Two Conflicting Voices Echoing In Heart Of Darkness

Polish-born English writer Joseph Conrad (1857-1924) is acknowledged as one of the most famous English novelists at the turn of the19th century. He traveled around the world, many of his works draw upon his sea experience, because the sea is Conrad’s both career and love, he turns from an experienced sailor to a prestigious English writer. Many critics analyze Conrad’s works from perspectives of narrative skill, moral exploration, psychoanalysis, feminism, imperialism and so on.Heart of Darkness is one of Conrad’s most masterpieces, the story took place in the Belgian Congo, the most notorious European colony in Africa for its greed and brutalization to the native Africans. It based on Conrad’s own experience in Congo district where he witnesses the cruel exploitation of the colonial agents toward the African natives, we can see Conrad exploring human spirit, disclosing the evil of human nature, calling for faith in the Heart of Darkness.The thesis mainly analyzes Conrad’s contradiction between anti-colonialism and pro-colonialism. Conrad uses lots of symbols and their symbolic meaning to criticize colonialism. In Heart of Darkness, things like figures, colors, river, journey, jungle all have symbolic meaning through which Conrad expresses his thoughts and feelings about colonialism, he attacks the crimes and hypocrisy of colonialism. We can also feel Conrad’s pro-colonialism tendency in the novel, he shows the superiority and pride of belonging to the advanced western civilization. Conrad depicts Africa as a savage and dark continent, and Africans as savage and uncivilized human beings who are inferior to Europeans. he also contributes European colonists’ degeneration to the African continent.The keynote in Heart of Darkness is anti-colonialism, while we should not ignore Conrad’s pro-colonialism tendency which can be traced back to the cultural ideology, social situation as well as his personal experiences at that time. Heart of Darkness was written at the end of19th century when colonization of Africa was at its peak and colonialism run among all over the world. Conrad was filled with admiration for the advanced British political, economical and cultural situations and influenced by what he constantly sees and hears in the country. As a writer, he would be influenced by the ideology of his time and shows them in his work.