Veni, Vidi, Vici (Reader Response)

Although Joseph Conrad’s novella, The Heart of Darkness, is not a story that a student would be dying to open up again just to see where the plot is going, there are so many deeper messages hidden in the text. Conrad’s novella is not the type of story that holds a students attention for more than a few minutes and I know that I had a very difficult time remember what I read the line before, but I decided I had to take a different approach to finish the novel. After adjusting to the overly descriptive, slow-moving story line of The Heart of Darkness I found that there are a number of great ideas and theories that are definitely worth reading.

The first great idea brought forward by Conrad is, “We live as we dream- alone.” Conrad was addressing a number of issues when he said this. This line meant a lot to me. Maybe I read it wrong, but Conrad made it sound as though each person has the choice to make their life. “You’ve made your bed, so lie in it.” Only I can live my life and make of it what I want it to be. Addressing the theories on imperialism, it’s every man for himself. If a business man wants to get ahead he must strive to be a better man, better than all of the rest of civilization. Mr. Kurtz believed he was doing this by having somewhat of a monopoly over the ivory industry in the Congo. Mr. Kurtz knew in order to get ahead he had to make something of himself, even if it meant stepping on a few toes, so that is what he did. Mr. Kurtz was very prosperous. “We live as we dream-alone.” Kurtz made the decision to be successful, not anyone else and in doing that he became something bigger and better than the other ivory hunters.

Other ivory hunters were not the only toes Kurtz stepped on to get ahead in the business. Kurtz also forced the natives to do the labor in his camp with no pay and they were treated as though they were criminals. Marlowe described the natives as having “iron collars around the neck.” Conrad pointed this out to show man’s inhumanity to each other. Man has no problem treating those that are “below him” as a slave. It seems as though humanity has kind of disappeared from the business world. What happened to the days where people received advice from others about a business and not criticism? Conrad pointed out that often a person is treated differently because of a physical difference, (“…a flatter nose or a darker complexion…”) but I do not fully believe that is the only reason man treats others as a possession. I think that the morals of a once close-knit world have been forgotten and moved aside to become bigger and better. I believe Conrad was addressing these concerns as well in his novella.

Another important issue that Conrad discussed is the fact that man has forgotten how beautiful nature is. Man has in a sense stomped all over nature to make his business bigger and better. Nature is the one true beauty in the world and the one true element left in the world. Conrad addressed the fact that in the event of harvesting as much ivory as possible, the hunters have forgotten the surroundings around them. This is shown today. Driving down the highway I often see a McDonald’s bag in the ditch because somebody could not wait until they arrived home to throw the trash away. The beauty of nature has been forgotten and Conrad wanted to point that out.

Conrad’s novella was difficult for me at first, but as I came to the end of the story I realized that I just needed to be more open about the plot line the whole time. I needed to appreciate Conrad’s grueling and boring details to thoroughly enjoy the story. My goal was to finish the story and gain some knowledge from it. “Veni, Vidi, Vici.” As Julius Caesar stated, I came, I saw, I conquered.