Social and Political Commentary in "Heart of Darkness"
Summary:
"Heart of Darkness" by Joseph Conrad may be based on Conrad's own 1890 trip to the Congo and that his depictions of the cruelty, ignorance and barbarity of the colonialists may be based upon his own experiences.
Colonialism, Politics and the Heart of Darkness
Literary texts comment upon social and political events, is this true for the example of 'Heart of Darkness' by Joseph Conrad? This essay will attempt to answer this question. Put simply; using the example of 'Heart of Darkness' the writer of this essay will attempt to prove that social and political commentary are an essential part of classic and modern literature. For what is art, in this case literature without some background of turbulence be it political or social. It was Charles Dickens, "the greatest English novelist of the 19th century, moralist, satirist, and social reformer," (Gatten and Martin). Who penned the opening lines to 'A Tale of Two Cities'; "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times." (2) Here the author is stating explicitly that this particular novel is set against a backdrop of social turmoil and hardship. For reasons that will become apparent in the remainder of this essay it may be remise, even at this early stage not to state that Political and social turmoil are at the very heart of literature.
"Marlow is a complicated man and is in many ways a traditional hero: tough, honest, an independent thinker, a capable man. However it appears that he is "broken" or "damaged, the world has defeated him in some way" (Gatten and Martin). Marlow embarks on a journey which takes him up the Congo River as a river boat captain in the employ of a Congo based Belgian trading company. He has been sent to find the 'mad' inner station chief, Kurtz.
Who, could be, as suggested by Gatten and Martin a 'conflicting hero' to Marlow or in other words the 'Evil genius'
This narrative is set in 1890 against the backdrop of, not only the decline of European colonialism but also, what could be, the height of its ignorance and brutality. With this in mind it is not unlikely that the author penned this work as a commentary of his time, this notion of 'commentary is some what supported by the fact that Marlow tells his friends, upon his return to England about his adventures in the Congo. This is delivered in the form of a narrative or commentary. Supporting the assertion of Conrad's commentary, although implicit in its nature is the fact that "Marlow's interest is not for the hidden meaning in events, but for what is happening at the surface" (Gatten and Martin), in short Marlow's story is merely a description of events, and is therefore commentary in nature, this together with the fact that 'Heart of darkness' was written in 1898 - 99 eight years after the novel is based lends heavily to the assertion that Marlow's commentary reflects, in some ways that of Joseph Conrad's own experiences in the Congo. If this is the case, there is an overwhelming possibility that Conrad is in fact giving his own experiences of the cruelty, ignorance and barbarity of the colonialists. With this in mind 'Heart of Darkness' is clearly a political statement of some kind.
To add additional support to the claim that; political and social 'grubbiness' is an integral part of this text, and that 'Heart of Darkness' is in fact, a kind of historical and/or political commentary on Conrad's part, it seemed painfully obvious that the author's life, in terms of its underlying political, martial, and social context needed investigation. Joseph Conrad was born to a Polish - Ukrainian family in 1857. "Joseph's father was persecuted and exiled to Siberia by the imperial palace of the Tsar for suspicion of plotting against the Russian government."(Gatten and martin)This was to be the first time Conrad would experience imperial brutality, ignorance, and paranoia. After his fathers return he was sent to Krakow to be educated. This would be the last time Joseph would see his father. At the age of seventeen Conrad moved to Marseilles where he worked as a sailor for twenty years. Then in 1878 he signed onto a British ship, where, after eight years he was recognised as a British subject. Joseph started his first novel; "Almayer's Folly" in 1889, it was about the same time that he started to actively pursue his boyhood dream of an adventure in the Congo. This is intriguing in relation to the notion of Conrad's commentary. However, the fact that in 1890 (the same year that 'Heart of Darkness' is based) his dream was realized and he did in fact command a steam boat in Belgian Congo is definitive and requires no further argument that Marlow's commentary is in fact, Joseph Conrad's commentary (in part) of his own adventure and misfortune in the Congo. The fact that it has been established that Marlow's commentary is one in the same with Conrad's is a crucial example in a case that argues that literature and Political, social and martial events are inseparable and are, in some form, reliant on each other.
It would irresponsible not to point out that for the purposes of his novel Conrad has mythicized 'Heart of Darkness' accordingly. This supports, and in turn is supported by Michael Baigent's and Richard Leigh's conclusion; "that all written or recorded history is essentially a form of myth." (128). It seems -reasonable to suggest that 'Heart of Darkness' is in a sense mythical in its construction. It contains elements of myth, such as adventure; Marlow's adventure though the Congo to find Kurtz; heroism; as stated previously Marlow possesses the attributes of a hero; the supernatural and its preference for the symbolic. In the case of symbology, one could examine the significance of the 'White Sepulchre.' It could be said that this symbol is extremely significant in the context of this novel. Gatten and Martin state that
"The phrase 'whited sepulchre' comes from the biblical Book of Matthew. In the passage, Matthew describes 'whited sepulchres' as something beautiful on the outside but containing horrors within (the bodies of the dead)" therefore, the image is appropriate for Brussels, given the hypocritical Belgian rhetoric about colonialism's mission, described so eloquently by Marlow's Aunt as "weaning those ignorant millions from their horrid ways." (Conrad).It is my opinion that the white sepulchre is the outstanding symbol of Conrad's work, as it represents the brutality and cruelty of colonialism encased in the affluence, indulgence and what would be so appropriately described as 'keeping up appearances.' This mythical element, the 'white sepulchre' and its symbolic importance to 'Heart of Darkness' is supported by; Baigent and Leigh "historical 'actuality' can be discerned among the elements of myth" (128)
It could be argued that history is dependent of literature for the mere fact that it is a form of delivery. Adversely, what would literature be without history as a back drop? Take for example Thomas Keneally's "Shindlers Ark" It is based on a true story of a factory manager who engineered the escape of hundreds of Jews from Nazi Germany. What would be the significance of this piece of literature without the political, social, and martial turmoil that surrounded the genocide inflicted, in most part on the Jews by the Third Reich?
It could be argued, quite plausibly, that it would be rendered impotent in contrast to its current status. Similarly, Heart of Darkness would suffer a similar fate if robbed of it's political and social turmoil, in this case the cruelty of the Belgian colonialists, their cultural ignorance as well as arrogance, the outwardly eloquent but ultimately misguided Kurtz and the significance of the 'white sepulchre' It would be fair to say that Marlow's 'adventure' would be reduced to nothing more than a site seeing tour.
It has been illustrated that there are striking resemblances between Conrad's adventure and that of Marlow's. The defining piece of evidence is the fact that Conrad set 'Heart of Darkness' in 1890, the same year he himself travelled the Belgian Congo as the captain a steam boat. It has also been shown that it is not only 'Heart of Darkness' that contains these, in my opinion, essential elements of literature. One need only to look to Charles Dickens, as discussed in the opening of this essay, 'A Tale of Two Cities' is a good example of literature being intertwined with political and social turmoil. As are other pieces of Dickens' work such as 'Oliver' and 'Great Expectations'. There is also the example of Thomas Keneally's 'Shindler's Ark' and its reliance on the political bigotry, ignorance and genocide. In conclusion, from the evidence presented throughout this essay it is clear, in the majority of cases and in particular 'Heart of Darkness' comments on the grubby world of social issues, politics and colonialism. It is this writer's opinion, in view of this evidence, that the majority of literature is not only affected by these elements but is for the most part heavily reliant on them.
References
Conrad, J. Heart of darkness. Third edition, London, W.W.Norton and Company. 1902
