Racism and Imperialism

The overwhelming sense of racism in Heart of Darkness is not simply emblematic of the time period, but representative of how racism was introduced into the Congo and who is responsible for introducing it. It is not one specific person, but the concept many individuals comprised when deciding the fate of the African settlements. The idea of imperialism has been thrown around the book often enough to infer it has some major influence on how the novel will inevitably turn out. True enough, the remnants and hypocrisy of imperialism stand out to Marlow during his African endeavor:  

[For instance], one evening a grass shed full of calico, cotton prints, beads, and I don’t know what else, burst into a blaze…a stout man with moustaches (sic) came tearing down the river, a tin pail in hand, [he] assured me that everybody was ‘behaving splendid’…I noticed there was a hole in his pail…There was no hurry…A nigger was being beaten nearby. They said he had caused the fire in some way. (91-92)

The feeling that these events have no meaning relates to the nonsensical actions of an imperialistic state. There is this felt need to keep the enslaved captors working and at fault for everything that goes wrong. Marlow practically criticizes imperialism, yet he is in no way sympathetic of the enslaved. What Conrad is trying to focus on in these chapters, and most importantly the entire book, is the hypocrisy of imperialism. Through the use of rugged racism and unconcerned characters, Conrad mocks the premise of imperialism by using one of its greatest drawbacks to his advantage. The paradoxical use of racism as an enemy to imperialism displays both its hypocrisy and complicated understanding that Conrad discusses in depth through Marlow’s careful analysis and interpretation of themes and events.

The Chaos of Imperialism

The time period surrounding the Belgian occupation of Congo has an abundance of racism, poverty, death, and corruption. Robert Hayden, in an anecdote demonstrated by Marlow, displays these characteristics through careful observations of the chaos that is created by imperialistic policies. Shortly following Marlow’s description of his first day off the boat in Congo, his observations become reminiscent of what Robert Hayden believes to be the corruption of imperialism: “This was the place where some of the helpers had withdrawn to die […] they were dying slowly  […] nothing but black shadows of disease and starvation” (83). According to the Berlin Conference of 1884 to 1885, the distribution of African lands among the European powers was granted to enforce prosperity on both states. The observations of Marlow show the exact opposite. Robert Hayden is conveying the message that imperialism is corrupt and chaotic, where the very people its principles are trying to protect are actually slowly killing them. The motif of observation coincides with the theme of imperialism as an absurdity in that it describes maltreatment and poverty of these African nations. The chaos of imperialism further validates the very hypocrisy of the concept; the observations point to the clear sense that more harm is being done than good in these African settlements.

Ghost of a Chance - Figurative Language

Blog post #4:

Ghost of a Chance

Body Paragraph linking figurative language to the meaning of the poem:

            The use of figurative language in this poem is effective in displaying how society does not allow other to speak out and act or think differently. This is shown in the beginning of the poem when the narrator sees “a man / trying to think” (1-2) and all the narrator wants to do is say, “keep off! Give him room!” (6), but one can “only watch, terrified” (7-8). The narrator, like most of society, is trapped and isolated from speaking out uniquely. These first few lines are then magnified by the use of figurative language in lines 10-15:

                        Like a fish

                        half-dead from flopping

                        and almost crawling

                        across the shingle,

                        almost breathing

                        the raw, agonizing

                        air.

The analogy of the man trying to think and the fish trapped, gasping for air, is synonymous of how our society reflects negatively upon those who try to be different. The fish represents the struggles of those who do not fit in with society, and this is displayed through the simile. The syntax of the these lines make the readers speak with short breath, feeling trapped and lonely themselves, just how the lone man trying to think critically feels suffocated by society’s menacing grip. Only the personification of the “triumphant sea” (18-19) reeling the fish back into the blind ocean reveals how our society copes with these stragglers, by silencing them and pulling them back under its tight grasp. The common man is doomed by conformity, an agent of society’s tyrannical reign over its people.  

Crossing the Highway

Cross by Langston Hughes

Thesis: In his multiple connotative poem, Cross, Langston Hughes discusses the turmoil and ambiguity of his ethnic background through examples of colloquialism, parallelism, and antithesis. 

-          Colloquialism

·         “My old man’s a white old man / And my old mother’s black” (Cross 1-2). The reference to how he addresses his parents allude to a discriminatory time period in America (perhaps pre-to-early-1900); this setting motions to the turmoil of Langston as a half black, half white crossbred, an association to the ambiguous title of the poem.

-          Parallelism

·         Consider the following two quotations:

§  “My old man’s a white old man / And my old mother’s black” (1-2).

§  “My old man died in a fine big house. / My ma died in a shack” (9-10).

The first quotation occurred in the first two lines of the poem, and the final quotation appeared in the first two lines of the last stanza. This parallel structure augments the connotation towards being White and being Black. Langston Hughes is making another association with the title through his burden of being ethnically diverse (mixed or crossed heritage). By associating his parents with how well they lived and died, Hughes strongly implies his unforgiving ethnical adversity as a member of society.

-          Antithesis

·         Consider the following two quotations:

§  “If ever I cursed my white old man / I take my curses back” (3-4).

§  “If ever I cursed my black old mother / And wished she were in hell, / I’m sorry for that evil wish / And now I wish her well” (5-8).

These two examples show parallel structure, but they inscribe different meanings. The antithesis is that the two parents are distinguished in their cruelty to their “crossing”, or wrongdoing son. The distinction in character of the mother and father only further increase the social barrier between the two, eventually creating a barrier for Hughes to cross as well. This obstacle is explicitly developed in the final two lines of the poem.