1) Analyse how Conrad criticizes colonialism in the story "An Outpost of Progress"

Before one can start analyzing how Joseph Conrad criticizes colonialism in his story “An Outpost of Progress” you have to define colonialism:

Colonialism, as the colonizers claim, is “bringing light (…) to the dark places of earth ” (p. 18 l.1-2 ) by bringing the “rights and duties of civilization” (p. 17 l.53-54 )to a foreign country.

Joseph Conrad criticizes colonialism in his choice of colonizers: Kayerts and Carlier, of whom even their director thinks of as “two imbeciles” (p. 11 l. 55 ) are two incompetent and lazy fellows who came to Congo for material reasons only. Those two fellows are now left alone in the jungle at a station the director comments as as useless as the two men. (p. 12 l. 3-4 “ I always thought the station on the rivers useless, and they just fit the station “ )

This quote indicates that colonization itself is useless, as the two men are not able to bring civilization to this part of the country because they are “pioneers of trade and progress” (p. 16 l. 26-27) as the narrator says ironically.

”Society (…) had taken care of those two men, forbidding them all independent thought (…) “ (p. 14 l. 5-6) and now Kayerts and Carlier are not even able to handle their own lifes. The incompetence of any independent thought questions the ‘civilization’ the two men come from and which they should bring to Congo. Is it really worth for the natives to adapt this civilization when it leads to a “crowd that believes blindly in the irresistible force of it’s institutions “. When it leads to people who are not able to think for themselves? Conrad questions one of the goals of colonialism.

The two men could only survive as long as Gobilas people took care of them. Because of their moral failure ,concerning their role in the slave trade, this aid stops. For this reason their physical and psychical health worsens. They both lose their civilized manners (which can be seen at p. 31 l.38 “Come! Out with that sugar you stingy old slave-dealer!”) and in the end they both die. They have in all ways failed in their mission of colonizing.

Another point where Joseph Conrad criticizes colonialism is its effect on the natives.

. Makola, for example, is called a “civilized nigger” (p.24 l.27).In reality he betrays his own people as he sells them off into slavery only to gain ivory. He has adapted this kind of behavior from the colonizers.

All in all you can say that Conrad criticizes colonialism by criticizing the western civilization and by showing how colonialism affects both the natives and colonizers in a bad way.