Heart Of Darkness: Close But Far

Throughout the first and second chapter of Heart Of Darkness, Conrad shows two opposite worlds which live together. The idea of the British colonizers living beside the poor and exploited natives shows the contrast between these two types of lives. This concept reminds me of Rio de Janeiro, where the favelas are encircled by some of the richest sectors of the city. It is ironic that so much poverty is really close to such richness. Conrad portrays the idea that the only intention of the powerful is to obtain all the money from the poor. Conrad describes the colonizer's purpose as: "To tear the treasure out of the bowels of the land was their desire, with no more moral purpose at the back of it than there is in burglars breaking into a safe" (pg. 54). Tearing the ivory out of country wouldn't be such a problem if it was done without hurting the natives. The problem with the approach taken by the English is that they enslaved the natives for them to extract the ivory. A high level of unfairness is created, creating opposite types of lives.

What makes this difference in reality worse is that the poor have the wealth in front of their faces. I imagine a kid in the favela playing with a torn car and when he sees towards the buildings, he sees a kid playing with a remote controlled car. When the wealth is not as near these extremes wouldn't affect the people. The daily work in the novel could also be part of these extremes According to Marlow: "I don't like work-no man does-but I like what is in the work,-the chance to find yourself. Your own reality" (Conrad, 51). I am sure that the colonizers as well as the slaves have a chance to find themselves in their work. The only difference is that one suffers little and uses up the resources of another man's land, and the other is exploited and has to aid foreigners to extract the resources from their own land. Even though Marlow says that no man likes to work I am sure that he would prefer any type of work than helping others destroy what is his. By placing these two opposite realities so close together Conrad manages to portray the miserable life of the natives compared to the easy life of the colonizers.