The title alone suggests a lot about the general tone of the novella; “The Heart of Darkness” certainly does not sound cheerful. Considering that the narrative tells of slavery, disease, and death, it is quite appropriate that it should be thematically dark. Arguably, the majority of aristocratic Europeans in the 1800s viewed slavery as a good thing. After all, it was virtually free labor that kept their income flowing. It would be easy to say that Europeans only held this position on slavery because they did not witness the injustices that were being committed in Africa. However, a few of them lived alongside the slaves in the very heart of Africa, overseeing the brutality and overall neglect. Unlike those cruel individuals, Marlow seems to view the treatment of the slaves with a vague air of disgust and pity, and he seems to find the issue ethically wrong, however he never really does anything about it.
Witnessing the horrific treatment of other human beings on his travels, one would think Marlow would make some gesture to help his fellow man; yet, he does nothing. Inwardly, he is troubled by the images of tortured and dying slaves. One of the first things he sees when he arrives at his station is the “grove of death” (Conrad, Joseph 19). It is a patch of trees where the slaves go to die, having been worked not just to breaking, but to the point of being completely and utterly broken. Marlow says himself, “They were dying slowly-it is clear. They were not enemies, they were not criminals, they were nothing earthly now, nothing but black shadows of disease and starvation lying confusedly in the greenish gloom” (Conrad 17). Upon seeing this, Marlow does not attempt to free the slaves or petition for better working conditions or more food. Instead, he simply offers a biscuit to a young man whose vacant, dying eyes stare up at Marlow as he passes (Conrad 17). This gesture could have been Marlow's attempt to help the situation, but it is much more likely that it was done to make himself feel better, so he could tell himself later that he did not just walk away.
People have come to expect some kind of greatness from the main character of a story. The character should do something special, be somebody different. Why have people come to expect this, though? Every day life is not great, every day people do not commit amazing deeds and save the day. Well, Marlow does not conform to those absurd expectations; he simply does what most people would have done in his situation. He is disturbed by the ill treatment of the slaves, but does nothing except avert his gaze. Is he a bad person because of this? No, it merely makes him rather normal.
Works Cited
Conrad, Joseph. Heart of Darkness. Ed. Paul B. Armstrong. W.W. Norton: New York, 2005.
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