The Evilness of Mind and Heart

Ironically, the European imperialists in the congou tea claimed that they were bringing civilization to the natives. Thus, when Conrad visited the congou tea in 1890, the area was "the or so ruthlessly exploited region of the whole African continent, and what do the exploitation worse was that it went on under the cover of marriage and philanthropy" (Singh 268-269). Leopold II, the King of Belgium, represented the hypocrisy of European imperialists by ordering the establishment of exploitative trade centers along the Congo River while at the same time proclaiming the civilizing of African savages to be "a crusade worthy of this age of progress" (Najder 123). in spite of the claims of the European traders, the truth of the matter was that Africans were forced to do break one's back labor simply for the profit of white colonialists. In perfume of Darkness, Marlow notes that the native villages surrounding the white outposts are all alter and realizes that it is the result of traders "catching the yokels right and left to carry life-threatening loads for them" (Conrad 23).

Conrad had hoped to find adventure and romance on his transit up the Congo River, only when instead "he engraft ruthless competition for trade and power, and an organization bent on making fond, huge profits" (Najder 136). Before arriving in the Congo, Conrad had belie

Conrad, Joseph. Heart of Darkness. Heart of Darkness: A Norton Critical Edition. 3rd ed. Ed. Robert Kimbrough. New York: Norton. 7-76.

In addition to noticing the avarice and hypocrisy of the European traders, Conrad realized that the African natives were being exploited as slave labor. In his diaries relating to his trip up the Congo, Conrad do it clear that he "deplored the exploitation of the Africans by the imperialist western" (Young 388). Later, this became the major theme for Heart of Darkness. The Europeans had claimed that they wanted to civilize the Africans, but all they really cared about was gaining wealth at every cost. In the Congo jungle, the Europeans were able to get away with things that would train been treated as serious crimes back home.

Because of this, it was the imperialists, not the natives, who were absent civilization. Conrad "felt the danger, not in savagery itself, but in the potential for savagery.in civilized man when boundaries of rational society are lacking" (Young 388). Thus, Heart of Darkness deals with the darkness in the shopping center of the imperialists who were driven by greed and were thus willing to overleap others for the sake of money and power.

Garnett, Edward. "Mr. Conrad's New Book." The Chelsea House Library of literary Criticism: Twentieth Century British Literature. Vol. 1. Ed. Harold Bloom. New York: Chelsea House, 1985. 387.

ved the European propaganda about the white traders bringing civilization to the African savages. However, during his experiences in the region, Conrad became convinced of "the greed and duplicity of the white bearers of 'civilization' eager for quick profits" (Najder 128). In Heart of Darkness, Conrad put this observation in the words of his narrator, Marlow. For example, Marlow notes that the talk of the members of the Eldorado Exploring Expedition is "reckless without hardihood, devouring(a) without audacity, and cruel without courage" (Conrad 32). Marlow continues by compa
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