“King Leopold II may we please go to Congo to conqueror them and use them as slaves so they can produce goods for us‚” asked a Belgian military soldier. The King of Belgium at the time was King Leopold II‚ answered by saying‚ “why yes! That would be such a great idea to spread imperialism around the world.” Imperialism was being spread by Western civilizations to foreign countries and they were bullying the foreign countries‚ because they were bigger and stronger than they were. The Western nations
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King Leopold the II‚ is infamously known as the sole creator of the “Congo Free State”‚ modern day Republic of the Congo. The Congo region was and still is a vastly diverses area of modern day Africa. However‚ when King Leopold began his expedition to africa‚ the area was occupied by a vast amount diverse groups of people‚ but predominantly‚ the Bantu migrants which settled in the vastly resourceful land near lake Tanganyika. This immensely resourceful land was in the forefront of various european
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three characters that display the most hypocrisy‚ King Leopold‚ Henry Morton Stanley and Colonel George Washington Williams. The biggest hypocrite of the three was King Leopold himself in the colonization of the Congo. One would think that a newly formed country that was once under rule of many different countries would be content with what they have and not look to rule or seize another less developed country. King Leopold’s comment “Belgium does not exploit the world‚” (Hochschild 38) is the exact
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The Misrepresentation of Africa The 19th century was one of the most important time periods that helped shape the world into what it is today. Western European powers‚ such as Great Britain‚ Germany‚ and France‚ strongly believed in the notion that in order to gain more dominant global power‚ they would have to conquer new lands across the globe and exploit the territories’ resources. Throughout the early and mid 1800s‚ the nations of Western Europe upheld imperialism‚ conquering and exploiting
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In Conrad’s 1902 novella Heart of Darkness‚ there are several ways of interpreting Marlow’s journey down the Congo River. Marlow’s journey is symbolic and metaphoric‚ and hence can be interpreted psychoanalytically‚ mythically and historically. A psychoanalytical reading involves examining Marlow’s journey in the light of Freud’s and Nietzsche’s understanding of humanity’s inner psyche. A mythical understanding reverberates on the plot‚ such that Marlow engages on a heroic quest to find his holy
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remorselessness of European guideline in Africa for the purpose of economic increase. At first called the Congo Free State‚ the province remained an individual ownership of King Leopold II from 1885 until 1908 when it was assumed control by the Belgian government and renamed the Belgian Congo. The Congo Free State as it existed under Leopold II is to a great extent known not for its brutal misuse of the local Congolese populace
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(1876). Several years later he hired Henry Morton Stanley to be his right-hand man in Africa. For half a decade‚ Stanley traveled the Congo setting up posts‚ building roads‚ and persuading chiefs─practically all being illiterate─to sign treaties with Leopold. The treaties‚ some of which doctored to Leopold’s benefit‚ were then put to use by the Belgian monarch (Britannica). Rubber was booming during that time‚ and the Congo free estate had one lucrative source of wild rubber‚ and it was the Landolphia
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BIOGRAPHICAL ASPECTS IN CONRAD’S HEART OF DARKNESS Conrad wrote in his author’s note to Heart of Darkness that the novel was "authentic in fundamentals" and that it represented "experience pushed a little (and only a very little) beyond the actual facts of the case." In fact‚ many details and even characters in Heart of Darkness come from real life and also from some pages of Conrad’s Congo diary. Conrad started his career as a sailor on a French ship. In 1878 when he was at the age of 20
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Sven Lindqvist’s Analysis – “Exterminate all the Brutes” In the 1800s‚ there was exponential growth in population‚ energy‚ production‚ innovations‚ etc. that led to an era called the Industrial Revolution. The Industrial Revolution brought imaginary ideas and concepts to realization. New innovations such as the steam engine‚ interchangeability of parts‚ vehicles‚ telegraph‚ and AC power paved the way for this exponential growth on a local and global scale. Thus‚ countries began to boom and expand
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finds the secret not worth knowing"(48). Conrad must have felt this excitement upon hearing the news that he was to travel to the Congo for four months. After witnessing the "abomination"(50) that took place in the Congo under the rule of King Leopold II‚ Conrad felt that "the secret" he was so enthusiastic about four months prior was "never worth knowing". The theme of Heart of Darkness is the immorality of imperialism. The narrator expresses the widespread belief that imperialism is a glorious
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