Empires Crumble the Great Chain of Being

In J. M. Coetzee and Joseph Conrad’s novels, the authors condemn civilization and imperialism. Coetzee and Conrad argue that civilization brings darkness and is destructive for the natives or barbarians, whom it encounters. In essence, empires negatively influence the officials involved and the surrounding citizens affected by its domineering presence. Civilization both degrades and elevates man to places that he does not belong. Both Waiting for the Barbarians and Heart of Darkness discuss man’s humanity and the Great Chain of Being by examining people’s existences in the levels above and below man, which are animal and God.

The Magistrate, throughout the novel, stumbles upon men who have degraded to animal instincts as a result of their empire’s harsh actions. Waiting for the Barbarians and Heart of Darkness have slightly different approaches to addressing their common theme. In Waiting for the Barbarians, the Magistrate witnesses his Empire’s cruel torture toward the barbarian captives during interrogations and in the open courtyard. The Magistrate also suffers through this dehumanizing experience himself when Mandel imprisons him. He worries as he thinks, “A bestial life is turning me into a beast” (78). Over the course of the novel, and finally in at the climax of the story, the Magistrate realizes that the Empire is ruining the barbarians’ lives. Ultimately, he confronts Colonel Joll in the courtyard and declares, “Look! … We are the great miracle of creation! But from some blows this miraculous body cannot repair itself! … Look at these men! … Men!” (105). The Magistrate, outraged at the Empire’s horrific acts of dehumanization, wonders how the Empire could force the barbarians to suffer all in the name of the Empire. In the end, Coetzee asserts that civilized empires—or perhaps civilization in general—must not exist if people are to going to be able to live fully and humanly.

In Heart of Darkness, Marlow’s ingrained imperial lessons and compassion for the natives wrestle within him during his journey into the heart of Africa. It is clear that the Africans have animalistic tendencies when Marlow first sees them on the coast. He recounts, “One of these creatures rose [sic] his hands and knees and went off on all-fours towards [sic] the river to drink. He lapped out of his hand” (17). The image portrays very primitive movements, and Marlow recalls the vision as horrifying to watch. However, Marlow’s feelings become fairly ambiguous and contradictory when he considers one of the African workers on his ship. The “fireman” is making sure that the furnace is generating enough steam for the ship to run. Marlow ponders, “He ought to have been clapping his hands and stamping his feet on the bank, instead of which he was hard at work, a thrall to strange witchcraft, full of improving knowledge” (37). His opinions about civilization’s effects on natives conflict with his inborn perceptions of the “barbaric” Africans. Obviously, Conrad suggests, imperialism is a complicated issue; however, like Coetzee, Conrad ultimately contends that imperialism is most often a vile institution.

Humanity is a common, central theme in countless novels. Most stories include a struggle between maintaining man’s humanity and degrading to animal instincts. Other novels, however, describe the effects of man’s hubris or corruption. Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness discusses the Great Chain of Being even further by observing Kurtz’s native African rule, in which the natives honor Kurtz like a deity. Ultimately, man must face a constant struggle of preserving its true nature without succumbing to bestial or divine temptation. God gave them this position in the Great Chain of Being for a reason, and it is our responsibility to uphold it. (613)