Analyse how Conrad criticizes colonialism in the story 'An Outpost of Progress'

Joseph Conrad’s short story is set in Congo and criticizes the attitude and behavior of the white colonial Europeans towards the native black population.

Conrad tells the story of two white Belgian men, Kayerts and Carlier who come to Africa in order to earn money, which they get in the form of commissions from the sale of ivory. But the two of them are absolutely incapable for a life in the uncivilized world where they are left on their own devices and have no supervisors who control each of their steps. They are supposed to take care of a strategically quite unimportant station, but right from the start the director does not believe in them. It seems like the black Makola is the real leader of the station, e.g. he’s the one who sells the station men as slaves and organizes everything. In the end both men don’t get along with their situation anymore and after having shot Carlier in a quarrel, Kayerts kills himself, too, by committing suicide.

In his story, Conrad outlines the fact that the native people and the land are exploited by the colonists. So for example there are ten black station men working for Kayerts and Carlier. Although they have signed a contract with the Company for six month, they have” been serving the cause of progress for upwards of two years” (p. 22, l.13) since they have lost their sense of time and are too afraid to run away. So the colonists are just using them without having great costs. Moreover the directors in Africa have no influence on what kind of people are send to work at the stations. That’s why men like Kayerts and Carlier who come to Africa only out of greed for money (Kayerts wants to “earn a dowry for his girl” (p. 14, l. 20)) are chosen for those jobs. And nobody really cares about their work being efficient or not. A statement of the director points up this evidence very well: “I always thought the station on this river useless, and they just fit the station!” (p. 12, l.3). Kayerts and Carlier are described very negatively. The author portrays them as stupid, lazy and most of all as “blind men” (p. 15, l.43), that means unaware of anything. But nevertheless Conrad lets them be condescending while examining the strange black men and equating them with animals: “Oh, the funny brute! […] Fine animals.” (p.16, l.6-10). And last but not least Kayerts and Carlier accept the fact that their station men were sold as slaves for ivory very soon after being totally hypocritical just for a little while (“They had long ago reckoned their percentage on trade, including in them that last deal of “this infamous Makola”(the slave trade)” (p.30,l.2-4).

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.

Analyse how Conrad criticizes colonialism in the story 'An Outpost of Progress'

In the short story "An Outpost of Progress", the author Joseph Conrad explains the principles of the colonial time in the Congo Free State. The story is about two european agents, Kayerts and Carlier, beeing responsible for the trading of ivory and the station. Both are neither intelligent nor self-dependent, so Makola "a Sierra Leone nigger"(P.9 L.4) helps them trading the ivory. Kayerts and Carlier have the aim to earn much money. But they don't want to dirty their hands with the trading, so in effect Makola is the chief of the the station. He swaps their "Stationmen" for the ivory. Both agents are shocked about this behaviour, but they let Makola doing the deal. The author mean that the occupiers did not have subjectivly the control over their colonized country, they did niot know the necessary manners and behaviour in the country. So the natives had still the power.

The title of the story also mediated that the place isn't industrialized and civilizated like "normal" towns in european countries. It is a place, where happens or develops nothing. So Conrad chooses the title to make fun over the development of imperlism and colonialism of the european countries. Kayerts and Carlier are the example for the incompetence of the occupiers of a country. But it was not a failling of the goverment employing them, it was deliberate. Since the last agent died, the director (symbolize the goverment) was in need of new inferior agents beeing naive and bonafide. So he found Carlier and Kayerts believing to be the "two pionieers of trade and progress" and earning money. They were two innocent guys with no real perspective of the living in a colonized country, they just dream of getting rich and famous.

antonio

Essay: Analyse how Conrad criticizes colonialism in the story 'An Outpost of Progress'

The short story "An Outpost of progress" by Joseph Conrad deals among others with the theme of colonialism. Two Belgians are in charge of a trading post which is set in Congo. They are both described as very negativ characters. They are as useless for their employers as the whole station is ('Look at those two imbenciles. They must be mad at home to send me such specimes.' p.11; 'I always thought the station on this river useless, and they just fit the station!' p.12). In the beginning of the story the two Belgians, Kayerts and Carlier, get along good with each other ('He felt suddenly that this Carlier was more precious to him here, in the centre of Africa, than a brother could be anywhere else.'), but as they notice the absurdity of their mission, which isn't really one, their relationship deteriorates. In the end, one shoots the other, and the survivor commits suicide. They die with having achieved nothing. This example of how colonialism should not work, given by Joseph Conrad, showes the absolute failure of European colonisation.

Kayerts and Carlier don't try to connect to the foreign culture at all, for what they are not only physically but also mentally isolated. Finally this is the reason for their desperation and their death. Maybe the many point criticized by J. Conrad is the indifference of the director concerning the welfare of Kayerts and Carlier. Knowing the difficulties of employment in the middle of nowhere ('They will form themselves there,'...), he lures Kayerts and Carlier on to destruction.

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

The short story “An Outpost of Progress” by Joseph Conrad is about two Europeans who run an isolated trading post in a Belgian colony. They both went there, hoping to get rich quickly. At a deeper level, the story is a criticism of various aspects of European imperialism and colonialism. Conrad chose the title “An Outpost of Progress” and it becomes clear that it’s ironic, for the two white men are lazy and incompetent. The theme of the incompetence and cruelty of colonialism is developed as the story progresses. The deterioration of Kayert’s and Carlier’s health can be interpreted as a reflection of the general state of colonialism. From the beginning the two colonial administrators are described as lazy and stupid and even the director of the trading post who is the employer of those two says: “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 a new storehouse and fences, and construct a landing-stage. I bet nothing will be done. They won’t know how to begin. I always thought the station on this river useless and they just fit the station” (p. 11 and 12 l. 55-4). This shows that not only the station is useless, but also the work Kayerts and Carlier are doing. In the beginning they work sometimes, but as the story progresses they get lazy. The state of their hut, for instance, reflects their inefficiency and laziness: “The plank floor was littered with the belongings of the white men, open half-empty boxes, torn wearing apparel, old boots; all the things dirty, and all the things broken, that accumulate mysteriously round untidy men.” (p. 10 ll.13-16) The reader can also recognize that the outpost is very isolated: “The nearest trading-post was about three hundred miles away […] the river, the forests, the impenetrable bush that seemed to cut off the station from the rest of the world.” (p. 10 and 11, l. 37 ff). This isolated setting symbolically underlines the unimportance of the station. But although this area is a lonely place, it is full of life. (“Immense forests”; “eloquent silence of mute greatness” p. 16; ll. 32 and 33) But Kayerts and Calier are totally insensitive to this aspect of the surroundings: “The river, the forest, all the great land throbbing with life, were like a great emptiness […]. The river seemed to come from nowhere and flow nowhither.” (p. 15 ll.46 ff). Part of the vibrant life of the forest are the tribes living there, too. Yet the administrators see in them nothing but savages and are not even able to appreciate their physical beauty. Their first reaction to these men is to ridicule them: “They made an uncouth babbling noise when they spoke”. Kayerts and Carlier believe that they themselves, their race and their society are superior to the local people. They don’t respect the Africans which is shown by their attitudes to the tribesmen who come to trade. But these men notice everything with “quick, wild glances out of their startled, never-resting eyes.” (p. 15, l. 55), while Kayerts “looked down on the proceedings, understanding nothing” (p. 15, l.3 ). Kayerts and Carlier are also described as blind men. By describing the European colonizers in this way, Conrad makes sure that his readers will despise them and everything they represent. At one day the two white men find an old newspaper with an article on “Our Colonial Expansion” and they admire it. Carlier tells about his view of civilization then: “Quays, and warehouses, and barracks, and-and-billard-rooms. Civilization, my boy, and virtue.” (p.18 ll. 5 and 6). In my opinion, someone who thinks that billiard-rooms are civilization and virtue can’t be taken seriously. Before coming to Africa, Kayerts and Carlier had always been told what to think and how to behave. “Society […] had taken care of those two men, forbidding them all independent thought. “ Now without any such guidelines, they feel lost. To conclude I can say that the narrator’s general criticism of imperialist societies and his theory that their citizens only believe what they’re told to suggests that the two white men are not to blame for their arrogance. It is their society which has taught them to think in this way. To sum up, Conrad criticizes the colonialism in his story in an ironical and cynical way that makes the reader think about it.
Mira