Part III Regarding KURTZ
Marlow observes: "All Europe contributed to the making of Kurtz". In what ways may Kurtz be regarded as representative of European attitudes and of European colonizing efforts? What self-contradictory aspects of so-called Western civilization does Conrad stress in his story?
Kurtz, although not directly shown, is a very greedy person that his sole desire was to get ivory and make money. He is representative of European attitudes in that he, along with the rest of the people in Europe, is greedy. The purpose of colonizing is to make money and Kurtz does exactly that. A self-contradictory aspect that Conrad stresses of this so-called Western civilization is that greed may be their driving force in all of their westernization, but Kurtz contradicts this in that he grew a bond with these natives. Kurtz is greedy to gain as much wealth as he can, but contradicts the typical European style by appreciating and bonding with the natives that live in the darkness.
Kurtz is representative of European attitudes and colonizing efforts because he is the leader. Driven by money, he is able to have his voice heard by everyone around him. The idea of having voice is important in this novel, because it means that people will follow and listen to whoever has that voice, regardless of what is said. Kurtz had a reputation that was glorified and not exactly true. In a way, this directly parallels the reason why they are in Africa. Colonizing Africa has the appearance of doing good by civilizing the savage natives, but in reality the only reason they are there is to extract as much money as possible and have no care for the people while doing it. The European attitude that they share is a greedy and cruel one. All of them feel that their sole purpose of being there is to get ivory and make money. The idea of the white man’s burden is self-contradictory in Conrad’s novel. They see the white man as one who goes to colonize in order to being civilization and humanity to the area, but in reality they are going there for profit an destroying the people there.
Kurtz can be regarded as a representative of European attitudes due to the fact that he is greedy and money thirsty like them. His whole life is dedicated to gaining more ivory which results in gaining more money. Although Kurtz wanted to colonize Africa to make money and raise his business, he became close with the natives which is the self-contradictory aspect of so-called Western civilization. Kurtz never intended to become close with the naives, but he does because they both share the same darkness. This is the difference between the European attitudes and colonizing efforts and Kurtz.
Kurtz could be regarded as a representative of European attitudes and of European colonizing efforts to a great extent because Kurtz represents European imperialism. In a sense he represents all of Europe as evidenced by his mixed background from a variety of European nations. Kurtz's cruelty also represents European imperialism's footprint in Africa. Kurtz's actions directly represent European imperialism and his doom at the end of the novel foreshadows the impending failure of colonization efforts in Africa. Self-contradictory aspects of Western civilization that Conrad stresses in Heart of Darkness include: the fact that those said to bring light really bring darkness and that the civilized Europeans turn to savages.
This quote from Marlow is due to the fact Kurtz's mother is 1/2 English & his father is 1/2 French.
Kurtz is an ivory trader who was sent to Africa by a shady European company. Originally, as shown by his painting, Kurtz is concerned with bringing 'light' to Africa - light being civilization. He soon abandons the idea of that when he forms a bond with the native people.
Kurtz uses force to get the most Ivory than any other station. Like the other Europeans involved in the Company, Kurtz is greedy, only caring about making money and obtaining mass amount of ivory.
While he once had good intentions, Kurtz dies believing the Company should "Exterminate all the brutes!" His death is foreshadowing for how colonization efforts in Africa will fail.
Kurtz may be regarded as representative of European attitudes and of European colonizing efforts because he is strongly influenced by greed and wealth. Kurtz is known for making the company more money through ivory than all of the other working people in Africa. At multiple points in the story Kurtz gives off cues showing his great obsession and need for ivory and thus money. Just as Kurtz has an obsession for Ivory Europe has an obsession for wealth which is why they are in Africa in the first place. Self-contradictory aspects of so called Western civilization that Conrad stresses in his story is the idea that colonizing Africa is helping Africa. The idea of The white mans burden; the westerners are colonizing Africa with the idea that they are civilizing it when in fact they are only causing harm and making Africa worse by bringing harm and fear to the natives.
Kurtz was a character that achieved greatness for the Europeans in the heart of Africa, though he did succeed using unethical methods that are questionable when compared to morals of the time. Kurtz is regarded as a representative of European attitudes based on the way that he easily influences native tribes and uses this to his advantage. The impact he has on the savages themselves benefits him and his people without their knowledge of that. He also represents European colonizing efforts by taking possession of the land that he deems inhabitable. And because of this, we see that Kurtz has the ability to take whatever it is that will help him triumph in any of his beliefs. Conrad stresses that the European people in the story think that they're doing the right thing by trying to civilize the natives, but it results in the opposite, leading to no resolution for the country or its people.
Kurtz portrays European attitudes in various events in Part III. Europeans are described as power thirsty, self-driven, and cowardly, which Kurtz represents all of these attitudes. As Marlow listens to the diverse descriptions of Kurtz, one belief is constant ivory controlling the minds of men which Kurtz seems to repeat for himself and Europe. Towards the end of part III, Kurtz reflects upon his progress in Africa and avoids his retribution by dying, displaying his cowardice of facing his guilt. In addition of Kurtz representing European attitudes, he also represents European colonizing efforts. The Colonization efforts in Africa are ironic of actual attempts of colonizing. Kurtz is the irony of colonizing by how he uses the natives for his own benefits instead of the natives. Kurtz as well as Europeans have the advantage of being isolated away from Europe which leaves leverage for anything to happen including the lack of colonization. Conrad stresses that the western civilization is supposed to be full of sophistication, self contradicting itself, for example the lack of humanity for the natives and the Europeans described to have a well kept wardrobe are ignorant to reality.
Kurtz represents the typical European attitude toward the African Natives, being that he is both half english and half french. Throughout the novella, right up until the end, Kurtz makes his decisions based on self-interest and what he would gain personally, rather than thinking about the effects it would have on the Natives. The Natives see Kurtz as some sort of white, powerful ‘God’. The influence that Kurtz has over the natives, suggests that his control over them is extreme, and that they would do anything for him. As well as his power, Kurtz’ obsessive and greedy nature, with regard to ‘his’ ivory trade, suggests that Europeans only went to Africa not to help the Natives, but only to use their resources and disregard the whole idea of making Africa a better, more civilised place. Europeans first went to Africa, in order to help Africa become a civilised nation. This, however, was not the case; the Europeans used Africa's essential resources, and eventually brought the land to complete darkness because of the corruption of the ivory trade, and the savagery that was still within which they failed to remove.*
During the colonization of Africa, many people had different views regarding the conquest of Africa and many people had different specific reasons for controlling the resources in Africa. In Kurtz's case, he represents the idea that the Europeans were far superior compared to the Africans and that the Europeans needed to help stimulate economic growth and westernization of society in the different African nations. Although Kurtz originally viewed the conquest of Africa in this way, as his life and journey within Africa progressed, it became more and more relevant that Kurtz's motives were driven by economic wants and greed. Furthermore, Kurtz believed it was necessary to colonize more and more villages within the heart of darkness in order to fulfill the economic greed of himself and the greed of European society as a whole. Conrad presents contradictions in the story among the Europeans by describing how many of the managers lacked a true motive to be in Africa. Also, presents these contradictions when he depicts Kurtz in the story. In the beginning, Kurtz is described as an a-typical colonist and workman who views Africa as a place as economic success. However, when Marlow meets Kurtz for the first time, Kurtz's appearance represents an appearance of a lost or dying African rather than a strong, successful European.
Kurtz is representative of the European colonizing efforts in that he is in Africa originally to obtain ivory. He is clearly power hungry by how he acts like a God to the native people and imposes his will over them. Contradictory to Western Civilization though, Kurtz's journey to hunt for Ivory does not end up being part of a grand imperialistic plan for all of Europe but more a self indulging journey toward the darkest aspects of mankind. He develops an obsession for Ivory and allows himself to be consumed by his own lustful desires. He becomes less and less civilized to the point where all he wants is Ivory. The greatest difference between Kurtz's version of imperialism and the European colonizing efforts is that Kurtz found himself in a situation with no boundaries to keep his inner demons contained, whereas in Europe, society limits greed.
Kurtz may be regarded as representative of European attitudes and colonizing efforts in his essential robbing of the natives. As the most profitable agent, he essentially did what imperialism meant. He took the ivory with little or none profit for the natives, as the Company grew rich helping its country prosper.
The self-contradictory aspects of civilization include Kurtz becoming essentially one of the savages, adopting their customs and being essentially worshiped by them. As one of the Westerners, Kurtz wasn’t supposed to become one of the “savages.” Also, the whites are supposed to act rather civilized yet they are often purposeless and even go crazy like Marlow’s predecessor in the jungle and his companion who wants men killed for simply a scraped nose.
There are many ways in which Kurts represents the Europeans attitudes and colonizing efforts. Kurtz is what all of the natives and Europeans think of when they think of how to be wealthy and admired. Kurtz is all-around a very greedy person and is top priority is to collect ivory and to make money. The purpose of colonizing Africa is to do good by civilizing the natives but in reality the only reason Kurtz is in Africa is to make money and he actually doesn't care for the natives well-being whatsoever. A self-contradictory aspect of so-called Western civilization that Conrad uses in his story is that greed may be the primary reason for Kurtz in his westernization, but Kurtz actually grew a bond with the natives.
Kurtz represents the Europeans attitudes and their efforts to colonize in many ways. One of the ways is Kurtz's desire to gain power in Africa. His desire represents how one of the reasons for European colonization and expansion is for power. Also, he represents how Europeans colonized in places for raw materials, like ivory. Lastly, greed is shown when Kurtz covets for power and money from finding ivory, and this displays the European attitudes as they colonize for money. A self=contradictory aspect of western civilization is that they are savages and bring despair to other countries in reality, opposite of their own beliefs that they are advanced, civilized and that they are trying to turn savages into civilized people.
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