Mark HumbleMr. KaneftHonors British Literature6 April 2014The superficiality of civilisationAre we so accustomed to our own ways that we consider the lifestyle and culture of other countries too different and, in some cases, uncivilised? Of course, for some countries it is more difficult and they do things more differently than us, but even some of these countries can be considered civilized. Let's take a country in Africa for example. The first thing that comes to mind for many is that it is a “place of darkness” (Heart of Darkness 5) and that they are very uncivilized by the lives and ways of other, more diverse cultures. These people consider them savages because they are so blinded by how civilized and advanced the place where they live is, and they are too ignorant to be open-minded about someone else's home. Kurtz, one of the main characters in Joseph Conrad's short story, Heart of Darkness, is the prime example of the oppressive nature of ignorance and the inability to survive in another environment for a prolonged period of time without going mad. Heart of Darkness is a novel which makes for many different themes that can often be debated or present a contradictory idea. For my topic, I have chosen the topic between Civilization and Barbarism and will reveal the true meaning behind what each word means in the context of the book. In Heart of Darkness, Joseph Conrad reveals that Europeans are actually more savage than the most civilized Africans, proving that all is not what it seems. In the novel, there is sharp disagreement among readers as to whether or not the native Africans are actually more savage than the Europeans who are intruding on their land. The meaning of civilization is useless without first thinking about what...... of paper......Works CitedAchebe, Chinua. “An Image of Africa: Racism in Conrad's Heart of Darkness” Massachusetts Review 18 (1977): 251-61. Print.Conrad, Giuseppe. Heart of Darkness. New York: Dover, 1990. Print. Miller, J Hillis. “We should read Heart of Darkness” Modern critical interpretations of Bloom: Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad. Ed. Harold Bloom NewYork: Blooms Literary Criticism, 2008. 115-29. Print.Paris, Bernard. “Journey to the Internal Station”. Modern critical interpretations of Bloom: Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness. Ed. Harold Bloom NewYork: Blooms Literary Criticism, 2008. 5-17. Print.Watt, Cedric. “Heart of Darkness” Modern critical interpretations of Bloom: Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad. Ed. Harold Bloom New York: Blooms Literary Criticism, 2008. 19-36. Press.