Analysis of Heart of Darkness By: Tan Ly

There are several important themes and ideas that make the novella, "A Heart of Darkness," by Joseph Conrad, an unforgettable novel. The main theme is absolute power corrupts absolutely. The theme demonstrates the corruption and the enslavement caused by the white people as they took over the Congo. White men were giving all the power, they had no self-restraint, and in the end they did not use wisely. The white men became corrupt. At the …

…create resentment against Belgium's imperialistic ways in the Congo. Throughout the novel Conrad uses the theme of absolute power that corrupted the white men absolutely. This showed how white men abused their power in the Congo. It showed how the natives suffered a period of enslavement and cruel treatment by white people. This novella gives a very precise image of how imperialism affected in a negative way the Congo, the white men, and the natives.