AG
05-24-2005, 06:07 PM
I would just like to highlight one possible level of reading of this book as a commentary on the Belgian experience in the Congo. From most of the views currently posted here it would seem than many readers remain largely ignorant of the background to this book. Belgium’s actions of that time in the Congo were brutal even by the standards of that time and attracted widespread criticism. In part I believe that this book addresses that. If it is taken that Kurtz's intended represents Belgium and the beautiful black women of the jungle as the Congo then Kurtz is representative of the commercial enterprises of Belgium in the Congo. Viewed in this way parts of the novel make more sense - for example the naivety of Kurtz's intended to his actions. How do other feel about this interpretation?