Conrad's first two works were based on his experiences with Malaya, Almayer's Folly and An Outcast of the Islands (1896). His best work came in 1897, The Negro of the “Narcissus,” a moving story of life on board ship. He followed this with his many notable works in the following years. Heart of Darkness from the first collection is notable for its overwhelming sense of evil and corruption and its excellent tropical backdrops. It is simply a very evocative and fascinating work of art. The art lies in the representation of the imperialistic approach, that is, the unpleasant and inhuman relationship between the natives of Central Africa and the European colonizers who became the embodiment of evil due to their prolonged stay in the dark continent of Congo. It contains many autobiographical elements and its narrator Marlow is considered the spokesperson of Joseph Conrad: but despite their great similarity they also differ a little. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay The first chapter of the novel is an excellent synthesis of various themes. All themes are linked to two main characters: Charles Marlow and Mr. Kurtz. The themes used in the novel are: theme of evil, theme of imperialism, theme of lack of self-control, theme of isolation, theme of exploring darkness, and theme of reality and appearance. All themes are skillfully intertwined so as to produce an artistic beauty, a unified pattern or design; and altogether they cast an enchanting effect upon the mind of the reader. Ship lights moved in the fairway: a great commotion of lights going up and down. And farther west, on the upper reaches, the site of the monstrous city was still marked ominously in the sky, a menacing darkness under the sun, a foul glow under the stars. And this too,” said Marlow suddenly, “was one of the dark places on earth.” (Part 1 Heart of Darkness) When a pickup truck with a sick man (an invalid Hinterland agent) was put in there, he showed mild irritation. “The groans of this patient,” he said, “distract my attention, and without it it is extremely difficult to guard against material errors in this climate.” (Part 1 Heart of Darkness). White men have always treated blacks as "others" and have always represented a theory of civilization of the uncivilized. According to this rhetorical theory of civilization they have always manipulated the sources of the colonized for the lust of wealth and power. Their inhuman behavior towards the colonized always represented their evil deeds. The hypocrisy of “civilized” Europeans is evident from the acts of torture, cruelty, and near-slavery inflicted on natives for the purpose of enlightening them. In reality the Africans were just objects to be used by the Europeans in their quest for loot. This act of hypocritical imperialism is still taking place in the contemporary world under the banner of globalization. The West is still colonizing our thoughts, our culture, our economy etc., if not directly but indirectly. Imperialism, as defined by the Dictionary of Human Geography, is "an unequal human and territorial relationship, usually in the form of an empire, based on ideas of superiority and practices of domination, and involving the extension of authority and control of one state or people over another. It is often regarded in a negative light, as mere exploitation of natives to enrich a small handful of people. Heart of Darkness is a masterpiece by Joseph Conrad that deals with the major issues of the world All experiences of Marlow were Conrad's reactions to what he observed during his trip to the Congo White imperialism isbeen presented through the various characteristics with which the novelist came into contact. The White Man's Company ruled the Congo. Savages and wild men were its victims. «I was thinking of very ancient times, when the Romans arrived here for the first time nineteen hundred years ago…. The lights have come out of this river from… [It is] like a fire flowing in the plain, like lightning in the clouds. We live in the shaking: may it last as long as the old earth continues to roll! But yesterday there was darkness.” (4)Marlow, the narrator gives the keynote of the theme of imperialism. This idea narrated by Marlow at the beginning of the novel. Marlow spoke of the ancient Roman conquerors of Britain. In history it is said that the ancient Romans were very brutal and inflicted a lot of cruelty on the English. The ancient Romans plundered what they could get in Britain. As Marlow observes, the conquest of Britain was a "violent robbery." Marlow did not feel the conquest as a sentimental fiction but as an altruistic idea. All conquerors could be forgiven! A conqueror might be excused if he performed some construction work in the uncivilized country he captured by force. Marlow did not use the phrase The White Man's Burden but expressed this idea very implicitly and was not intrusive or moralizing in the novel. The white man had certain obligations and responsibilities towards the uncivilized he physically and mentally subjugated. He came with various strategies to rule the country. But his motives were not to be humanitarian but to help the savages on moral grounds. "Gold hunters or fame seekers, they had all gone up that river, carrying the sword and often the torch, messengers of might in the land, bearers of a spark of the sacred fire. What greatness had not floated on that river's current in mystery of an unknown land”! (Conrad 1.6). Marlow's experience in the Congo indicates that the white man was not doing his duty carefully Congo, full of mineral resources, was exploited and abused by explorers to become rich and imperialistic. All the characters in the novel mentioned ivory over and over again and the indigenous people of Congo were exploited by dedicating them to trade of the novel, he was so obsessed with everything that he once threatened to kill the Russian man just for a small amount of ivory Sandbanks, swamps, forests, savages: precious little for a civilized man to eat. , nothing but Thames water to drink. No Falerno wine here, no landing." (5)"They were men enough to face the darkness." (5) “They were dying slowly: it was very clear. They were not enemies, they were not criminals, and now they were nothing earthly, nothing but black shadows of disease and hunger…” (18) The white men were selfish and hypocritical. They were simply wasting time and effort to demonstrate that they were doing constructive work. They started the project aimlessly. For example, they planned to build a railway project in Congo and the indigenous people were forced to work like animals. People moved like ants. Men were chained to each other and made to work without any rest or bend offered to them as a source of punishment. People suffered from disease, starvation and death. The white man, to impose his superiority and fear on the natives, fired aimlessly into the bushes. The entire scenario narrated by Marlow describes the cruelty of the white man on his subjects due to the lust for wealth and power. On the other hand it portrays the sufferings and miseries faced by the natives under imperialist rule. Imperialism had its negative effects on colonized countries,.