Heart of Darkness 25

• “Besides that, they had given them every week three pieces of brass wire, each about nine inches long … So, unless they swallowed the wire itself, or made loops of it to snare the fishes with, I don’t see what good their extravagant salary could be to them.” (p. 82)

This pathetic system of how the Company treats the native Africans truly shows how selfish these men are. Because the natives are so hungry, they become greedy and will do anything for the slightest bit of food. Conrad intends to portray the men of the Company as selfish; they are so low and uncaring that they think giving the natives a useless, non-edible piece of brass wire will suffice as a tool to obtain food. However, because a piece of wire is so hopeless and unsatisfying, the native Africans go crazy in search of any source of food.

(Works Cited)
"Heart of Darkness." Shmoop. Web. 27 Aug. 2009. http://www.shmoop.com/heart-of-darkness/power-quotes.html.

(Photo Credit)

Ningbo Jintain Copper. Photograph. World Importers. Web. 13 Sept. 2009. http://jintiancopper.win.mofcom.gov.cn/www/10%5Cjintiancopper%5Cimg%5C200782091915.jpg.