British Colonization versus Belgian Colonization in Heart of Darkness: A Contrastive Textual Study of Imperialism/Colonialism in English Literature

This paper essentially examines the British and the Belgian modes of colonialism. Using New Historicism, this write up argues that while Kurtz symbolizes the Belgian colonizer in the Congo, Marlow represents British imperialism in the Congo, Africa, India and the World and that Marlow serves as a link between the British and the Belgian colonial modes of imperialism. From an in-depth analysis of the novel, it is realized that British imperialism in Heart of Darkness is principally portrayed in Marlow and his crew members in the River Thames and that Belgian colonization in the Congo is depicted in the character of Mr Kurtz and characters like the Chief Accountant of the Outer Station, the Brickmaker, the Manager of the Central Station, the uncle of the Manager of the Central Station and the pilgrims who are said to be bewitched also in the Central Station Belgian and British colonization‟s are primarily presented in the novel but other European colonization‟s are also mentioned in passing in the text like the Romans, the French, the Danes, the Dutch, the Swedes, the Germans and the Russians.