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.