Although it is true that Conrad naturalises and centres many ideologies of the late nineteenth century, he essentially attacks the exploitation of Africans inflicted by the European colonisers, challenging and criticising imperialist practices and their negative effects upon Africa and its people. Conrad achieves this by exposing the colonisers sinister and ulterior motives of economic gain behind the moral facade of bringing 'light' [civilisation] to the 'Dark Continent. By doing this, he rejects the traditional symbolic associations of the dichotomous light and dark imagery with 'civilisation' and 'savagery'. This presents to the reader imagery of death and waste, which was brought forth by European imperialist ventures, and the representations of Africans and Africa as the victi

Heart of Darkness condemns the idea of economic exploitation of Africa and Africans by representing the colonialist experience in terms of death and decay. For example, the text depicts the African setting in which the Europeans exist as "a scene of inhabited devastation" (p.19). This is further reinforced by the representation of the cart as "dead as the carcass of some animal" (p.19) and the "objectless blasting [which] was the only work going on" (p.19). By defining the colonisers in Africa in terms of impotence, frustration of male energy and moral decay, Conrad distances the text from the naturalised view of European males as the embodiments of morality and work ethics, instead destabilising this assumption.

The images of devastation are not only limited to the land. As Marlow approaches the Company station he encounters more examples of this death and decay, of not only machinery but of people as well.

Africa was not considered to possess a 'history' as such and was thus disempowered as Africa was seen as savage. Secondly, Europeans saw Christianity and the only religion connected with knowledge and thus civilisation. The Africans were not homogeneous with any recognised religion. Instead the practised "strange witchcraft" (p.29) and performed "unspeakable rites", thus again disempowered. T

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Approximate Word count = 882
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)