where some of the helpers had withdrawn to die.
They were dying slowly– it was very clear. They were not enemies, they were
not criminals, they were nothing earthy now – nothing but black shadows of
disease and starvation lying confusedly in the greenish gloom. Brought from all
the recesses of the coast in all the legality of time contracts, lost in
uncongenial surroundings, fed on unfamiliar food, they sickened, became
inefficient, and were then allowed to crawl away and rest. These moribund shapes
were free as air – and nearly as thin. I began to distinguish the gleam of eyes
under the trees. Then, glancing down, I saw a face near my hand. The black
bones reclined at full length with one shoulder against the tree, and slowly
the eyelids rose and the sunken eyes looked up at me, enormous and vacant, a
kind of blind, white flicker in the depths of the orbs, which died out slowly.
The man seemed young – almost a boy – but you know with them it’s hard to
tell”
(Page:17-18)
In this Marlow’s journey in the
outter station, he sees the slavery and the exploitation toward the native, he
meets the Company’s chief accountant that tells him for the first time about
someone, named Mr. Kurtz, that is told by the accountant as remarkable person,
first class agent and he can send in as much ivory as all the other agent put
together. This explanation makes Marlow curious about Mr.Kurtz and decides to
meet him in the very bottom of the jungle.
The next day Marlow leaves that
station with sixty native carriers, each with sixty-pound load. After fifteen
days on difficult track, Marlow hobbles into the central station. Marlow’s
first interview with the manager of the central station proves unusual. He
knows that Marlow has walked twenty miles since dawn, but he does not ask him
to sit down. The follows is complete description of the manager’s appearance
and character that he is an unwelcoming man.
“He was civil or uncivil. He was quite. He allowed his ‘boy’ – an overfed
young negro from the coast – to treat
the white men, under his very eyes, with provoking insolence ” (Page 22-23)
In this central station Marlow
also see the colonialism is practiced by the Manager while they collect the
ivory, that their main purpose to migrate to Africa
“I asked myself sometimes what it all meant. They wandered here and there
with their absurd long staves in their hands, like lot of faithless
pilgrims bewitched inside the rotten
fence. The word ‘ivory’ rang in the air, was whispered, was sighed. You would
think they were praying to it. A taint of imbecile rapacity blew through it
all, like whiff from corpse. By jove! I’ve never seen anything so unreal in my
life. And outside, the silent wilderness surrounding this cleared speck on the
earth struck me as something great and invincible, like evil or truth, waiting
patiently for the passing away of this fantastic invasion.”
(Page : 23)
At this place, Marlow hears
that Mr. Kurtz is ill. The situation is very grave. The manager thinks, it
needs three months to raise and repair the sunken steamer to go to the inner
station. And to repair, it needs rivets.
One evening, Marlow overhears
the manager speaking to one of agents, one of the men mentions Kurtz and saying
something about taking advantages “this unfortunate accident”. To Marlow’s
sensitive mind, it is indicating an air of sinister secrecy.
The young man who was with the
manager invites Marlow to his room, when Marlow asks with genuine interest,
“who is this Mr.Kurtz ?” the agent explanation reveals that Marlow and Kurtz
are classed together as being of the new “gang of virtue, ” and the agent is
sure Marlow must know the company’s plans to Mr.Kurtz. Marlow laughs and asks
the agent if he reads the company’s private correspondence. He does not answer.
“when Mr. Kurtz is general manager,” Marlow says in a severe voice “you won’t
have the opportunity”.
The reason for the manager’s
discourtesy to Marlow is his belief that Marlow, like Kurtz, poses a threat to
his own position. Whereas Marlow sees the manager is intentionally delaying
shipment in order to make Marlow reaches the inner station, Mr. Kurz, longer
and hope Kurtz will die of neglect.
One evening, when Marlow lies
on his steamboat, and hears voices approaching. On this conversation James L.
Roberts (1965:P.23) said it establishes the following important points
regarding Kurtz and the manager.
1.
The manager fears
and hates Kurtz.
2.
The manager has
purposely delayed and avoided sending either food or supplies to Kurtz, hoping
he will sicken and die.
3.
The manager’s
defense of his neglect for Kurtz is false and invalid. If Kurtz could manage
the upper 300 miles of the river alone in a dugout with four native paddlers,
the manager could have sent supplies up to him by the same means at any time.
4.
Even the abundant
flow of precious ivory from Kurtz’s station station infuriates the manager. He
knows such success will endear Kurtz to the company.
5.
Marlow’s impulsive
reaction to the revelation of the manager’s inhuman treatment of Kurtz shows
his horrot at such conduct. Also he knows he is classed with Kurtz. What
vicious plot will the manager concoct to get rid of his steamer captain?
By using Eldorado Expedition, Marlow
continues down the river on his steamboat with a crew of several whites and
about 20 to 30 blacks. As he travels down the river to the inner
station, he comes across this shack where he picks
up wood, and a note cautioning him to travel carefully. The journey seems like passing the prehistoric time
“Going up that river was like traveling back to the earliest beginning of
the world, when vegetation rioted on the earth and the big trees were king. An
empty stream, a great silence, an impenetrable forest. The air was warm, thick,
heavy, sluggish. There was no joy in the brilliance of sunshine.” (Page:34)
He continues down the river and becomes
surrounded by savages in the fog. Marlow is frightened but the savages
don’t do anything... until the fog rises. The savages attack and Marlow’s men fire back.
The arrows of the savages have little effect on Marlow’s men or his boat.
And the guns of Marlow’s men have little effect on the savages since they fire
too high. Only Marlow’s helmsman dies. Marlow blows the whistle and
mysteriously, all the savages retreat in fear. The journey to meet Kurtz is very difficult behind the
hostile wall of jungle and savages – for remarkable man. Marlow
shortly reaches the inner station where he is greeted by the Russian Fool who
seems to survive in the heart of the continent by not knowing what’s going on
around him. Kurtz is very ill and needs to be taken back to England, but
he does not want to go. In fact, he is the one who ordered the attack on
the steamboat so that they couldn’t take him back to England. Kurtz is
worshipped by the natives because the native
treat him as God and Kurtz takes advantage by completely exploits
them. Kurtz tries to escape to the natives but Marlow catches him and
takes back to the steamboat head back for England. While still on the
river, Kurtz is dying and
saying, “The horror, the horror.” Marlow returns to England. He
visits Kurtz’s fiancee who
is still in mourning a year after Kurtz’s death. She still remembers
Kurtz as the great man he was before he left, and Marlow doesn’t tell her what
he has become before he
dies. Marlow gives Kurtz’s
old letters to her and
leaves.
2.
The Changing Character of Mr. Kurtz
Reading
for character is more difficult than reading for plot, for character is much
complex, variable, and ambiguous. Anyone can repeat what a person has done in a
story, but considerable skill may be needed to describe what a person is
(Perrine, 1959:85)
The Portrayal character of Kurtz is a riddle for the main character in this
novel, Marlow. Conrad’s portrayal of Mr. Kurtz
in Heart of Darkness is one of Conrad’s greatest achievements in the
field of characterization; and yet Mr. Kurtz remains a mysterious and elusive
person whom we are not able to understand fully.
While Conrad has certainly delineated Mr. Kurtz in
a manner which fascinates us, we cannot claim that we have been able to
understand the mind of Mr. Kurtz.
Mr. Kurtz is
presented as a remarkable Man, according from the chief
accountant of the trading company of which Marlow has become an employee. Here
we learn that Mr. Kurtz is, a “remarkable man”, and a first-class agent of the
Company. The accountant tells Marlow that Mr. Kurtz is in charge of a very
important trading post in the interior of the Congo. Mr. Kurtz is able to
collect as much ivory for export as all the other agents of the Company taken
together. The accountant also speaks of the high potential of Mr. Kurtz who, in
his opinion, would one day rise to a very high position.
“On my asking who Mr.Kurtz was, he said he was a first-class agent; and
seeing my dissapointment at this information, he added slowly, laying down his
pen. ‘He is a very remarkable person.’ Further question elicited from him that
Mr. Kurtz was at present in charge of a trading post, a very important one, in
the true ivory-country, at the ‘very bottom of there. Sends in as much ivory as
all the others put together....’ ”
(Page:19)
The company has three stations in the Africa. The
first is the outter station where the chief accountant works, the central
station, place of the manager and the inner station is no doubt, place of the
remarkable person, Mr. Kurtz.
After Marlow hears about Mr. Kurtz, he desires to
meet him in the inner station. Before he reaches to the inner station, he meets
the Manager in the central station. Then we hear a good deal about Mr. Kurtz
from the manager of the Central Station of the Company. Although the manager
also speaks about Mr. Kurtz’s efficiency as an agent of the Company, yet the
manager is inwardly hostile to Mr. Kurtz because of his fear that Mr. Kurtz might
one day supersedes him. While talking to his uncle a little later in the story,
the manager clearly states his apprehensions with regard Mr. Kurtz; and his
apprehensions are fully shared by his uncle.
Later we find the brick-maker at
the Central Station talking glibly about Mr. Kurtz. The brick-maker describes
Mr. Kurtz as a great apostle of pity, of science, and of progress. In the
brick-maker’s view, Mr. Kurtz is a man of high intelligence and wide
sympathies. But Marlow can easily see that the brick-maker is talking about Mr.
Kurtz in a hypocritical manner, and that actually the brick-maker shares the
manager’s antagonism towards Mr. Kurtz.
‘Tell me,pray,’said I, ‘who is
this Mr. Kurtz?’
“’The chief of the Inner Station,’ he answered in a short tone, looking
away. ‘Much obliged,’ I said, laughing. ‘And you are the brickmaker of the
Central station. Every one knows that.’ He was silent for a while. ‘He is a
prodigy,’ he said at last. ‘He is an emissary of pity, and science, and
progress, and devil knows what else.”
(Page: 25)
Soon afterwards we come to know some more facts
about Mr. Kurtz and his way of life at the Inner Station of which he holds the
charge. We now learn that Mr. Kurtz has a passion for ivory. Indeed, his main
concern as the agent of his Company is to collect ivory. In this respect, he is
even more enthusiastic than his employers could have been. The word “ivory” has
always been on his lips. Next to ivory, his greatest concern is his intended (the
girl whom he proposes to marry). Even greater than his love for his fiancee,
and greater than his passion for ivory is the fascination which the wilderness
soon begins to exercise upon Mr. Kurtz. The wilderness seems to have penetrated
into the very being of Mr. Kurtz. The wilderness has caressed him, has loved
him, has embraced him, has entered his blood, has consumed his flesh, and has
taken complete possession of his soul.
You should have
heard him say, ‘My ivory.’ Oh yes, I heard him. ‘my intended, my ivory, my
station, my river, my -- ’ everything belonged to him. It made me hold my
breath in expectation of hearing the wilderness brust into a prodigious peal of
laughter that would shake the fixed stars in their places. Everything belonged
to him – but that was trifle. The thing was to know what he belonged to him – but
that was trifle. The thing was to know what he belonged to, how many powers of
darkness claimed him for their own. That was the reflection that made you
creepy all over. It was impossible – it was not good for one either – trying to
imagine. He had taken a high seat amongst the devil of the land – I mean
literary (Page : 50)
Mr. Kurtz has also developed a
strong sense of power in the region in which he lives, and over the natives
with whom he has been coming into a close contact. He shows his sense of
ownership of things by repeatedly saying: “My ivory, my intended, my station,
my river, my–.” From the way in which Mr. Kurtz talks, it would seem that
everything belongs to him. At this point, Marlow feels that Mr. Kurtz is an
unbalanced kind of man who has lost his sense of proportion. It seems to Marlow
at this time that, if the wilderness were to hear Mr. Kurtz talking about his
possessions, the wilderness would burst into a mocking laugh. It also seems to
Marlow that, if Mr. Kurtz owns everything around him, he himself is owned by
the powers of darkness. In other words, Mr. Kurtz seems to Marlow to be a man
who has become wholly evil. Marlow feels that eventually the powers of darkness
would claim Mr. Kurtz as their own. According to Marlow, Mr. Kurtz has taken a
high seat among the devils of the land. In other words, Mr. Kurtz now seems to
Marlow to be an embodiment of evil.
The changing character
of Mr. Kurtz is analyzed as the previous mindset of white that is more
civilized that the black, native Africa. But the colonialism change the
character of Mr. Kurtz into the savage because the influence of his
circumtances. This changing is possible as, Perrine (1993:70) state that, A
changing of the character must meet three conditions:
(1)
it must be
within the possibilities of the character who makes it;
(2)
it must be
sufficiently motivated by the circumtances in which character finds himself;
and
(3) it
must be allowed sufficient time for change of its magnitude believably to take
place.
In his early life, Mr. Kurtz
had been a man of sound views and an enlightened outlook upon life. All Europe
had contributed to the making of him. On one occasion he had written a pamphlet
in which he had argued that the white man had a great responsibility towards
the savages who recognized his superior abilities and gifts.
“he bothered me enough when
he was here. “Each station should be like a beacon on the road toward better
things, a centre for trade of course, but also humanising, improving, instructing.”” (Page:33)
In the eyes of the savages,
the white man was a kind of God; and, therefore, according to Mr. Kurtz’s
original way of thinking, the white man could do a lot to improve the
conditions of life for the savages. The white man could exercise unlimited
powers of benevolence for the good of the backward peoples of the world. Such
had been Mr. Kurtz’s views before coming to the Congo. However, at the end of
that pamphlet, Mr. Kurtz had also jotted down the following words: “Exterminate
all the brutes.” Now, this injunction seemed to contradict all the preceding
arguments in that pamphlet. On one hand, Mr. Kurtz has wanted the white men to
confer all kinds of benefits upon the brutes; and, on the other hand, he wants
all the brutes to be annihilated. Perhaps his injunction to exterminate all the
brutes might only have meant that the brutal part of the savages should be
exterminated and that they should be transformed into civilized human beings.
In any case, Mr. Kurtz’s ideas has, in those days, been highly progressive, and
he has really been an apostle of pity enlightenment. But subsequently, after
his prolongs stay among the savages, Mr. Kurtz has himself become a savage.
What puzzles us most about this man is the great change which takes place in
his character and his outlook after he has lived in the interior of the Congo
for a fairly long time. Instead of civilizing the savages, he himself becomes
almost a savage. Having lived in the midst of savages, he falls a prey to the
influence of these men and begins to share their way of life and their customs.
He identifies himself with them to such an extent that they begin to regard him
as one of themselves. Not only that, they begin to worship and admire him
because of his eloquence in speech and because of his spellbinding speeches to
them. He has been presiding over their midnight dances which always end with
unspeakable rites.
“He
was not not afraid of the natives; they would mot stir till Mr. Kurtz gave the
word. His asendncy was extraordinary. The camp of these people surrounded the
place, and the chief came every day to see him. They would crawl . . . ‘I dont
want to know anything of the ceremonies used when approaching Mr.Kurtz,’ I
shouted. Curious, this feeling that came over me that such detail would be more
intolerable that those heads dying on the stake under Mr. Kurtz windows ” (Page
: 59)
In
other words, he has been participating in their custom of offering human
sacrifice to their gods, and perhaps even in their cannibalism. Having lived
among them, he has lapsed into primitivism and has been giving full outlet to
the primitive instincts which have gained an ascendancy in his mind. He has
been seeking abominable satisfactions and he has been gratifying the monstrous
passions which had begun to rage in his breast. He has been satisfying all the
primitive appetites and lusts which had emerged in his heart. The monstrous
passions, and their gratification include all kinds of sex perversions such as
collective sex orgies, gang-rape, homosexuality, sadistic and masochistic
practices, and so on.
“They only showed
that Mr. Kurtz lacked restraint in the gratification of his various lusts, that
there was something wanting in him” (Page
: 58)
This change in Mr. Kurtz does not
mean that he has entirely forgotten his European heritage or that all the marks
of civilization have been extinguished in him. The strange thing is that he
retains his identity as a civilized man, while at the same time succumbing to
his primitive instincts at times. In other words, whenever he mingles with the
savages, he becomes a savage like them; and on such occasions he fully shares
and participates in their rites and customs, including the offering of human
sacrifice and cannibalism, and including also the satisfaction of certain
monstrous passions and lusts. But he becomes his civilized self when he returns
to his residence at the Company’s station and resumes his activities as a
trader in ivory on behalf of the Company of which he is the employee. Thus he
leads a double life. He is a civilized man, striving to serve the Company to
his utmost by collecting the maximum possible quantities of ivory; and, at the
same time, he pays frequent visits to the interior of the wilderness in order
to participate in the primitive rites and customs of the savages. He has also
managed to subdue the savages in order to be able to rule over them as their
chief of chiefs, so that all the chiefs, of the native tribes come crawling to
pay their homage to him.
The Russian explorer and
traveller who has studied the ways of Mr. Kurtz and who has come into intimate
contact with him has high praise for Mr. Kurtz. In fact, the Russian’s praise
of Mr. Kurtz greatly exalts Mr. Kurtz’s image in our eyes; and even Marlow cannot
help being influenced by the Russian’s eulogy of Mr. Kurtz. The Russian says
that Mr. Kurtz has taught him much and that Mr. Kurtz has enabled him to see
into the life of things. The Russian has become a devoted admirer and disciple
of Mr. Kurtz, and has even nursed him during his illnesses. The Russian has
felt greatly impressed by Mr. Kurtz’s poetic talent also, and has often
listened to Mr. Kurtz’s recitation of his poems. At the same time, the Russian
bears witness to Mr. Kurtz’s passion for power, his passion for ivory, his
passion for his fiancee, and his passion to own things.
Marlow too begins to admire Mr.
Kurtz after having come into personal contact with him. Marlow cannot exactly
define the positive qualities of Mr. Kurtz except his magnificent eloquence but
Marlow does fall under that man’s spell. Marlow has found Mr. Kurtz to be
“hollow at the core”, and yet subsequently Marlow becomes a devotee of that
man. Marlow pursues Mr. Kurtz into the wilderness when Mr. Kurtz has slipped
away from his cabin on the ship in order to rejoin the savages in response to
the beating of their drums; and Marlow brings Mr. Kurtz back, though he has to
use all his powers of persuasion to make him agree to come back. Thus Mr. Kurtz
has found the call of the wilderness to be irresistible even after having
decided to accompany the white men who have come especially to take him away
and send him to Europe for medical treatment. This means that Mr. Kurtz finds
it difficult even at this stage to tear himself away form the wilderness and
from the savages environment in which he has been living. Marlow finds the
native woman’s devotion to Mr. Kurtz also to be evidence of Mr. Kurtz’s
influence over the savages. This native woman has been Mr. Kurtz’s housekeeper
and, most probably, also a mistress of his. Then Marlow feels deeply impressed
by Mr. Kurtz’s dying words: “The horror! the horror!” Marlow takes these words
to mean that, while dying, Mr. Kurtz has been able to recognize the evil within
himself. To Marlow, it seems that Mr. Kurtz has, at the end, partially redeemed
himself by realizing the horror of the evil which has been dominating his mind,
and which has taken possession of his heart and soul. Marlow regards Mr.
Kurtz’s last words as an “affirmation” and as a “victory”. After having heard
these last words of Mr. Kurtz, Marlow becomes further confirmed in his
friendship and his admiration for Mr. Kurtz; and it is because of this feeling
of friendship for the dead man that Marlow tells a lie to Mr. Kurtz’s fiancee when, in
response to a question by her, he says that the last word spoken by Mr. Kurtz
before his death was her own name.
In proportion to the fullness of their
development, the character in a story are relatively flat or round. The flat
character is characterized by one or two traits; he can be summed up in a
sentence. The round character is complex and many-side; he might require an
essay for full analysis. (Perrine;1959:87)
Mr. Kurtz is not an ordinary character in an
ordinary novel. Heart of Darkness is an extraordinary work of
fiction-cum-facts, and Mr. Kurtz is an extraordinary person. In addition to
what he seems to be or what he apparently is, he has also to be viewed as a
symbolic figure. He represents the western man’s commercial mentality and the
western man’s greed. Secondly, he represents the hypocrisy of the white man’s
claims of civilizing the savages. Thirdly, he represents the western man’s love
of power and his desire to subjugate and rule over the backward races of the
world even at the sacrifice of the fundamental principles of ethics and
morality. Finally, Mr. Kurtz symbolizes the power and force of the primitive
human instincts which may seem to have been brought under control by the
civilized people but which manage the rise to the surface if a civilized man
has to remain in an environment of savagery and brutality for a long time.
CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTION
Conclusion
In this novel the
writer finds that colonialism is the consequence of the imperialism that is
done by the white toward the native Africa. Instead of civilizing the savage of
Africa, the whites exploit them by slavery and violence in order to get their
purpose “ivory”.
Heart of Darkness
that is presented by Joseph
Conrad, tells about social-colonial literature which happened in the Africa some
time in 1800th. This novel also refers to the history that is occured during that time. E.g. the character of Mr. Kurtz
that refers to an
explorer, Henry Morton Stanley, which takes an
adventure in the jungle of Africa and opens the economic activity
by making some stations
in the inner jungle of
Congo River.
Heart of Darkness
shows smoothly the disparity between the civilization in the Thames river and Congo
River (white and black, civilize and savage, intelligent and ignorance). This novel reveals that
the civilization is not always act in a humanitarian way. There is the possibility
that force, violence and slavery are also used.
The
human civilization propaganda sometimes has been distorted into colonialism
that ensued exploitation toward the native by the pilgrim, the natural
resources robbery,
the changing ideology, genocide and religion influence, as this novel tells us.
Colonialism also influences the changing character of
civilized white man , Mr. Kurtz, that shown has us his changing character when he gets deep in to the jungle of Africa,
he becomes a savage too by exploit the native to his personal purpose.
Heart of Darkness is also a kind of
condemnation from Joseph Conrad as a literary worker toward the colonialism.
1.
Suggestion
When doing this study the writer finds some lesson, such
as : there is a disparacy of social-culture that obviously described in this
novel, the exessive esteem toward west culture and westeren from the native and
greed lust of human being. Those are influencing colonialism happened.
The suggestion for the next
researcher, if they attempt to research
the Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness,
they still can explore many topics that carries in this novel such as
imperialism or racism. They also can search the symbolism that obviously
presented in the title of this novel, linguistics aspect, as we know that
Joseph Conrad is Polish, not native English. It must be interesting in
analyzing a novel from the second language of the writer.
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