Colonialism in an Outpost of Progress free essay sample

â€Å"An Outpost of Progress† is a story of irony and colonialism in Africa in the nineteenth century, written by Joseph Conrad. In this Story two European men, named Kayerts and Carlier, are deployed to a trading outpost in a remote part of the African jungle. They take part ivory trading in hopes of making themselves and the company they work for wealthier. Trading outposts in the late nineteenth century were a trademark for colonialist efforts in foreign lands. Colonialism is the establishment, exploitation, maintenance, acquisition and expansion of colonies in one territory by people from another territory (Wikipedia). During the nineteenth century Africa had to deal with a lot of pressure from European imperialists. These pressures included diplomatic pressures, military invasions, and eventual colonization. By the early twentieth century, the majority of Africa had been colonized by European powers. Although heavily colonized already, Africa, the â€Å"vast and dark country† (Conrad Page 2) represented a large territory that had not been taken advantage of completely for its land and natural resources. England along with many other colonialist powers made many attempts at Africa in an attempt to continue their colonialist dominance. â€Å"It is inherent in a great colonial and commercial empire like ours that we go forward† (Lugard 585). An example of colonialist tactics that were implemented towards the end of the nineteenth century that Conrad incorporated in â€Å"An outpost of progress† was Kayerts and Carlier being assigned to the trading outpost in Africa. These two men were transferred from government posts at home and sent, like the previous station chief to the unknown country to â€Å"civilize† the natives and establish good local markets and to earn profits to send home. However, Kayerts and Carlier were in no way, shape, or form the men for the job and the Director of the company knew it: Look at those two imbeciles. They must be mad at home to send me such specimens. I told those fellows to plant a vegetable garden, build new storehouses and fences, and construct a landing-stage. I bet nothing will be done! They wont know how to begin. I always thought the station on this river useless, and they just fit the station! They will form themselves there, said the old stager with a quiet smile. At any rate, I am rid of them for six months, retorted the director. (Conrad Page 2) Their mission was to bring their way of life to a savage people. Kayerts and Carlier and the Company represent what was going on culturally during the period of European expansion. The leaders of Europe saw it as their duty to conquer and rule countries containing different cultures and races of people. Cultural diversity was an unknown concept. People were placed on a scale of value, from highest to lowest. The people of Africa were seen as the lowest kind of people. European colonists believed they were at the high end of human development. They used every kind of coercion to subdue native people. From guns to religion, they thought it was their right, even their duty, to expand European beliefs, and values all over the world (Stanard). Like the station chief before them, however, their success was limited. Kayerts and Carlier were completely unprepared and unskilled to perform the work expected of them and that which would be necessary to build a successful â€Å"outpost of progress. † â€Å"They were two perfectly insignificant and incapable individuals, whose existence is only rendered possible through the high organization of civilized crowds† (Conrad Page 2). The two men had no clue of the opportunity for expansion that they had around them: They lived like blind men in a large room, aware only of what came in contact with them (and of that only imperfectly), but unable to see the general aspect of things. The river, the forest, all the great land throbbing with life, were like a great emptiness. Even the brilliant sunshine disclosed nothing intelligible. Things appeared and disappeared before their eyes in an unconnected and aimless kind of way. The river seemed to come from nowhere and flow nowhither. It flowed through a void. (Conrad 3-4) To go along with being unprepared and unskilled for their task, they also lacked good support from the Company that deployed them to this trading post. â€Å"The women of Gobilas village walked in single file through the reedy grass, bringing every morning to the station, fowls, and sweet potatoes, and palm wine, and sometimes a goat. The Company never provisions the stations fully, and the agents required those local supplies to live. They had them through the good-will of Gobila, and lived well. † How is someone to complete such a task without the proper assistance from their homeland? Moreover, how do you expect two men who do not remotely know each other and are both completely unfit to even come anywhere near completing the tasks that was set forth for them to do. However, despite these obstacles, Kayerts and Carlier were still drawn together due to their circumstances. Conrad wrote, â€Å"The two men got on well together in the fellowship of their stupidity and laziness. Together they did nothing, absolutely nothing, and enjoyed the sense of the idleness for which they were paid. And in time they came to feel something resembling affection for one another† (Conrad Page 3). Kayerts and Carlier had the help of a man from Sierra Leone by the name of Makola. It was very evident in the story that Makola did not like or at least have a common respect for the two Europeans. Although Makola was there to help Kayerts and Carlier at the outpost, he actually wound up using them to make himself richer by brokering deals for ivory tusks. The irony in this is that Kayerts and Carlier were sent to this trading post to establish viable markets and generate cash, yet the man assigned to help them who was believed to be of a lower race wound up using them to make him and his family wealthier. Makola went behind Kayerts and Carlier’s backs to make a trade for 6 ivory tusks for the ten workers assigned to that station. Kayerts and Carlier did not like the workers because they showed the exact same qualities as the two Europeans did, laziness and an inability to perform assigned tasks. Kayerts and Carlier found the â€Å"wilderness† (Conrad Page 2) around them untamed and threatening, not necessarily because of what it contained, but because they did not know what it contained. The â€Å"immense forests† hid â€Å"fateful complications of fantastic life,† (Conrad Page 4). The two white men had no idea what was in the forest but knew it was something and they believed it to be very profitable but were scared to go after it. This wildness of their surroundings also mirrored and amplified the â€Å"primitive nature of primitive man,† which, like the forest, â€Å"brings sudden and profound trouble into the heart† (Conrad Page 5). Although Kayerts and Carlier do absolutely nothing in an attempt to make their trading post a successful outpost of progress, they still believe they have done something significant. After reading a paper called â€Å"Our Colonial Expansion† the two men discuss how they will be the first â€Å"civilized† men to live in that area. Kayerts and Carlier believed that they have played a role in the civilization of a territory that may eventually, 100 years from that point, have â€Å"Quays, and warehouses, and barracks, and–and–billiard-rooms. Civilization, my boy, and virtue–and all† (Conrad Page 5). They are proud of the possibility that they were the first â€Å"civilized† men to live in this remote and worthless outpost that doesn’t possess any aspects of what they believe to be a civilized society. These attitudes represented that of colonialist powers perfectly. â€Å"Struggle and suffering have been the stages by which the white man has reached his present stage of development, and they account for the fact that he no longer lives in caves and feeds on roots and nuts† (Pearson Page 26). This sort of rhetoric was used by the colonial powers to convince its naive and unprepared representatives that â€Å"This dependence of progress on the survival of the fitter race, terribly black as it may seem to some of you, gives the struggle for existence its redeeming features; it is the fiery crucible out of which comes the finer metal† (Pearson Page 26). What the colonialists are saying is that although what we are doing is wrong, it is what needs to be done to bring these â€Å"savage† people to a more â€Å"civilized† way of living. The powerful countries of the world accepted the idea of European Expansion. The idea that white people were superior to those of color was nearly unquestioned. This perceived superiority ran very deep. Religion, culture, morals and values were all used to support the idea that Europeans were civilized while people in other countries were not. At the same time, an image of native people began to arise. As we struggle to understand one another, some have idolized the different. In the civil rights movement, all black people were considered to be good, or all black people were considered to be bad. Joseph Conrad, speaking at the end of the nineteenth century, saw these issues. He presented his evidence that all men are equal in one way or another. In â€Å"An Outpost of Progress† he didnt try to point out the good in all people, no matter what their color or culture. Instead, Conrad decided to show us that all people are capable of evil. In that one specific way, we are all equal because we all have the potential to do evil. Makola, the band of strangers, Carlier and Kayerts are all judging one another as inferior. Each of them is trying to overcome the other for his own personal gains. The irony in this is that even though Kayerts and Carlier held themselves to be superior to Makola and the rest of the native people and believed themselves to be more â€Å"civilized† than the â€Å"savage† people that they were sent to colonize, they turned to be just as evil and as much of a â€Å"savage as the rest of them when they got into an argument over sugar that resulted in the death of Carlier.