Imperialism Within the Heart of Darkness Essay Example for Free

Imperialism Within the Heart of Darkness Essay A phenomenon, The Heart of Darkness, is a classic novel by Joseph Conrad, who reward individuals with their dark nature. The darkness that the characters face within themselves is the anchor towards the main theme of imperialism. Native Africans, around the early 1900s, were victims of imperialism in the novel. The Europeans saw themselves as prodigies and felt everyone redundant wanted to be like them for they perceived themselves as extraordinary. The Europeans thought so highly of themselves that they wanted to civilize what they perceived the Native Africans to be—savages. Ironically, the process of civilization became imperialism, and the Europeans were the definition of savage while the Native Africans perceived themselves as civilized. Conrad strategically evolved this theme with the narrative of his novel and the various tones and symbols he used revolving around imperialism. These literary strategies and devices led readers to understand the secret of the darkness in the European heart, which was European imperialism. Entering the novel, Conrad has the narrator explain: â€Å"It was difficult to realize that his (the Director of Companies) work was not out there in the luminous estuary, but behind him within the brooding gloom† (Conrad 1). Here, Conrad’s use of pathetic fallacy forewarns his audience from the very beginning that the European companies are working in an unlawful matter (Shmoop.com). The Europeans are vague, and the fact they are working within the dark makes them more malicious. This behaviour leads to having an imperialistic nature because in order to have the desire to take over a race, in this case the Native Africans, one needs to already be in tuned with their dark nature. Conrad includes a second narrator, the protagonist to The Heart of Darkness, who makes a remark to the beautiful sunset over the Thames river in London saying: â€Å"‘And this also,’ said Marlow suddenly, ‘has been one of the dark places of the earth’† (1). For Marlow to reveal a beautiful image of England as being â€Å"one of the dark places of the earth† (1), tells individuals that the Europeans are morally corrupt (Shmoop.com). For the Europeans to do the morally bankrupt task of ‘civilizing’ the Native Africans, whom they acclaimed them to be the morally corrupt, only infers that the Europeans committed an offence to be proven guilty of the false accusation. The offence being imperialism; to be remarked as morally corrupt suggests that they encountered savage-like behaviours against the Native Africans. Therefore, through the narrative at the very beginning of the novel, one can infer that imperialism evolves as the Europeans are justified to have the dark nature to civilize a nation. Conrad sets the tone by casting a â€Å"mournful gloom† (Conrad 1) atop London. â€Å"The air was dark above Gravesend and farther back still seems condensed into a mournful gloom†¦over the biggest, and the greatest, town on earth† (1). This infers that darkness is bestowed on the purity of the â€Å"greatest town on earth† (1). Conrad decides to incorporate a mood-shifter to infer that the Europeans are victims to a form of darkness and that negative events will follow. Since their goal in the novel is to civilize the Native Africans, it is forewarned that they will try to civilize them with dark power leading to imperialism. Another area where Conrad sets a dark, gloomy mood would be when Marlow talks about humans being drawn to their madness hidden within their darkest self. â€Å"The fascination of the abomination—you know. Imagine the growing regrets, the longing to escape, the powerless disgust, the surrender, the hate† (1). Marlow’s words bring out the theme of curiosity; the curiosity of what lies within the darkest areas of an individual. This quote states that humans are fascinated with their abomination because they have not yet experienced it; but once they have, they feel powerless and yearn to escape, but the abomination overtakes them. This certain curiosity of evil and darkness is what reigns over Europe. They are so curious of their own darkness that they themselves get lost within it and become the culprits of imperialism. Thus, through the moods and tones Conrad implants at the very beginning of his novel, he brings forth the coming of events which evolve into the realization of imperialism. Conrad uses symbolism in The Heart of Darkness to heighten the approach towards imperialism. For example, the reader’s encounter with the Accountant of the ivory trading Company in the outer region of Africa. Marlow describes him as an elegant dresser: â€Å"†¦I met a white man, in such an unexpected elegance of get-up that in the first moment I took him for a sort of vision† (16). Here, Marlow enters the beginning of his journey to the heart of Africa, and seeing the Accountant dress beautifully makes him seem like some kind of â€Å"miracle† (16) since their setting at the particular moment is in contrast. The Accountant symbolizes the Company and its excellence, professionalism, and perfection. Despite the blazing heat and his surroundings of poverty, he always dresses well. This is the professionalism of the Company. The fact he immerses himself within his accounting books represents the Company’s excellence and perfection. But although he is a man of perfection, the fact that the sight of suffering Native Africans distracts him and causes mistakes in his work, this symbolizes the room for error in the Company. This is an approach towards imperialism because wrong and unjust actions are seen as ‘errors’ in which the Company is a culprit of. Also, the symbolization of flies and its representation of death heighten the approach to imperialism as well. Ever since the devil is nicknamed, the Lord of the Flies, flies have represented death (Shmoop.com). Flies are seen in parts one and three when slaves, as well as a man named Kurtz, have their life taken away. Since the flies are associated with the devil, this implies that the devil, or the darkness that overcomes Europeans, have a connection with the deaths of human lives. Therefore, Conrad uses different symbols such as the spotless attire of the Accountant and the devil’s flies to inform readers about the imperialistic actions of Europeans. Joseph Conrad uses narrative schemes, sets moods and tones, as well as involves symbolism to approach his major theme of imperialism. He takes readers to the darkness of the human soul, a space which reigns in every single human being. This allows the individuals to take note that they can be greatly influenced by their darkness: creating the ability to carry out unjust behaviours, such as committing imperialistic actions. Therefore, this novel is a great commentary to human error, such as being past culprits of imperialism, and brings awareness to human morality. Works Cited: â€Å"Heart of Darkness. Shmoop. Shmoop University, n.d. Web. 07 Jan. 2013. .

The Full Cupboard of Life Essay -- essays research papers

The Full Cupboard of Life is the fifth book in a delightful series of books by Alexander McCall Smith. The series started with The No.1 Ladies Detective Agency. Situated in Botswana, a country where the traditional values are slowly diminishing but life, as a whole rolls on. There are three main characters in the book; Mma Ramotswe, Mr J.L.B. Matekoni and Mma Makutsi. Mma Ramotswe is the star of the series and Botswana's No.1 Lady Detective. She started her agency after her father Obed Ramotswe, who was a good man and knew cattle like no other, died and left her the herd. She sold most of the cattle which enabled Mma Ramotswe to buy a house in Zebra drive and start her 'world famous' No.1 Ladies detective agency. Mma Ramotswe was in danger of being swamped by paperwork but luckily Mma Mak...

Amazon Case study

Question 1In what ways does Bezos’s decision to develop and deliver the Kindle and Kindle Fire show systematic and intuitive thinking?I think that Bezo’s decision to develop and to deliver the Kindle show systematic and intuitive thinking through competitive strategy to assure the success of the company. Competitive strategy refers to a strategy that is designed to create value for customers by providing lower prices or unique features not offered by rival organizations. This is proven based on Amazon’s quarterly filing ending March 31,2010 when their net sales had increased to 45% in the electronics category. Jeff Bezo, CEO of Amazon.com says â€Å" as we continue to offer increased selection, lower prices and additional product lines within our electronics and other general merchandise category, we expect to see the relative mix of sales from this category increase!†Another reason would be seeing an opportunity only Amazon.com can give long form reading to be digitalized. They have analyzed their strengths and capacities that helped them develop a new innovation in the market. From there, they were able to produce a refined product called Kindle that has the ability to review and remember more what a person reads follow people of interest and allows one to see their Public notes and manage his books, highlights, and notes.Question 2How do you describe the competitive risk in Amazon’s environment as Wal-Mart, Barnes and Noble, and other retailers strengthen their online offerings?Having the most of the services that Amazon provides myself it is my go to place for every time I am trying to make a purchase. In my opinion, since Amazon has established a great amount of customers and being the one of the most organized and friendly online place where you can purchase practically anything, it will be hard for other competitors to achieve such results. Also the greatest benefit to some people is not paying taxes on the products tha t they purchase which is currently being disused by the Government to have amazon costumers to pay a tax.Question 3Amazon is continuously looking for new markets to exploit. As CEO Bezos addresses the strategic opportunity of delivering streaming video, he calls on you for advice. Amazon’s presence and technology are already established in this market. But what decision error and traps might cause him to make the wrong decisions regarding Amazon’s future moves, and why? What can he do to best avoid these mistakes?Question 4What are the latest initiatives coming out of Amazon? How do they stack up in relation to actual or potential competition? How has the decision to produce the Fire turned out? Is Bezos making the right decisions as he guides the firm through today’s many business challenges?Latest initiatives that are coming out, is Prime membership.The benefits include:FREE Two-Day Shipping on eligible items. Note: If the item you're ordering is out of stock or unavailable to ship, we'll get it to you two days after it's back in stock. Remember to check the cut-off time shown on the detail page. Items are delivered every day but Sunday, and orders over $1300 may require a signature.FREE Standard Shipping on eligible items. FREE No-Rush Delivery (typical delivery one week after placing an order). Note: You may receive promotional credit for selecting No-Rush Shipping. Credit will be automatically applied to your Amazon.com account once the first package from a No-Rush Shipping-eligible order ships. You'll receive an e-mail as soon as the credit is available. You may select No-Rush Shipping as many times as it's offered to you, but you won't be eligible for the credit if you cancel your No-Rush Shipping order or return items from it.Shipping Upgrades to expedite delivery. Free Prime Instant Video access for paid or free trial members in the U.S. and Puerto Rico. Note: Instant Video isn't available to customers receiving free Amazon Prime shipping benefits through Amazon Student, Amazon Mom, or as guests of another membership.Kindle Owners' Lending Library access to members in the U.S. For more information, go to Kindle Owners' Lending Library. Note: Customers in a paid membership, free trial or receiving a free month of Prime benefits with a Kindle Fire activation are eligible. The Kindle device must be associated with the Prime account that's eligible for the benefit.Early access for members in the U.S. to download a new book for free every month from the Kindle First picks. For more information, go to Kindle First.An estimated 200 million fire tablets have been shipped worldwide since 2009 and another 1 billion are predicted to ship over the next five years. Market intelligence firm ABI Research estimates that 22% of the U.S. tablet users spend $50 or more per month and 9% spend $100 or more – much higher than the spending levels observed for smartphone users. The growing popularity of Amazon’s Kindl e Fire range could mean that a major share of this spending will be re-directed to Amazon’s online storefronts. Since Kindle devices are optimized to run on Amazon’s services, we expect them to drive greater adoption of Amazon’s services. We believe that the content business comprising eBooks and movie/music streaming will be the biggest gainer from the trend.In my opinion he is defiantly making the right moves especially in todays business world.

Hong Kong as a Member of the Outer Circle With Respect to the Global English-Using Communities Free Essay Example, 1500 words

From as early as during the period of the famous British Sovereignty in Hong Kong, the emergence of English as one of the primary language of communication has been hailed to be the fundamental factor which has enabled the country to develop economically. During this time of colonial rule from the year 1842 to 1941, Hong Kong was the nerve centre of all the commercial activities of China. At the time, English played a very vital role in terms of facilitating commercial activities within the region. At the same time, English found its place within the legal as well as the administrative circles. This development provided the much-needed impetus among the Chinese who opted to learn the language in order to secure employment opportunities in a range of fields as put forward by Evans and Green, (2001). In particular, the Chinese used the language as a leverage to gain employment opportunities as clerks within the government departments, middle-men for the foreign-owned enterprises which were based in Hong Kong as interpreters. On the other hand, as one way of facilitating for the smooth running of operations both within the business fraternity and government circles within its colony at the time, the British colonial authorities at the time made deliberate measures to make sure that English was learnt within Hong Kong. We will write a custom essay sample on Hong Kong as a Member of the Outer Circle With Respect to the Global English-Using Communities or any topic specifically for you Only $17.96 $11.86/page In particular, it has grown to become one of the key catalysts for its economic development in the region. Hence, this paper shall seek to explore the role played by English within Hong Kong especially in the professional and business domains. By so doing, the paper shall delve into its development in the country. Factors which have enabled for its spread shall also be analyzed in this regard.