Heart of Darkness Blog #2

In Heart of Darkness, Marlow begins to tell his story by first describing the relationship between the colonization of a different civilization. In describing the colonization of England by the Roman empire, Conrad does a good job setting up the premise for the rest of the story and thus Marlow's journey to the Congo. Initially viewed as a savage land, England was colonized and transformed for a place of brutish ambition into a land of wealth and human triumph. Yet, Marlow notes that England was not settled peacefully and it was only through senseless violence that England was transformed. Conrad perhaps includes this as an analogy to events that will take place further throughout the story in the Congo. Perhaps the colonization of the Congo was a much more violent and nonsensical experience then Marlow would have hoped.