Heart of Darkness post 2 (pages 86-103)

The moonlight in the novel Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad can be compared to the Belgian imperialism in the Congo. One night, Marlow is outside observing the land around him. He describes the scene and explains, “The moon ha[s] spread over everything a thin layer of silver” (96). Marlow further describes the unappealing grass and vegetation that surrounds his location. In the quotation, the moonlight has gilded the land so that it looks much nicer than it really is. This scene is analogous to the Belgian imperialism in the Congo. On the outside, it appears to be a grand operation. The Belgian people are going into the Congo in order to civilize the Congolese and educate the ‘savages’. However, this is only a façade. Underneath the initial benevolent intent of the mission there are the ugly inner workings of the imperialists. They force the Congolese to do hard labor for them and take advantage of the Congolese civilization’s inferior technology. All in all, the moonlight hides the ugly appearance of the land just like the grandeur of the Belgian empire hides its ugly inner workings in the Congo.