"Heart of Darkness" and "Kim"

Paper Summary:

This paper discusses how Joseph Conrad's "Heart of Darkness" and Rudyard Kipling's "Kim" are in essence descriptions of what happens when Europeans attempt to force their cultural values on other countries. The paper contends that both stories have something important and valid to say and that even though they place their characters as the speakers, the authors' voices are also heard in these pieces. The paper also examines how Rudyard Kipling's book is much milder and less cautionary than Joseph Conrad's and how Kipling's Kim is a character that takes on many characteristics of both sides, the British and the Indian. On the other hand, Kurtz, in "Heart of Darkness" absolutely shows the reader the horrors and evils that colonialism inflicts on the colonized.

From the Paper:

"Rudyard Kipling's novel Kim presents two sides of colonialism in the British rule of India, but the British side is presumed right as much as Kipling did not want to be labeled racist. In this novel, the white man has the burden of ruling the dark and therefore inferior races. Kipling wrote this novel at a time when British rule was, in fact, being questioned. As Mistry says in a critique, "These characters enable Kipling to explore the way colonialism defined its own social boundaries and Kipling uses this to show how native mentality and British supremacy often came into confrontation. (Mistry). These two forces are in conflict as Kipling writes the book. "

Sample of Sources Used:

• Colonialism in Soyinka and Conrad. Rachel Teisch 1994. Retrieved April 28, 2007 at http://www.scholars.nus.edu.sg/post/soyinka/soyinka2.html
• Conrad, Joseph, Heart of Darkness, Green Integer, October 2003.
• Kipling, Rudyard, Kim, Penguin Classics, 1987,
• Mackean, Ian, 2001, Retrieved April 29, 2007 at http://www.literature-study-online.com/essays/kipling.html

More papers on "Heart of Darkness" and "Kim":

• Book Review # 136562 : "'Heart of Darkness' and Realities of the World"
• Analytical Essay # 138705 : "Women in "Heart of Darkness" and "Frankenstein"
• Comparison Essay # 68756 : "Heart of Darkness" and "Apocalypse Now"

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