Deception Through Color In Joseph Conrad's Heart Of Darkness

Deception through Colors Joseph Conrad throws the theory of white and black symbolizing good and bad out the window in the novella Heart of Darkness. As the main character Marlow journeys deeper into the heart of Africa the line between the two colors blurs and concepts are mingled about purity and enlightenment. White is not always as it seems, and the usage of the color often leads to more questions than answers. While, black is used constantly with the “savages,” as Marlow continues telling the story black takes on a deeper metaphorical meaning. Mainly the colors are used literally such as objects within the jungle, or even the color of the people along the Congo. However, sometimes the effect of the colors is subtle such as the
The main goal of working in the jungle is to export ivory. This product is pure white, and often times would symbolize purity. Except for here Marlow is using this color as a mask to the horror that had to occur to produce the export. “Strings of dusty niggers with splay feet arrived an departed; a stream of manufactured goods, rubbishy cottons, beads, and brass-wire set into the depths of the darkness, and in return came a precious trickle of ivory.” For the advancement of capitalism native Africans were forced to kill animals for their ivory. Conrad uses this to show that the consumer society is ignorant to the atrocities that must happen to support their economy. The colonist working for the company are constantly under the false impression that they are there to better the people of Africa, "the laborer is worthy of his hire" (58), which distracts them from their real purpose, which is exploiting the land. The only time that the readers get the literal sensation of this is when Marlow is stuck in the fog while going up the Congo. The fog obscures the workers from the jungle, and Marlow from his sense of direction. “It was very curious to see the contrast of the expressions of the white men and the black fellows of our crew, who were as much strangers to that part of the river as we" (97). While being engulfed in the fog Marlow is lost and does not know
He opens the novella by having the narrator describe the way the sun is reflecting off of the river in London, "a brooding gloom in sunshine, a lurid glare under the stars" (48). This description makes London appear happy and warm, but following Marlow’s story the sun suddenly appears darker and meaner. Although clouds have come in, the sun has not completely changed, the sunlight on the shore was blinding. The sunshine in the novel is a blinding force showing that within the light, the “goodness” that people are actually in the darkness because they do not know the truth. “We live in the flicker—may it last as long as the old earth keeps rolling!” Conrad is implying that the light, the enlightenment, is simply temporary and it may not continue. Once the light is removed the truth is revealed, for example Conrad alters light in Kurtz’s painting. “Then I noticed a small sketch in oils, on a panel, representing a woman, draped and blindfolded, carrying a lighted torch. The background was somber—almost black. The movement of the woman was stately, and the effect of the torchlight on the face was sinister”. The candle is supposed to represent a guiding force for the woman. However, at closer look Marlow describes the flicker as