The Binary Oppositions in Joseph Conrad's Novel Heart of Darkness

Abstract

The novel Heart of Darkness is regarded as one of Joseph Conrad's highly skilled works and seen as an important tale written between the years of 1898 - 1899, and also viewed as an assault on imperialism and unethical behaviors of the European colonizers in Africa in the nineteenth century. The novel displays the author's humanity towards the crimes of the colonists and imperialists throughout the world. In Heart of Darkness, Conrad shows the cruelty of colonialism in Africa through his major character, Charlie Marlow, who realizes the cruel manners of Belgian colonialism during his journey to the Congo looking for the European ivory agent, Kurtz. This novel is a combination of two opposite things. It exposes the author's viewpoint regarding the ethics of the Europeans and the Africans.

       This research concentrates on the binary oppositions in Heart of Darkness through Marlow's journey to Africa and exposes Marlow's struggle between his human nature and his beliefs and replies whether his conflict will be effective and bring good results or negative.