Heart Of Darkness: an Analysis of the Setting
...ings have change. He seems to view the world in a different perspective. The lifestyle of these commonplace individuals was superficial for him because they are devoted to things which are too mundane and unimportant. The people seemed lacking and unknowing of what life really is, their knowledge of it was an irritating pretense because they are so ignorant of what goes beyond the borders of Europe. He was assured that they couldn’t possibly know the things he had learned and experienced in Africa, particularly the horrors and darkness of life as a result of colonialism. He also expressed an eagerness to enlighten the people of the real effects of colonialism in Africa, the slavery and sufferings of the natives in their own land, since the colonizers are protecting their image to the other Europeans in order to get their support. Shift in setting from Brussels to River Thames From Brussels, we are brought back to the River Thames. The narrator concludes as he looks into the offing which was barred by a black bank of clouds, and the tranquil waterway leading to the uttermost ends of the earth flowed somber under an overcast sky ---seemed to lead into the heart of an immense darkness (350). The correlation of the beginning and ending setting is significant in how Marlow starts to reminisce on his passion of exploration and how one certain experience is life altering. The narrator described the River Thames as seemingly leading into the heart of an immense darkness. This description implies that darkness is not only limited to the Congo River. Darkness could also be found in the River Thames, reflecting the history of London where it is located. In the beginning of the novel, from the barge on the Thames, Marlow tells us, “And this also has been one of the dark places of the earth.” This darkness is in relation to Britain’s own past—a “primitive’ past which was a dark time, also like the dark time Marlow found in the Congo. This dark past is characterized by “barbarism” of the British especially in the way they persecute their prisoners--- a manner that trespass way beyond human nature and morality. In addition, the connection between the River Thames and the Congo River is not only symbolical but also actual. The Thames is connected physically to the Congo as all rivers are connected to each other. It is also connected by shared humanity, and it is linked economically. On piece of the economic connection is the ivory coming out of the Congo, on its way to Europe. This economic connection...