Race, Gender, & Colonialism

This essay brought up some interesting points pertaining to the novel that I most definitely would not have recognized prior to reading this. One of the more interesting points ties in both gender and race. Throughout the novella, white women are described as frail and obedient, especially Kurtz's wife. They don't have much power, and men clearly look down upon them. But in relation to the "savage" woman, she is viewed with "beauty, leadership, and ferocity" as well as "wild, gorgeous, and proud." These traits do not embody white women in the least. I found it interesting that a so-called "savage" would be fearless to white men and revered by men in her tribe. The point is also brought up that Marlow refers to people using stereotypes out of fear, especially of their power. I think Marlow fears power, and that is why he is so intrigued by Kurtz. I think he also fears him a little bit, and his fear sparks his curiosity. This holds true in life. I absolutely hate scary movies, but if one is playing and I'm in the room, I won't be able to hold myself back from sneaking peaks at the television occasionally and then I become paralyzed by the fear. I can't look away, even though I so desperately want to. Marlow is afraid of Kurtz, but at the same time is so intrigued and wants to know more about him and his life. In reference to colonialism, the essay states "cannibalism serves as the metaphor for the absolute violation of boundaries between one human being and another, the physical equivalent of the cultural absorption or ingestion by the Other that the colonizers fear." What I got from that, is that this novel is based a lot around fear as well as good vs. evil. We recognize evil as bad, and if the natives are partaking in that out of fear, we can assume that they are evil. But we also could believe Kurtz to be evil as well, so there is no distinguishable line stating whether Conrad believes the natives or white men to be evil or good. I think that's what make this novella so interesting and such a good novella because there is no bias towards anyone.