Question 7: Knowledge of the social, historical and cultural context of a text and its writer is often indispensable in the reader coming to grips with the central themes of a text. Discuss with reference to Heart of Darkness
Literary critic Nathaniel Hawthorne statement that “in Heart of Darkness, Conrad takes his deepest look into the human condition and comes to perhaps his most pessimistic conclusions on the various and incompatible pressures that can be imposed on the human spirit,” a perfect summation of what is perhaps Joseph Conrad’s most famous work. First published in 1899 in three separate editions of Blackwood’s Magazine, the novella was brought to light at the cusp of the Victorian and the modernist age which also coincided with the peak of European imperialism in Africa as each country raced to imprint their mark on the ‘dark’ continent. In fact Conrad personally experienced the impacts of such colonialist and imperial attitudes when he was employed as a pilot of a river steamer in the Belgian Congo in 1890. As a result Conrad developed a fundamental disdain for imperialist attitudes based on his own experiences with imperialism both in his home country of Poland as well as in the Congo. As such, the texts’ central themes are focused around Conrad’s condemnation of imperialism mainly focusing on the pragmatic idealism behind its humanist intentions, the true economic motives that these altruistic ideas hide as well as the negative effect of imperialism on both colonists and those colonised. A knowledge of the social, historical and cultural context of the text is paramount in formulating a sound understanding of these themes for without an understanding of such contextual information we can not hope to properly comprehend them and pay the risk of misinterpreting such ideas altogether.
Heart of Darkness was published against a background of recent imperial celebration of a ‘feverishly utopian kind’, perpetuated by the sophisticated propaganda machinery of the time. This period was foregrounded by a great expansion of European imperialism within Africa as a result of the abolishment of slavery in the 19th century, the extent of which is made clear in a 1914 map of the African continent which appeared “something like a patchwork quilt ” , due to each colour representing a different European countries ownership of a specific region. At the time these imperialistic activities were greatly celebrated, with the imperialist propaganda machine responsible for generating such support, such as when at Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee she described the “British empire as an onerous religious destiny and of vital importance to the country’s future as an international power .” For many Europeans who had not ventured into the colonies, the notion of imperialism was idealistic in the sense that they genuinely believed that by endorsing Eurocentrism, they were civilizing and educating the natives to rise above their primitive traditions – enlightening the ‘dark continent’. However under this guise of a philanthropic concern to bring ‘light’ to the ‘dark’ continent European imperialist were engaged in what Conrad later referred to as “the vilest scramble for loot that ever disfigured the history of human geographical exploration”. Conrad himself scornfully rejected bourgeois values, reinforced one could speculate by the aristocratic background of his mother and revolutionary behaviours of his father. Certainly Conrad was consistently sceptical about the much touted civilising effects of economic progress, embraced by the bourgeois in particular. This logically extended into a hatred of much imperialistic activity – hardly surprising given that in Conrad’s lifetime Poland was incessantly overrun by competing imperialist powers being either under Russian or Austrian political hegemony. Infact Conrads employment as a steamboat captain in Congo in 1980 gave him an insight into the true economic intentions of the imperialist narrative perpetuated in England and its inherent lack of humanist values. As such he presents a scathing critique of imperialism throughout the text, tackling the three main themes of the pragmatic idealism behind imperialism, its true economic intents and the way it affects those involved. Through Conrad’s use of various narrative techniques such as allusion, symbolism and imagery, these themes can be thoroughly explored and understood with a knowledge of Conrad’ context.
Conrad first attacks the pragmatic idealism and naivete behind the eurocentric support for imperialism through the naive comments of Marlow’s aunt who, when forwelling Marlow on his journey, talks about “weaning those ignorant millions from their horrid ways”, referring to the people of Africa. Contextual knowledge is paramount in understanding how Conrad is both attacking such idealistic notions of humanist intent and attempting to dismantle the philanthropic illusion of such ideas due to his own understanding of the true economic intentions of European imperialism. This critique on the naivete behind such eurocentric support is further enhanced when Conrad exposes the true economic motives that underlie such an illusion later on in the novel.
Infact these anti imperialist notions are first seen when Marlow indicates a disdain for the imperialist ideal early on in the novella when before his own story he alludes to the consequences of Norman colonisation in Britain. The framing narrative puts a certain amount of distance between Marlow’s narrative and Conrad himself with this framework suggesting that the reader should regard Marlow ironically. However, knowledge of Conrad’s own context allows the reader to understand the parallels between Marlow and Conrad himself, not only in their similar psychosexual journeys in the Congo but also in their disdain for the humanist illusion that pervades imperial propaganda in England, thus blurring the lines between the pairs values to the point that Marlow becomes an outlet for Conrad’s own introspective social commentary.
This idea of the hollowness of the altruistic claims of imperialism is further reinforced in Marlow’s disparaging description of the colonists in his ironic symbolic description of them as ‘pilgrims’. The term pilgrim refers to a “person who journeys, especially a long distance, to some sacred place as an act of religious devotion”. Thus by pejoratively describing the colonists as pilgrims Conrad is utilising this parallel to imply that these ‘pilgrims’ are voyaging to Africa for sacred, religious reasons. This is best seen when we are first introduced to these ‘pilgrims’ ; “They wandered here and there with their absurd long staves in their hands, like a lot of faithless pilgrims”. The use of the word ‘wandered’ which is in stark contrast to what is expected of pilgrims who set out on religious journeys with set goals, combined with the oxymoronic description of them as ‘faithless pilgrims’ forces the reader to question what the purpose of their pilgrimage is. This is then answered with “ ‘ivory’ rang in the air, was whispered, was sighed. You would think they were praying to it.” The reader is left to conclude that the sole purpose of this ‘pilgrimage’ is economic gain through the mining of ivory, the main reason that European countries colonized Africa. In fact the use of the word ‘praying’ implies that the ivory has become sacred even replacing God for these ‘pilgrims’ which further emphasizes their greed and the purely economic motive for their journey and thus the hollowness of the humanist facade for European imperialism. In fact even Kurtz to whom Marlow is both attracted and associated because he, at first, feels Kurtz unlike the other colonisers governs himself by an ideal, is shown to be a hollow in a moral sense and when his activities are fully revealed they make a complete mockery of any philanthropic intent inherent in the imperialist ideal. Infact J.W.Beach perfectly described Kurtz’s significance to the text; “Kurtz is a personal embodiment, a dramatization, of all that Conrad felt of futility, degradation, and horror in what the Europeans in the Congo called ‘progress’” . As such knowledge of Conrad’s own context and his own experiences with imperialism are significant in comprehending such metaphors and symbolism as an attack on imperialists false humanist facade as without this knowledge the reader is unable to fully comprehend the description of colonists in the text.
This attack on the true intentions of European imperialism is perhaps most pertinently seen in Marlow’s derisory attitude to what he described as the “sepulchral city” which reminds him of a ‘whited sepulchre” . The ‘whited sepulchre’ is a biblical allusion to Matthew 23.27 when Christ criticises the 11 alleged moral leaders of his time; “Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men’s bones, and of all uncleanness”. The city in the text is clearly Brussels and through the use of such an allusion Conrad conveys it as a type of vault built over the bones of a dead or dying civilisation and therefore he is implying that any claims that the colonisers make to bring the light of progress and civilisation to the darker areas of the world are hollow. Essentialy “Marlow leaves a white civilisation which masks death and darkness to confront the Dark Continent.” In fact this idea is perfectly reinforced when in the scene where the French man of war is pointlessly shelling the coast of Africa, imperialism is metaphorically described as “the merry dance of death and trade” which goes on in a still and earthy atmosphere as of an overheated catacomb”. Conrad thus conveys how in essence all that is arguably exported by imperialism is death both to colonisers and the colonised. In doing so he further comments on the pragmatic idealism of European support for imperialism at the time by conveying how such humanist, noble ideals are pervaded by the actual motives of economic gain and the death that such a crusade brings.
This notion of the effect of imperialism on colonists and on those colonised in how it restricts their freedoms as well as in how it dehumanises and brutalises them is perhaps the most scathing critique that Conrad presents on imperialism. This is mainly accomplished through his ironic use of light and dark symbolism and imagery in the text which can only be properly understood with a knowledge of the context of production of the text as well as Conrad’s own context. “The repetition of images of blackness and darkness takes the writing beyond physical description, into a metaphorical comment on the reality of the moral depravity Marlow discovers.” In fact the aforementioned description of Brussels as a “whited sepulchre” sets up the ironic use of light as a symbol of the philanthropic intent behind european imperialism ,which seeks to ‘enlighten’ the physically and symbolically dark continent of Africa. Perhaps the most significant use of such imagery and symbolism is found in Marlow’s description of one of Kurtz’ s paintings that he comes across in the brick maker’s hut ;”…a woman, draped and blindfolded carrying a lighted torch. The background was sombre-almost black. The movement of the woman was stately, and the effect of the torchlight on the face was sinister.” This woman in question is of course ‘Lady Justice’ the symbolic personification of Western notions of justice and morality. Furthermore, utilizing an understanding of the context of production of the text in terms of the eurocentric support perpetuated for imperialism and continuing with the use of light imagery as a symbol of the altruistic intentions of Imperialism it is clear that the torch in the painting is representative of such ideas. However the torch is used ironically as the torch is unable to illuminate the surrounds of the photo which remains “somber – almost black.” The ironical use of the torch conveys how European attempts to ‘enlighten’ the dark continent of Africa have been futile and ineffective. Smith goes as far as to describe it as “The criminality of inefficiency and pure selfishness when tackling the civilising work in Africa”. This idea is further expanded in how the torch casts a ‘sinister’ shadow on the face of the lady. As such Conrad is suggesting that, like the torch, the futile attempts of European imperialism to ‘enlighten’ Africa does nothing to serve that humanist goal and instead only casts a shadow on Europe, a sinister darkness of the heart that represents man’s capacity for evil ,a central idea of the text as suggested by its title, “Heart of Darkness”. Essentially Conrad is “Presenting the colonial experience as an essentially degrading one for all concerned, exploiters and exploited alike.” This idea is perfectly summed up by France’s B Singh; “Of all the suggestive metaphors used in the story, however, there is nothing like the title itself. On one level it indicates merely the geographical location of the Belgian Congo and the color of its inhabitants. On another it refers to the evil practices of the colonizers of the Congo, their sordid exploitation of the natives, and suggests that the real darkness is not in Africa but in Europe, and that its heart is not in the breasts of black Africans but in all whites who countenance and engage in colonialist enterprise.” You could even suggest that Conrad is describing “Civilisation not as the established norm, but as a brief interruption of the normal order of darkness.” In doing so Conrad also further emphasizes his critique on the naive idealism of imperialist propaganda by conveying the darkness that such an altruistic facade hides.
Margaret Atwood’s famous aphorism “Context is all” is no more aptly suited to a piece of literature than Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness, with a knowledge of the context of production of the text and Conrad’s own context essential in developing an understanding of the texts’ main themes. Conrad as an anti-imperialist presents a scathing critique of imperialist attitudes of his time, tackling the pragmatic idealism of imperialist propaganda at the time, the facade of humanist ideals that masks the true sole economic motives of imperialism and the impact of imperialism on both European colonists and those colonised. Conrad tackles these themes through the use of various symbolic narrative techniques and as such contextual knowledge is paramount in interpreting these techniques and their contribution to conveying these themes. Marlow’s journey and the subsequent turbulent exploration of humanism has gained Heart of Darkness its position as a canonical piece of literature and one that stands the test of time as a significant text in imperial evaluation.
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