Conrad makes a detailed portrayal of the changing from civilized to savage when Marlow sits down in the shade of the forest to escape the heat and re

alizes he is surrounded by starving natives, “ They were dying slowly...not enemies...not criminals...nothing earthly”(Conrad 83). Marlow offers one of them a biscuit and the native man does not see it as food. Marlow realizes that these people have suffered under European rule. They are not being “enlightened” to the efficient European ways. Marlow sees that the Europeans presence is not making the Africans more civilized, it is turning the Europeans into the savages that they despise. This epiphany is the beginning of Marlow’s understanding that he has not taken a job with opportunity and money; his job is filled with , inefficient European people who have forgotten the reasons for colonizing Africa. They are people that now take their insanity out on the natives they came to teach and civilize, but ultimately have begun to emulate.

Throughout Heart of Darkness Conrad shows the theme that civilized people will become savage and uncivilized if they have to live with people they consider to have those traits. One of his most significant manners of depicting this theme is through setting. Marlow’s encounter with the starving natives is one setting that adds to the theme. Kurtz station is another setting that is imperative to Conrad’s message. These examples gives readers insights into the ways of African imperialism, and the disgusting results of losing sanity in uncivilized situations. This idea was very important at the time the book was written because of the importance of efficiency and civilized manor in Victorian England. Knowing civilized peoples tendencies and having experienced imperialism Conrad was able to send a thematic message through the settings of his literature.

Conrad makes a detailed portrayal of the changing from civilized to savage when Marlow sits down in the shade of the forest to escape the heat and realizes he is surrounded by starving natives, “ They were dying s

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