Heart+of+Darkness+-+the+themes

=//Heart of Darkness//: the themes =

Okay - here will be the place where we identify and discuss the themes of the novel.

Civilisation - As without people coming to the setting in this novel - the Congo would not have been well known. Their mannerism would not be the way they are now. They would be grateful for this civilisation from people expeditions for these parts of the world. It caused the people of this area to become slaves, workers that were not getting paid and were bullied. None of the money that came from these countries in Africa didnt even go to them - they went to the leader. These people had no control over their lives. They were given away when they believed this society would help them instead all they did was take away everything that was worth money, leaving this country a barren dry place.

Imperialism - With many countries using imperialism as a way of 'sucking a place dry' before they moved onto place to repeat the plan. 'a policy of extending a country's power and influence through diplomacy or military.'

Observations - Most of what Marlow says is from his observations, which often includes eavesdropping as well...

Skepticism - The majority of Marlows experiences lead him to revel in skeptic philosophies on colonialism


 * Power - One of the main reasons and the purpose of colonialism was power through "brute force" **


 * Greed - The lust for land, wealth, and prosperity. **


 * Authority - Everything that happens in colonialism is related directly to the upper authority, who make the decisions of ** **exploitation**

**Memories - memories are a big part of story, as everything being said is a recollected memory of Marlow. __The memory can be unreliable and inaccurate, its not factual; however, its just an interpretation of a single person.__**

The White Man's burden - the idea that Europeans need to go out and civilize other countries

**Darkness - Darkness is a key theme to the book. The book starts with descriptions of everything from the ship to the river to the air. in the beginning of the third paragraph Conrad write "The air was dark above Gravesand" and continues to describe not only the air are dark but also the river, the country and even the port as dark as well. darkness is so important a theme that it is even in the title of the book.** ﻿Marlow and the narrator also mention the word "Darkness" repeatedly.