POWER

The Power in Africa

The Power in Africa

Introduction

The paper aims at addressing the theme of power as discussed in three novels Heart of darkness written by Joseph Conrad, The catastrophist penned by Ronan Bennet and A Question of Power authored by Bessie Head. The paper aims at discussing how power in Africa is shown in each of the three novels.

Discussion

Heart of darkness

The basic theme of the novel Heart of Darkness is centred on Charles Marlow. Through the man's narration, the author discusses Belgian colonization and its dark sides. The author talks about the three levels of darkness. One of these levels of darkness is the treatment of the African natives. Moreover, there is one darkness which is universal. It is the darkness that is common in all of us. We all have a certain desire to commit heinous crimes. The novelette talks about the man Kurtz who is an ivory trader. Kurtz has a mystery associated with his character. The man is an enigma to the narrator until he comes across him. He is a multi talented man who is not only ungovernable but is also into music and journalism and is an "universal genius" (Conrad 1902, p. 42).

Apart from all the good things about the man, it is ironic how he misuses his power. The man not only exerts immense power but also makes people think of him as god. Kurtz is extremely dominating.

"We whites...must necessarily appear to them [savages] in the nature of supernatural beings....By the simple exercise of our will we can exert a power for good practically unbounded"

The man was brutal when it came to his search for ivory. The man even plots to attack Marlow's boat. The man had a very strong voice and his speech was generally intimidating.

The man, Kurtz, also has a woman in his life. When Marlow and his companions take Kurtz with them, they find the picture of the woman in his belongingness. The narrator refers to the woman as “the intended”. She is the fiancée of Kurtz. The women in the novel are a man's mistresses or so they are thought of by the men in the novel. However, they do have a great sense of loyalty towards their men. This is reflected in the fact that, after a year when Marlow goes to see the intended, he finds the woman still mourning for the rugged man. She is naïve enough to believe the man is not what people say he is (Conrad 1902, p. 59). She believes that he cannot be as bad as others depict him and continues to love him. When she inquires Marlow about the last moments of Kurtz's life, he lies to her and tells her that the man thought of her and only her when on his death bed. This was not true as the man dies a horrendous death speaking of horror.

“He cried in a whisper at some image, at some vision—he cried out twice, a ...