Heart of Darkness

         The book, Heart of Darkness, by Joseph Conrad, was written over 100 years ago about a man named Marlow and his struggle with the morals behind imperialism and how the natives were treated when he took a job in Africa as a captain of a steamboat. As they were waiting for the boat to be fixed he noticed the natives that they had enslaved were malnourished, under paid, and over worked. As soon as the boat was fixed they ventured up the Congo River to meet a man named Kurtz, who was a respected and powerful man in the business, to find out he was slowly dying. He later learned one of his main goals was to wipe out all the natives, or as he called them "brutes", which were his last words before dying. Although this book was difficult to read and understand, I liked the story behind it. It's rare to hear stories of white men who showed any sympathy towards the natives and imperializing their land; especially someone who had some authority like Marlow did. 
           "No. I don't like work. I had rather laze about and think of all the fine things that can be done. I don't like work-no man does-but I like what is in the work-the chance to find yourself" was my favorite quote because it seems that most of the other white men in the book dedicated their lives to their work and didn't care who they stepped on or hurt to get a level higher. That's what made Marlow unique; he saw the bigger picture of getting life lessons out of his work and not just a pay check and also learned the value of a human. Not saying he accepted the natives completely and saw them as equal, but just seeing them as more than an animal.
            I could make a lot of connections between the books I read in class last year and to this book. I also got an edition where there were other respected writers and people who wrote their views and thoughts on the book. After reading a couple of those it helped me understand the book a lot better, mostly because it was more modern language. Even though it was a little hard to understand at first I loved all the details and different styles of descriptions he put into this book. It helped create a picture and understand what it was like back then. I had to re-read over and over but in the end I think I got the main idea and point of this book.