Heart of Darkness Critical Analysis

The exploitation was primarily driven by the capitalist’s desire to make a profit from a continent that knew very little of its potential. According to the Marxist view, the exploitation led to the creation of stark class break-ups between the Africans and the superior Europeans (Atkinson, William 390). Marxism view appreciates the essence of respecting private property, education systems, and Religion. For that reason, Marxism tries to expose how imperialism can easily lead to the creation of class separations across the borders of an exploited continent. Using the framework that was developed and used by the imperialists, Marxism analyses how ideology can be used for, or against society, and how all this comes together in an environment that is driven by capitalism (Apter, Andrew 588).

Different approaches have been used to critically analyze the Heart of Darkness from a Marxist point of view (Atkinson, William 378). The class structure of a society is essential based on the Marxist perspective. Identifying a class structures in the society is important since it helps to highlight the bourgeoises and the proletariats. In this case, the bourgeoises are the Europeans while the proletariats are the Africans. Another approach in the Marxist criticism involves identifying the measures that bourgeoises take to ensure that their rule is respected by the proletariats irrespective of the circumstances that the latter go through. Marlow sees that they are treated just like the commodity that they help to handle. As Marlow Hurries along the way, he sees a White man who is “unexpectedly elegant” and such an appearance according to Marlow resembled “a sort of vision” (Conrad, 28).

In reverence to such a sight, Marlow is moved to “shake hands with the miracle,” and it is at this point that he ended up realizing that the man was not a miracle, but a simple human being, who in this case was the Chief Accountant at the Company. This man served as the embodiment of the bourgeoises due to the pristine elegance that he depicted in a highly humid environment. The appearance of the chief accountant leads Marlow to believe that the clothes the man was wearing depicts an “achievement of character” which in this case would be very sensible for such a person who holds a high position in the company (Conrad, 23). This happened after Europeans had benefited from using class structure to oppress the Africans, and they only took this measure to prevent the inevitable, which was a revolution.

The cultural absorption is evident when Marlow asks the accountant how “he ended up sporting such an expensive linen” within such an unforgiving environment (Conrad, 60). In response to the question, the accountant says that he has been in the process of “educating a native woman on how the station operates. ” The accountant goes ahead and says that he was finding the process of teaching woman very challenging since she had “great distaste for the work” (Conrad, 75). When the bourgeoises lose power over the class hierarchy that they had established, they end up manufacturing another, by exploiting the weaknesses and desires of the oppressed and using this as a platform for developing a banana republic that promotes ivory trade. Conrad tried to create numerous themes in the novel, and in each case, nature has been used to personify each subject matter.

For instance, the river that cuts across the heart of Congo and the fog that is a result of water vapor, are believed to act as a shield that is impenetrable, and one that destroys any steamboat that tries to cross and take the imperialists deeper into Africa (Watts, Cedric 165). The contradiction is evident when Marlow argues that he is appalled by liars, and this fact makes the argument very important according to Conrad. At one point, he claims “I know that sunlight can be deceiving, despite all this, no one feels manipulation of the light and pose could have conveyed the shade of truthfulness on such features. She appeared to listen in the absence of mental reservation, suspicion, and personal thoughts” (Conrad 151).

For that matter, she ends up believing the little that she was told or wanted to hear before Marlow succumbs to death. As a result, Marlow dies with the actual truth despite the harm that he had caused (Raskin, Jonah 130). Deconstructive criticism tries to unravel conflicting ideas that have been put together in a text to deliver a single message. Deconstructive criticism can be applied to the storytelling process that is developed by an anonymous character who as developed by Conrad to narrate Marlow’s journey across the heart of Africa. The narrator points out that for Marlow, "the meaning of an episode was not inside like a kernel but outside, enveloping the tale which brought it out only as a glow brings out a haze" (Conrad 20).

In respect to such a failure, a reader of the narration, while trying to understand Marlow’s confession, will be able to unravel that the veracity is deeply hidden by darkness. Deconstructive criticism on Heart of Darkness would also argue that the narration has racist tendencies. It is unarguable that the text condemns the progression of colonialism. However, there are certain aspects of the novel that tend towards racist ideologies although this might be unintended. Therefore, employing racist discourse in the narration somehow interferes with the capability of interrogating and unsettling colonialization, and therefore, this makes the text appear as though it supports the act (Apter, Andrew 579). "Bound in" Blackwood's": The imperialism of" The Heart of Darkness" in its immediate context.