A Hypocritical Condemnation of European Imperialism in Joseph Conrad's "Heart of Darkness"

Art has long been a form of human expression, particularly in the form of storytelling. Great novels, epics, and legends have often served as means of conveying the troubles of the times, explaining historical occurrences, or simply elaborating upon the universal struggles of the human condition. One genre of literature in particular, modernism, arose at the start of the 20th century in response to a rapidly-changing European society. Modernist novels strayed from traditional tropes, with writers crafting their own unique literary structures and techniques within stories. More broadly speaking however, modernist literature carried strong attitudes of frustration and disillusionment, which functioned as a commentary on the various social, economic, and political issues of the day. 

One of the earliest pieces hailing from the modernist tradition, Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness, offers a scathing critique of Belgian colonialism in particular. Written and published right around the turn of the century, the novella follows the story of Englishman Charles Marlow, as he recounts his journey up the Congo River and into the heart of Africa. While the story does successfully manage to critique the exceptional brutality of Belgian imperialism (embodied by the character Kurtz), upon finishing the book modern audiences in particular are left feeling as though main character Marlow is somewhat of a hypocrite, due to his starkly racist cultural attitudes and Conrad’s failure to draw attention to the numerous injustices and flaws related to British colonialism. 
Like countless other European countries at the time, Belgium fully embraced the Scramble for Africa and raced against other colonial powers to establish imperial holdings. With efforts spearheaded by King Leopold II, the Belgians eventually managed to gain significant holdings in the centrally-located Congo, where Heart of Darkness is primarily set. What really set apart Belgian imperial rule from that of others though was their notorious brutality towards native populations. With their eyes set on extracting natural resources and “civilizing” the African people, the Belgians created their own reign of terror, by forcing countless indigenous groups to work for them in slave-like conditions. Villages were burned, women were raped, and thousands were mutilated. Some historians estimate that roughly 10 million Africans died at the hands of Belgian imperial rule, and have deemed it a lesser-known genocide with numbers nearing that of the Holocaust.
It is this barbaric, Belgian rule that Conrad chooses to attack in Heart of Darkness. Seeking an opportunity to travel to the African continent, main character Marlow is put in contact with a Belgian trade company that works along the Congo River. When arranging his accommodations for the trip, Marlow crosses the English channel and arrives at the company’s offices, which he describes as being on “a narrow and deserted street in deep shadow”. While there, Marlow notices two women who sat silently “knitting black wool”, supposedly shrouds. Marlow’s ominous description of the company offices in Belgium conveys Conrad’s attitude of the sinister nature of imperialism in the Congo.
Upon his actual arrival in the Congo however, nothing in the story conveys the evils of Belgian rule so much as the controversial character Kurtz, described as a man which some people adore, while others despise and wish death upon. More importantly however, Kurtz is involved in a lucrative ivory trade, which has consumed his life and now led to his illness. When he arrives to relieve Kurtz of his duty, Marlow notices the heads of African natives on sticks posted around the trading post office. A Russian man at the station who reveres Kurtz elaborates upon his various dubious actions to Marlow, which stands as a symbol of sorts for the comically blind faith that countless individuals had in imperialism. Kurtz himself is a symbol of imperial rule, as he was corrupted by greed and behaved hatefully towards the natives. Marlow himself even believes Kurtz to be mad. Conrad uses Kurtz’s insanity, illness, and death to show how imperialism corrupts the soul of the European man, which is where the true “heart of darkness” lies. Even Kurtz himself, the physical manifestation of imperial rule, is able to acknowledge the atrocity of his own lifestyle, denoted in his final words: “‘The horror! The horror!’” Truly, Conrad makes it clear that the brutality of Belgian imperialism is an evil that only brings about darkness and terror for all involved.
For all his critique of Belgian imperial rule however, Conrad still leaves plenty of room for his own racist attitudes. While he certainly does critique symbols of imperialism such as Kurtz, he also uses derogatory language in regards to the native Africans that Marlow encounters on the journey. The various indigenous people in the story are described as “savages”, and in every interaction with them in the story they are portrayed as though they were untamable and violent beings, somewhat less-than-human. Racial slurs are also frequently used to refer to the natives, and never does Marlow himself truly condemn the violence used against them in the story. What’s more, Marlow himself is an Englishman, and throughout the story Conrad describes him as though he were somehow above all the “horrors” of Belgian imperialism. Indeed, when recounting his adventures in the Congo to his companions, Marlow is described as “a meditating Buddha”, indicating Conrad’s belief that as an Englishman he is enlightened and more-or-less superior to those he describes in his travels. It is in Belgium that the gloomy and ominous trading company is headquartered, not in England, and it is a foreigner (Kurtz) who has a heart of darkness, not the Englishman in the story (Marlow). As one can see, Conrad clearly has a bias, which makes sense due to his upbringing and time spent serving on British ships. In reality however, Britain’s imperial holdings were far greater than that of any other European nation, and they took part in their own share of greed and cruelty, which cannot go unignored.
Ultimately, Conrad does offer a powerful critique of imperialism, and while written within regards to Belgian rule of the Congo, its message can certainly be applied to a variety of different nations and circumstances, even in today’s world. What’s important, however, is to acknowledge the biases and racist attitudes held by Conrad himself in writing this piece. At the end of the day, he was a product of his time, and was writing from his own perspective which was strongly influenced by cultural beliefs in favor of the British empire and white supremacy. Nevertheless, his message concerning the evils of imperialism and their corruption of the individual still serve as a powerful reminder of what can go wrong when one group of people tries to assert dominance over another.