One of the central themes in this section of the novel is the hypocrisy of the colonial attitude towards the treatment of the people of Africa. When Marlow begins his story, he references the Roman conquest of Britannia to prove the benefits of foreign occupation, saying, "Light came out of this river since," (Conrad 68). He is also well aware that the Roman occupation of the land was not peaceful. He differentiates it from colonialism by calling by saying that they were merely conquerors, "their administration was merely a squeeze" and their strength was "just an accident arising from the weakness of others" (Conrad 69). All of these things are directly opposed to the ideas of colonialism, but the are still very close to the reality.
The captain before Marlow, Fresleven, died while attempting to take advantage of his power over the natives he did business with. His story demonstrates the abuse the position of power of the natives inherently gives to the colonizers. Marlow is able to describe first hand how the people are being abused by the system. At his company's station, he sees the men in chains being forced to labor, while the weak and ill are left alone to die. The exploited the workers are "Brought from all the recesses of the coast in all the legality of time contracts," (Conrad 83). Their suffering is well within the justification of the colonial system. Despite its many stated intentions, the colonial powers are no different from conquerors.
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