In the beginning of the novel Heart
of Darkness by Joseph Conrad, the reader is introduced to a man named
Marlow who is telling his fellow sailors the story of the time he sailed into
the Congo. In his story, right before Marlow is about to start his journey into
the heart of the country, he stays with a man who appears to be an accountant
for the Belgian imperialists. This man likes silence while he works so that he
can concentrate on managing his records, so much so that he tells Marlow, “When
one has got to make correct entries, one comes to hate those savages-hate them
to the death” (86). The savages refer to the enslaved native Congolese, and the
quotation displays the lack of regard the Belgians have towards the people of
the Congo. Even this early in the novel, the reader can infer that the
imperialists are obsessed with gaining riches for their country, for they will
not help the natives that are dying literally right outside their doorstep
because the sick natives are of no use to the imperialists. The Congolese are
seen as replaceable work animals, not as humans with rights. Also, when the man
claims that he hates the natives ‘to the death’, it must be considered that the
accountant’s hatred of these people is actually killing them. He will not lift
a finger to help then natives, and he routinely lets the sick ones die even
when they are living in the same room as him. The sick Congolese are especially
a nuisance to him, for all he cares about is how much money he can make off of
the healthy workers. This man epitomizes the disregard the Belgian imperialists
have for the people they are supposed to justly rule over.
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