NRJ #1

Joseph Conrad uses civilization and wilderness throughout this play to illustrate the brutal people and the living conditions he saw in Africa. "But these men could by no stretch of imagination be called enemies. They were called criminals and the outraged law like the bursting shells had come to them, an insoluble mystery form the sea. all their meager breasts panted together, the violently dilated nostrils quivered" (16). The use of the this description s used to give an understanding that the people who inhabit the land are so bizarre that, the only way to describe them is to call them criminals. Giving us the explanation of the wilderness. "More then once she had to wade for a bit, with twenty cannibals splashing around and pushing. We ha enlisted some of these chaps on the way for a crew. Fine fellows- cannibals- in their place." (34). Once again we can see how Conrad uses phrases like "cannibalism" to show the wilderness in its form as he sees it. Everything in respect to the wilderness goes against the common understanding of civilization. The fact that the company tries to establish civilization and act the part of civilization is also used to show the possible and often neglected wilderness side of civilization. Conrad is saying even though we might think that we are civilized and there for correct in our actions that is far from truth.