Throughout Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness, a feeling of imperialism is present. Imperialism is defined as “the acquisition and holding of colonies and dependencies.” Throughout the novel, many of the journeys Marlow encounters contain imperialist ideas. The entire continent is used as a symbol for this theme. So you can say that imperialism is just as bad as the disease that a lot of people are getting in Congo, they are infected. Which really begs the question: is it just the Congo that's making us sick, or is there a sense of darkness inside of us hiding waiting to come out. At the beginning of the novel, Marlow travels through the jungle and many scenes of life can be seen. Africa seems to be conquered by many travelers, which leads one to wonder what is the ulterior motive? Africa is a third world country, which makes it easy for someone to come and speak on its platform. It's very easy to say that these men aren't the biggest fans of people of color, so it's plausible that they've come to instill a sense of imperialism. As Marlow crosses the waters of the Congo, the troubles of the natives are easily seen. “Black shapes crouching, lying, sitting between the trees, leaning against the trunks, clinging to the earth half protruding, half erased by the weak light, in all attitudes of pain, abandonment and despair. » (20) Show that the detention of these colonies began. The soldiers arrived and took the inhabitants, destroying them and taking from them the one thing they deserve above all: life. The imperialists don't seem to care about Africans and are only there for their land. Compared to 19th century imperialism, it's almost the same. 19th and 20th century imperialism...... middle of paper ......a side of people that is not the norm. Which connects imperialist thinking to jungle madness. Which makes one wonder if the soldiers never entered the jungle, would they be normal? Or have they always needed to kill and manage people. While this may be good for expansion and for the right technology to arrive, do innocent people have to die while standing? Throughout this novel, many different themes are present, and it is very graphic, but you can see that even at the end, Marlow is questioning his sanity because of the jungle. Even the thick taste of the jungle is dangerous, as Marlow says in the last lines of the book. "The open sea was barred by a bank of black clouds, and the quiet stream leading to the ends of the earth flowed dark under an overcast sky - seemed to lead into the heart of an immense darkness..” (96)