Contrast in Heart of Darkness

When Marlow comes to the Congo there is an extreme amount of contrast between the white culture he encounters and the black one. On pages 24 and 25, Marlow offers a description of dying natives as if it were nothing, and then describes how great a white man looked when he met with him. It seems like he is ignorant to the suffering going on around him. I was also curious about the reccurence of mustaches and how that might also be some symbol for power.

Also, I noticed the dehumanizing of the black villagers. There was a constant reference to someone, somoewhere moaning or suffering, but it seemed like after hearing it Marlow and his companions would simply continue with that they were doing. "The silence of the land went home to one's very heart- its mystery, its greatness, the amazing reality of its concealed life. The hurt nigger moaned feebly somewhere near by and then fetched a deep sigh that made me mend my pace away from there," (38). At the end of that section Marlow explains he wanted to change his course to avoid the moaning person.

Comments

[Julia Y.]

I agree, there is a constant theme throughout the book of the white men being blind to the suffering of the Africans. They simply do not react to the horrid and traumatizing things occuring around them. In my opinion, I first see it as a defense mechanism. If the white men really were affected by the appalling things happening, they would not be able to survive. They are expected to be able to show strength and power by not be affecting by what is going on around them to do their jobs. Their lack of feeling also characterizes them as inhuman, as if they, like the African who are characterized as savages, are not worthy of being called human.

[Zack W.]

I think that it is a reoccuring instance when the white Europeans are blind to the brutality that is happening. They are clearly not treating the blacks as equals and dehumanizing them. It is not just the men that travel there that act this way, however it is also the women and people who are in Europe that are blind to this behavior. I am sure that this behavior with continue throughout the novel.