Two Worlds

Conrad´s Heart of Darkness, is full of symbols. These symbols can be both obvious and discrete. Conrad´s use of symbolism is a technique to tell his audience more about the setting, characters, and the actual story plot with less. This way, the audience becomes part of the novel and needs to understand the symbols in order to understand Conrad's book. The river is a major symbol because it conveys how separate the natives and the Europeans worlds really are. 

The Congo river seems to be the "heart" of the "new world" Marlow is exploring in order to find Kurtz. It is as if everything in the novel evolves around the river. The river is the only effective way to travel within Africa. Traveling up the river is a bit of a task but compared to trying to press through the thick forests, it is a walk in the park. It is safe to say that the only way to travel in (present day) Democratic Republic of Congo. 
The river is a gate to another world. On the river Marlow and his crew feel like they are still in Europe. As soon as they set foot on land reality hits and they get the feeling of being "impostors". And once on the boat they are no longer "impostors". Conrad uses the river to express how naive the conquistadors were with new lands. Conrad is laughing at the thought that even though, Marlow is so far away from home he still thinks "Belgium" owns the water he is sailing on. The river is so significant for the purpose of telling the audience and make them understand how ridiculous the action of conquering is. 

Another way the river helps Conrad prove this point is the fact that the river flows against them when going deeper into Congo. The majority of rivers flow towards the ocean and empty out in the ocean. Yet, Conrad specifically mentions: "“The brown current ran swiftly out of the heart of darkness, bearing us down towards the sea with twice the speed of our upward progress". The reason for Conrad to write this, is simply to make sure the readers understand that the Belgium Company put so much effort, time, money, and lives into something that was unsuccessful  All that time and effort was clearly a waste because it took them half the time to leave then to arrive. 

Symbolism helps the readers understand what the author is trying to express to us with his/her writing. In Heart of Darkness, Conrad was successful in conveying his opinion on colonization, and stripping resources from lands for personal benefits. He told the audience all of this, by using one symbol: the river.  

True Story

As I was reading Heart of Darkness a question was raised as to weather or not Conrad´s novel had some sort of truth behind it. After reading Genocide With Spin Control: Kurtz Wasn´t Fiction an article written by Michiko Kakutani, I realized Conrad´s novel is actually based on true events. This article is about King Leopold the Second´s oppressing rule over the Congo river. To my surprise Kurtz has characteristically very similar as to those of Leopold.

In Heart of Darkness Kurtz is looked up to by a sort of God by the Natives. Kurtz somehow manipulated the natives into helping him. Was it Kurtz control, looks, power, weapons, who knows...The point is that he took advantage of humans for personal profit. The article states “Some were beaten or whipped to death for failing to meet the rigid production quotas for ivory and rubber harvests imposed by Leopold's agents. Some were worked to death, forced to labor in slave-like conditions as porters, rubber gatherers or miners for little or no pay.” This is King Leopold's way of treating the Natives. Now compare it with this quote from Heart of Darkness: “They were dying slowly-it was clear. They were not enemies, they were not criminals,
they were nothing earthly now,-nothing but black shadows of disease and starvation, lying
confusedly in the greenish gloom.”. Very similar, right? According to the article Leopold made 1.1 Billion dollars (present day).

Both Leopold and Kurtz made profit from the exhaustion of natives. They both were from Belgium and they were both in the Congo are during the same time. Coincidence..I think not. Conrad used Kurtz to personify the character of King Leopold II of Brussels. This way Conrad makes it clear to the authors of the horrors going on in the Congo River during this time period.

Nothing New (Impostors)

Why is it we go to places where we feel like impostors? In Joseph Conrad's book Heart of Darkness, Marlow has just been told he is going to the Congo River for another mission. Even though, he did not entirely agree with the objectives of his trip, he still decided to go. "I was an impostor.", was the only thing he was thinking before boarding the ship. The feeling of pretending to be someone your not is not new to me.  When I went backpacking in Alaska I encountered three grizzly bears and I asked myself "what are you doing here?". If we feel like impostors, why do we keep putting ourselves in that situation? Marlow and I both acted upon something we individually questioned, only to prove to "someone" that we can.

Marlow was offered a job by the Belgium Company. I went on summer camp to specifically go backpacking. In both cases we each knew what to expect and what sort of tasks we would be doing in this unknown land. We both had an uneasy feeling of being "impostors" before we even arrived. Why is it that we went? It is unclear. All I do know is that we were both encouraged. Marlow was encouraged by the Company while it was me that persuaded myself to try something new. This "persuasion" is a strong power to have over somebody. It can be used for both positive and negative effects. It is up to the person with the "power" in their hands. 

Marlow's persuasion could have been money, while mine was to achieve a personal goal. We put ourselves in these positions to get something in return. I will get a good memory and Marlow a good payday. Humans adapt, Marlow and I both knew that the  uneasy feelings would go away as soon, so why not have a few nights of restless sleep in order to get something that is even better. 

How important to Heart of Darkness is the fact that Marlow feels like an impostor? It's not. Every human that leaves his or her comfort zone will feel like an impostor. If somebody all of the sudden goes to New Zealand from an ordinary suburban lifestyle in New York, they will feel like an impostor. The fact that Marlow felt like an impostor doesn't give us insight that he is going to do something "evil" to the natives in the Congo River, it just tells us he is a regular human being that happens to feel uncomfortable in his current situation.