Fresleven's Death

Fresleven’s Death

“Afterwards, nobody seemed to trouble much about Fresleven’s remains, till I got out and stepped into his shoes.” (pg. 9)

There is no doubt that Heart of Darkness launches a fairly brutal attack on imperialism and all its hypocrisy. In the paragraph detailing Fresleven’s demise while stationed in the Congo, he goes from being a kind and gentle man to a seemingly crazed fool. What remains so striking about his death is the attitude from others in response to Fresleven being attacked by one of the natives in retaliation. As Marlow narrates “nobody seemed to trouble much”. The manager of the Belgian company obviously sees to no need to retrieve Fresleven’s body for his family, his only concern is to replace Fresleven quickly as possible to keep the ivory coming and everything in order. Already, the cold sense of unfeeling is apparent within Conrad’s novella concerning the imperialistic system and colonization of Africa.