/lit/ - Literature

[Anonymous No.10168783]

Is it really a critique of colonialism? I read it years ago and don't remember everything very well, but I think it's a really shallow way of interpreting it.

[Anonymous No.10168944]

>>10168783
How would you interpret it?

[Anonymous No.10168953]

>>10168783
>substantiate absolutely nothing
>give no examples
>offer an empty interpretation
Truly fascinating, anon.

[Anonymous No.10169262]

>>10168783
>WE WUZ SUFFERIN N SHEIT

[Anonymous No.10169275]

>>10168953
pretty much this

[Anonymous No.10169278]

>>10168953
>expecting a dissertation on a n anonymous indonesian cartoon forum

[Anonymous No.10169315]

read this instead nerd

[Anonymous No.10169356]

I mean, it is definitely a theme of the novel, but I would argue that the critique of colonialism is part of a broader theme of the horror of the dark heart of human existence and suffering of which colonial brutality in Africa for Conrad was one specific example of.

[Anonymous No.10169676]

>>10169356
This
People get so caught up in the "but muh colonialism" theme of the novel that they forget that the point is that at the heart of all men is a heart of darkness

[Anonymous No.10169737]

>>10169356
>>10169676
Yeah, not exactly a critique of colonialism per se, but of the way in which women in their dainty parlors and lords in their stately manors put on airs of civility, honor, and moral superiority when they were commanding such terrible actions. It's quite clear that Kurtz is wanted dead not for the atrocity of his actions, but for his beginning of a new colony outside of and beyond the control of the "company". The idea is not that darkness rests out in the wilds, but on the edges of man's mind and in the center of his heart. Kurtz braved the darkness and sparked a new light, horrible to us because it is not ours. Had he not become ill, it's quite clear he would have begun an empire of his own.

[Anonymous No.10169912]

>>10169676
>>10169737
Ding ding ding

>tfw my ancestors were on both ends of this horror