In Joseph Conrad’s novella, The Heart of Darkness, there are many contrasts between the Europeans and the natives that Marlow encounters. There are contrasts in regards to the way in which they act, in their appearance, and the jobs in which they can hold.
Within the first couple of pages, Marlow shows the vast difference in the way that the natives ran their communities when compared to the Europeans. He says that “these chaps...were no colonists, their administration was merely a squeeze, and nothing more”(6). The Europeans’ goal was to colonize and have a civilized colony, but the natives were the exact opposite. They were perfectly content with not having the type of government that the Europeans had.
Furthermore, the natives carry themselves much differently than the Europeans do. Marlow says that “[the natives] grabbed what they could get for the sake of what was to be got”(7). Marlow shares stories about these people like they are greedy people who would just take anyone’s things, just because they could. He also mentions that “it was just robbery with violence, aggravated murder on a great scale, and men going at it blind”(7). He shows that the native people were just out on a hunt, not caring about who they were killing or what the consequences were to their actions. Clearly to Marlow, his people would never carry themselves in such a way.
The most obvious contrast between the natives and the Europeans is their appearance. Marlow comments on this and says that “[the natives] have a different complexion or slightly flatter noses”(7). The Europeans have light complexions with pointier noses, which, in the European mind of that time, was superior to the other types of people that did not look the same as they do. Not only is there contrast in their complexion and facial structure, but also in the way that they dressed. On one hand, the natives wore loincloths. On the other hand, some of the Europeans wore “high, starched collar[s], white cuffs, a light alpaca jacket, snowy trousers, a clean necktie, and varnished boots”(18). There was a huge difference in the small amount of clothing that the native’s wore and the many layers of nice, clean clothing that the Europeans wore.
In addition, the jobs in which the natives held and those that the Europeans held were completely different as well. The Europeans were able to be captains of the boat, seamen, and important members of the boat. On the other hand, the natives were used as the crew of the steamer and as slaves.
There was a huge contrast between the native’s and the Europeans that Marlow encounters in The Heart of Darkness. On one hand, the Europeans had a civilized environment, had light skin, wore nice clothes, and held high jobs. On the other hand, the natives lived in an uncivilized environment, had darker skin with flatter noses, wore little clothing, and held less important jobs.
Conrad, Joseph. Heart of Darkness. Ed. Paul B. Armstrong. W.W. Norton: New York, 2005.
No comments:
Post a Comment