Blog Assignment #1

     Traditionally when a colony settles on a place they completely take over.  Usually the colonies do not come to visit, they come to dominate. The Belgians came into Africa and took it upon themselves to be in charge. The Belgians came into the Congo for trading purposes. The company is brutal, and is inefficient.

   The company is not a friendly presence in the Congo.  There is a cruelty throughout the company, which contrasts with the beauty and majesty of the jungle.

The colonial image depicted by Joseph Conrad is not a positive one. Throughout the novella Conrad gives the image that the jungle is being corrupted by the colonial enterprise. At one point Marlow’s boat is under siege by the natives. The reason for the attack can only be assumed to be that they were a part of the company, and the natives associated the company with evil.  It only seemed appropriate for them to attack the trading vessel.

     Marlow is not considered a part of the company. In the novella he is described as the only man who “followed the sea”.  Though he worked for the Belgians he was not considered one of them. He worked for them, and followed their rules. However, he was his own person. Kurtz, a former company employee, left to be with the natives. He was the cause of the attack on Marlow’s cargo ship, giving the order “exterminate all brutes”, the company being the brutes.

    Due to the way Conrad approaches the situation of the company in Africa, it can be assumed that the colonization is not a good thing.  He believes the colonist to be imperialistic and poor businessmen. Though Conrad never puts the words into Marlow’s mouth that he dislikes what the company is doing, it can be determined that he is not in favor of the companies actions. They take and expect to get more for it. Conrad gives the visual depiction as to why the natives are frowned down upon on page seven. He states, “those who have a different complexion or slightly flatter noses than ourselves”. Since this is in diary form of that of Marlow, it would seem that Marlow thinks the same way as his fellow co-workers. This was the way of the era; he was stating fact not opinion. Conrad gives Marlow a gives him the ability to be indifferent in the situation in the Congo. After the natives attack the cargo ship, Kurtz’s final words are, “the horror, the horror”. When Marlow is confronted by Kurtz’s fiancée she asks what his final words were. Unable to break her heart Marlow responds with, “the last words he pronounced was-your name”.  This proves Marlow’s kind nature; he is Conrad’s light in the darkness.  He is the light amidst the horrors of the invaded Congo.