Civilization And Barbarism In Heart Of Darkness

Joseph Conrad' s masterpiece,Heart of Darkness has been recognized as one of the most important novellas of the twentieth century by the western academia.As a jungle adventure fiction,the book makes an in-depth exploration on the theme of civilization and barbarism.The novella represents in a symbolic way not only a world of confrontation and conflict between civilization and barbarism,but also a world of paradox between them.For Conrad,the relationship between civilization and barbarism is not absolutely a contradiction.On the contrary,European civilization does not necessarily mean progress,advancement and superiority,while the primitiveness,backwardness and ignorance in the African jungle are not necessarily barbaric.By deconstructing these traditional ideas,Conrad successfully shows readers the other side of civilization and barbarism.Centered on the perspective of imagery structure and the character's personality structure,the thesis makes an analysis of the paradoxical theme of civilization and barbarism embodied in Heart of Darkness.In imagery structure,Conrad utilizes many pairs of images,including visual images such as white vs.black,light vs.darkness;auditory images such as sound vs.silence;spatial images such as the Thames vs.the Congo,land vs.jungle,Europe vs.Africa,etc.All these paired images work together to constitute a dualistic world of civilization and barbarism.In psychological structure of characterization,Heart of Darkness boldly exposes the voracity and barbarism behind the “Noble Cause” of Kurtz.In Heart of Darkness,Conrad makes an effort to disclose the real nature of civilization,and makes his critical judgment on a series of western practices including colonialism,scientism and racism.He breaks through the traditional dualistic division of the world represented by most adventure novelists by affirming the barbarian's natural way of life and criticizing civilized people's physical and mental feebleness,and therefore exposes the dark side of European civilization.From the standpoint of moral conscience,the greatness of Heart of Darkness lies in its powerful questioning on European civilization and the so-called discourse of human progress.It is for this reason that Conrad goes far ahead his time.