The novel is full of symbols used by Joseph Conrad to present the paradox in the European imperial manifesto, and

to depict the contrasted imagery of " dark and light ". the main symbol lies in the novel's title, for " sepulchral " London was associated with " brooding gloom ". Besides, the title refers not only to the heart of ' darkest Africa ' but also to Kurtz' s corruption, to benighted London, and to innumerable kinds of darkness and obscurity, physical, moral, and ontological. In retrospect, Marlow embarked on a journey of self -quest for his inner morals-as Dante's Inferno-using a kind of ' interior monologue '. As he reached the heart of Congo, his inner self-restraint strengthened, while Kurtz' superiority and restraintas ' all Europe contributed to the making of Kurtz' - deteriorated to cannibalism. Therefore, both Marlow and Kurtz signify two utterly different versions of the ' European man ' in the absence of " external checks " and utter solitude without a police man." Marlow gradually discovers that Kurtz - who was a remarkable man' became a god to the natives whom they worship as the figure of the ' civilised European ' and turned out to be a modern ' Faust ' who has sold his soul for powerand gratification. Kurtz gifted and vital, while natives were rebels, enemies, criminals, workers' - danced with the brutes, committed atrocities, by hanging the heads of the dead Africans on the fence, and ate human flesh. Besides, " My intended, my ivory, my station, my river... " manifested Kurtz's self-egoism and idiosyncrasy. He gave a promising picture when Marlow read his report to the ' international society ' for the suppression of savage customs' as his style was ' eloquent ', yet Kurtz subverted his tone at end of the report by " Exterminate all the brutes ! " which emphasized racism. This categorized Kurtz as " a tree swayed by the wind and driven by instinct " and accentuated that the Africans - though primitive - were much more ' civilized ' than their social and ' racial ' superior. This ended by the African continent avenging itself as Kurtz's last words were " the horror, the horror, " where he realizes the frailty of all what he had done. In addition, Conrad presented other paradoxes in the novel. For instance, " civilization can be barbaric ". It is both a hypocritical veneer and a valuable achievement to be guarded; " Society saves us from corruption, yet society is corrupt " ; " brotherhood transcends racial differences, but we live, as we dream-alone ". Special thanks to prof. Ahmed Gamal Prepared by Riham Hassan from the book, " Heart of darkness " and " Conrad and Imperialism " Cedric Watts and Andrea White in the The Cambridge Companion to Joseph Conrad, edited by J.H.Stape. Copied from Englizy journal, No.3, Spring 2007. Note to fourth year colleagues : 1- This can be a great reference for you that may increase your degrees isA. 2- This essay is written in a mixture of both American language and British one. Therefore, please try to stick to the British language only. http://newenglizy.multiply.com/journal/item/2724/British_English_Vs_American_E nglish?replies_read=4

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The shift that befell European imperialism marked by Conrad's crucial development in " experience and outlook. " He visited the Malay Coasts and witnessed the relationship between the colonizer and the colonized. Instead of the progressive, efficient, philanthropic mission of the " superior races ", Conrad found cannibalism, greed, theft, lust, and atheism of the torch bearers of civilization. Conrad visited the Congo islands in 1890's in search for evidence of European imperial endeavours. There, he searched for progress; yet, he was disillusioned by " the current attitudes about race that naturalized native inferiority and justified European domination ". In Congo, the recurrent scene was " the aborted railroad, native chain gangs " and the shadow of death. The net result was Conrad's visit to psychological institutions and writing Heart of Darkness . He delineated ' Charlie Marlow ' as the British sea-captain who relates his trip to the Congo on search for the ends of the " Scramble of Africa " and its Christian mission. He narrates - using tale within a tale technique - to his fellows, on board of the " The Nellie " ship in the Thames River, his trip. Marlow tries to dramatize this aspect of colonial brutality that his listeners might not thought about. He says : The population had cleared out a long time ago. Well, if a lot of mysterious niggers armed with all kinds of fearful weapons suddenly took to travelling on the road between Deal and Gravesend, catching the yokels right and left to carry heavy loads for them, I fancy every farm and cottage thereabouts would get empty very soon. Marlow witnessed the " racist ideology " that the African tribes suffered from nativity to civility. As long as he went down the Congolese coast-from the outer station to central station to inner station - a feeling of self - alienation had followed. In fact, Marlow was interested in and devoted for sea - enterprise; yet, his " superior " fellows displayed laziness and hypocrisy, a fact which refuted European " efficiency ". The European merchants there showed endless lust for collecting " Ivory " from the elephants. One example is Mr Kurtz who exploited the Africans to gather all the ivory in Africa that he became the " exclusive " merchant of such commodity, inciting the envy of other merchants. Special thanks to prof. Ahmed Gamal Prepared by Riham Hassan from the book, " Heart of darkness " and " Conrad and Imperialism " Cedric Watts and Andrea White in the The Cambridge Companion to Joseph Conrad, edited by J.H.Stape. Copied from Englizy journal, No.3, Spring 2007.

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As a matter of fact, European imperialism witnessed great expansion during late 19th and early 20th centuries. Theories of Freud, Darwin, Spencer, contributed to weaving the colonial fabric all over the world-especially in the Tropics where raw materials were abundant. Besides, Rudyard Kipling, great singer of the British empire, declared the endless doom of " The White Man's Burden " to civilise the primitive heathens as a religious mission for his " fellow brothers. " Amid all this, Conrad was a victim of " the Victorian myth of the Dark continent ". " He primarily inherited " sensitivity to oppressive autocracy and a profound scepticism about the idealism of social and particularly " nationalistic movements " from his maternal and paternal grandfathers. In fact, his view of the Russian dominance over his country, and later the Belgian colonization over Congo, added greatly to his conservatism and scepticism of the real ends of the imperial expansion. In addition, British, French, German, and the Belgian colonial powers presented a feature of rivalry for capturing the " blank " African continent, each to increase the number of territories to its predecessors. It then appeared that the real cause of " the civilising mission " was economic, for the territorial powers needed raw materials and markets for its products. Thus, conrad realized that what has been propagated ideologically at the time did not coincide with actuality of grabbing " for the sake of what could be got ".