Heart of Darkness: Reading #1

“The water shone pacifically; the sky, without a spec, was a benign immensity of unstained light[…] Only the gloom to the west, brooding over  the upper reaches, became more somber every minute, as if angered by the approach of the sun” (Conrad 66).

In this quotation Conrad is beginning to express his feelings about imperialism and in particular his view of how Europe takes part in imperializing other countries. This is illustrated by the way the light falls everywhere except on Europe. The light is also pure because of its white color. This illustrates that the other countries are being enlightened and improved by imperializing, but Europe is not experiencing the same benefit. The darkness is illustrated as having more depth than the white light, because there is more that is not seen under darkness. This description exemplifies that Conrad is not concerned about how imperializing affects the people whose land is being taken over, but how imperializing is affecting Europe.  The quotation begins to explain the complexity of Imperialism during this time period.