In 1899, an advertisement for Pears' Soap in McClure's Magazine announced: "The first step towards lightening THE WHITE MAN"S BURDEN is through teaching the virtues of cleanliness. PEARS' SOAP is a potent factor in brightening the dark corners of the earth as civilization advances, while amongst the cultured of all nations it holds the highest place--it is the ideal toilet soap."
In this ad, we can see the admirable captain wearing white uniform, supposedly using Pears' Soap to wash his hands. Here commodity capitalism goes hand in hand with imperialism. Cleanniss and whiteness guarantee white power and justify the domination of aboriginal people (which is shown in the bottom right corner--a mini-picture of the genuflection of a naked African man). Ships, seaports, and buildings suggest not only trades but also imperial progress. White civilization needs to be brought into the wilderness; the lesson of hygiene needs to be taught to those "savage" people who don't know the "virtues" of clieaniness and whiteness.
It is an interesting coincidence that Conrad's "Heart of Darkness" was also published in 1899, the same year that the Pears' Soap ad came out. In Part I of the novel, Marlow encounters a wonderfully sleazy accountant whom he describes as a "hairdresser's dummy." Re-read these paragraphs (pp. 1902-3). Do you see any irony in these paragraphs? How does the accountant achieve his sartorial spruceness? Why is maintaning cleaniness so important for this accountant? How do you make of his obsesission with cleaning and grooming rituals?
Make your answer into a 250-300-word essay. Cite texts to prove your points.
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In part one of Conrad’s “Heart of Darkness”, Marlow meets a white man who is the chief accountant of the Company. This accountant, according to Marlow’s description, is well and decent in clothing. For example, Marlow mentions in the novel that “I saw a high starched collar, white cuffs, a light alpaca jacket, snowy trousers, a clear necktie, and varnished boots. No hat. Hair parted, brushed, oiled, under a green-lined parasol held in a big white hand.” This is the way the accountant achieves his sartorial spruceness as well as his character. As far as I’m concerned, cleanliness was the main standard that the white people used to distinguish between civilized and savage back at that time. Therefore, that’s why maintaining cleanliness is so important for this accountant.
The accountant epitomizes success in the colonial world. His “accomplishment” lies in keeping up appearances as Marlow points out that “his appearance was certainly that of a hairdresser's dummy; but in the great demoralization of the land he kept up his appearance.” Nevertheless, like everything else Marlow encounters, under the accountant’s fabulous exterior may conceal a dark secret. When being asked by Marlow how he manages to sport such linen, the accountant says “I’ve been teaching one of the native women about the station. It was difficult. She had a distaste for the work.” In other words, this native woman is perhaps taught violently and forced to care for his linens. As a result, we can see that the irony is built between the beautiful surface and the ugly truth.
According to Marlow’s description, the way the accountant achieves his sartorial spruceness is that he wears “a clear necktie, and varnished boots. No hat. Hair parted, brushed, oiled, under a green-lined parasol held in a big white hand.” He is “in such an unexpected elegance of get-up.” In my view, people generally distinguish barbarism from civilization by seeing the environment at first sight. In the text, for instance, “everything else in the station was in a muddle,—head, things, buildings. Strings of dusty niggers with splay feet arrived and departed…” Compared with Europe, the surroundings of the station are savage for the Europeans. Therefore, that’s the reason why maintaining cleanness is so important for the accountant to seem to be in a higher status.
Marlow tells that the accountant’s appearance “was certainly that of a hair-dresser’s dummy; but in the great demoralization of the land he kept up his appearance.” It’s strange that his dressing shows the niggers what “real” cleanness is. This imperial hygiene is actually the document of civilization. However, Marlow says that the accountant was amazing, and he shakes hands “with this miracle.” I think using miracle to describe the accountant is ironic, because what he really does in fact is not a miracle but disasters. Moreover, Marlow asks the accountant “how he managed to sport such linen. He had just the faintest blush, and said modestly, ‘I’ve been teaching one of the native women about the station. It was difficult. She had a distaste for the work.’ Marlow then concludes that “this man had verily accomplished something.” I believe that this woman is reluctant to be taught. Thus, does the accountant really accomplish something? I don’t agree.
Although the accountant just appears in a short period of time, he is an important character.” Joseph Conrad depicted that the company’s attempt is to lighten the dark, wild jungle. Hence, the white man presents himself as a symbol of civilization. He is always in immaculately spotless dress. He owns unexpected elegance. In the novel, Joseph Conrad described his extreme clean appearance to highlight the accountant’s ego. His ego equals the company’s goal which tends to deliver civilization. According to Marlow’s description, the accountant’s books were also in apple-pie order. The portrayal of the accountant’s figure and the setting around him refers the idea of civilization. In comparison of civilization and wilderness, people consider that brightness, cleaning, order are representation of civilization. Oppositely, darkness, dirty, and disorder are main elements of wilderness.
In those paragraphs, Marlow states what he noticed about the accountant’s characteristics and living environment with incredible tone. On the other hand, Marlow slightly described the account’s “gentle” annoyance, “The groans of this sick person distract my attention.” It is ironic that the company’s “morally spotless” seems disappeared. Like the company; in fact, the company just cares about the profit. The company holds so called “civilization” to rescue the dark wilderness. However, civilized people may just own hypocritical spotless surface. The accountant maintains his cleaning appearance as he is different from the native people. He pretends himself just like a civilized person with a great grooming. He considers himself better than those native people. Ironically, the “wilderness” may just dwell on the civilized people’s heart.
In my opinion, maintaining cleanliness is important to the accountant because he can show his “white man’s superiority” to the Africans. To most Europeans in 19th century, Africans are savage, and the white people have duty to civilize them. Therefore, the Europeans think they should teach aboriginal people the concept of “cleanness”, which is one of the standards of civilization. In the text of “Heart of Darkness”, the accountant shows his obsession with cleaning rituals by dressing in white and neat. For example, he wears “high starched collar, white cuffs, a light alpaca jacket, snowy trousers, a clear necktie, and varnished boots. No hat. Hair parted, brushed, oiled, under a green-lined parasol held in a big white hand.” Moreover, when Marlow asks the accountant how he can manage to sport such linen, the accountant said ‘I’ve been teaching one of the native women about the station. It was difficult. She had a distaste for the work.” The accountant achieves his sartorial spruceness by forcing a local woman to take care of his clothes.
Ironically, the accountant’ costume is in “unexpected elegance of get-up”, but the environment around him is very dirty. For example, Marlow mentions that “everything else in the station was in a muddle,—head, things, buildings. Strings of dusty niggers with splay feet arrived and departed”, “the accountant’s appearance is certainly that of a “hair dresser’s dummy; but in the great demoralization of the land he kept up his appearance. That’s backbone.” European imperialists, in their own conceit, think they rescue the Africans from wildness. However, the imperialists just show hypocritical appearance and oppress aboriginals in colonies.
Julia 69704010
In the nineteen century, the western people declared that they explore some “virgin land”, and they were going to go into these places and to educate these “savage people”. From a soap ad in 1899, we can see a contrary that “white people” think cleanliness is important and that’s their virtue. But in the bottom of the picture, there is a black people kneel to accept soap from a white people. The image contained a clear concept that the black people, the savage people, do not know the virtue of cleanliness. It is not only an ad, but also expresses the imperialism idea.
According “Heart of Darkness”, the narrator Marlow met a white people whom made him very surprised. He described the appearance of the white people“ a high starched collar, white cuffs, a light alpaca jacket, snowy trousers, a clear necktie, and varnish boots. Hair parted, brushed, oiled.” Marlow also told about his thought about the accountant “I respected his collars, his vast cuffs, his brushed hair. His appearance was certainly hat of a hair-dresser’s dummy, but in the great demoralization of the land he kept up his appearance. His scratched collars and got-up shirt-fronts were achievements of character” “I sat generally on the floor, while, of faultless appearance(and even slightly scented )”He also mentioned that the accountant said that he taught a native woman to press his clothes, his complaining about the groans from sick men.
In the description, we can see that the accountant maintained his fine appearance even in the dark land. It is very ironic to the previous description to the black people. The accountant represented the civilization part, and the black people were the savage part. Thus, the author emphasized his clean appearance as a symbol of civilization, and made the reader aware the stereo type upon the black people in that era.
In the nineteen century, the western people declared that they explore some “virgin land”, and they were going to go into these places and to educate these “savage people”. From a soap ad in 1899, we can see a contrary that “white people” think cleanliness is important and that’s their virtue. But in the bottom of the picture, there is a black people kneel to accept soap from a white people. The image contained a clear concept that the black people, the savage people, do not know the virtue of cleanliness. It is not only an ad, but also expresses the imperialism idea.
According “Heart of Darkness”, the narrator Marlow met a white people whom made him very surprised. He described the appearance of the white people“ a high starched collar, white cuffs, a light alpaca jacket, snowy trousers, a clear necktie, and varnish boots. Hair parted, brushed, oiled.” Marlow also told about his thought about the accountant “I respected his collars, his vast cuffs, his brushed hair. His appearance was certainly hat of a hair-dresser’s dummy, but in the great demoralization of the land he kept up his appearance. His scratched collars and got-up shirt-fronts were achievements of character” “I sat generally on the floor, while, of faultless appearance(and even slightly scented )”He also mentioned that the accountant said that he taught a native woman to press his clothes, his complaining about the groans from sick men.
In the description, we can see that the accountant maintained his fine appearance even in the dark land. It is very ironic to the previous description to the black people. The accountant represented the civilization part, and the black people were the savage part. Thus, the author emphasized his clean appearance as a symbol of civilization, and made the reader aware the stereo type upon the black people in that era.
In Part two of “Heart of Darkness”, Marlow mentioned the report that Kurtz wrote for the International Society for the Suppression of Savage Customs, and in this report, Kurtz wrote something about the white people who “must necessarily appear to them [savages] in the nature of supernatural beings－we approach them with the might as of a deity,”. This depiction is exactly what Marlow had in mind when he first met the accountant, and he could not believe that at the “great demoralization of the land”, the accountant still managed to maintain his exterior look. For this matter, Marlow somehow respected him and regarded his maintaining cleanness as “backbone”. However, his did not really respected the accountant as the way he respected Kurtz, instead, he used the word “respect” as an irony because he thought the accountant was just too surreal and too weird to exit in that kind of deserted land. Marlow also said that if the accountant was not the person who first told him about Kurtz, he would not mentioned him at all which showed that the accountant did not really earned his respect but his incomprehension.
The accountant’s obsession of maintaining his apparent cleanness was because of his sense of superiority and he used it to distinguish the difference between himself from the native dwellers and let them respected and adroed him in order to achieve the mission of civilizing and enlightenment. This concept of the accountant is somehow very imperialistic and is parallels to what Kurtz believed. Nevertheless, the accountant over emphasized the exterior made him neglects his interior. He showed the cruel and savage part of him toward the sick agent who lay in the truckle-bed in his office, and this barbarous side of him serves as a contrary toward his civilized appearance which creates a dramatic irony.
At the beginning of that paragraph, Marlow met a white man who is the accountant, dressing elegant. Compared with the skin color of native, the hot weather, and chaotic environment, the existence of the accountant is very ironic. Marlow described his cloth very clearly “I saw a high starched collar, white cuffs, a light alpaca jacket, snowy trousers, under the green-lined parasol held in a big white hand, he was amazing, and had a penholder behind his ears.”(p.1902) According to this paragraph, the accountant symbolizes the power of civilization which can light up the dark place. All those words such as “white”, “light”, “snowy” are opposite to Africa which is often described as “dark”, “hot”. However, the surrounding here is in a muddle; the accountant there is very discordant because of his clean appearance, and the penholder behind his ear is a symbol of civilization as well. Therefore, Marlow also described the accountant as “hairdresser’s dummy,” because he looks like so clean and white as a pottery doll.
Beside, “In the demoralization land of the land he kept up his appearance.” it point out that the accountant always make sure his cleanness and the order of his cloth. At the same time, the ad of pear’s soap express that the ideology of their sense of superiority which means imperialism. It seems to say “if you use pear’s soap, you can clean the chaos, and wipe out the barbarian.” The pear’s soap becomes a symbol of white, wonderful civilization. In the heart of darkness, it is very important to maintain clean for the accountant because cleanness makes him feel so different and so superior than the native. And it is a kind of imperial hygiene and a distorted way to colonize that place.
In 1899, “Heart of darkness” was published. And in that time, the white thought the lesson of hygiene needs to be taught to those "savage" people. From “Heart of darkness”, we could see several ironies in it about imperialism.
Marlow respects the account’s appearance of a “hairdresser’s dummy”. He appreciates him with such “backbone” because he had been out for three years and not changed by the environment he stayed described as “the great demoralization”, but he used “hairdresser’s dummy” to describe his appearance. Then, He also said, “When one has got to make correct entries, one comes to hate those savages-hate them to the death” to the dying people put in his office. I think what the account said is so ruthless because all he cared about is his job; he gave no empathy to those dying people. When Marlow asked how the account managed to sport such linen, the account answered with faintest blush: “I’ve been teaching one of the native women about the station. It was difficult. She had a distaste for the work”. From this passage of texts we could guess that the native woman worked for him reluctantly, so he had oppressed her to do what she did not like. How ironic he prided himself on this despite of forcing the woman to do what he wanted, he is happy and with faintest blush when Marlow asked him. Referred to the account’s obsession with cleaning, we could see he wears “high starched collar, white cuffs, a light alpaca jacket, snowy trousers, a clear necktie, and varnished boots. No hat. Hair parted, brushed, oiled, under a green-lined parasol held in a big white hand.” I think it is so important for the account in maintaining cleanliness because it is the way the white used to distinguish them from the black in that time.
The accountant, is the first white man Marlow meets while in the Congo. He appears in such an unexpectedly elegant outfit when Marlow first meets him that Marlow thinks he is a illusion, according to the texts, “I saw a high starched collar, white cuffs, a light alpaca jacket, snowy trousers, a clear necktie, and varnished boots. No hat. Hair parted, brushed, oiled, under a green-lined parasol held in a big white hand.” The accountant’s exterior is so exquisite that contradicts with the surroundings at the time which is unclean, filthy and savage. Both the Chief Accountant's clothing and his books are in excellent order. He takes notes of his appearances and keeps himself clean. He tries to make himself look cultivated. In spite of the sight of people dying all around him, the accountant overlooks the surroundings around him, or we can say that he ignores the impure conditions on purpose and the immoral environment which he situated in. The white men at that time consider that they are the best race in the world. They regard themselves as civilized people who are different from the native people: the black. In fact, the Europeans are considered to be at the highest point yet achieved by humanity -- the civilized. And the people except the Europeans are all savage, uncultivated and immoral as the Europeans consider. Therefore, the reference to the idea of civility versus savageness pervades “Heart of Darkness.” The accountant helps Marlow understand his true experience in the Congo.
By means of the accountant, the novel shows the disparity between the European ideal of civilization and the reality of it. The character, the accountant symbolizes the civilization of the white man which seems incompatible with the environment, and also an illusory scene for Marlaw. There is an important indication in the novel: When Marlow is talking to the accountant, a sick man groans besides them. The accountant is irritated by the patient and he says, "when one has got to make correct entries, one comes to hate those savages--hate them to death." Who are the real savages here? In spite of the Europeans may look civilized, their hearts are opposite to their exteriors.
Before Marlow met the accountant, he saw many terrible scenes on the land, like black figures with ding appearances. Then he suddenly encountered a white man with an immaculate cleanliness. Everything on him is in a perfect order and neat. His appearance makes a big conflict to those people outside the room. Marlow said that: “but in the great demoralisation of the land he kept up his appearance.” Basically, this already presents a dramatic irony because he looks very peculiar and unsuited in this place. For me it is kind of ridiculous of this conflict. This accountant is important because he represents the center thoughts of so called “imperial hygiene.” They think they have the duty to teach those “savages” the cleanliness, just like the Pear’s Soap ad said that this is white man’s burden. Maintaining cleanliness is so important because it is a morally duty for them. Thus their spotless gave them a legitimate reason to came here and exploit those native people.
The accountant’s immaculately white represents the noble position of the imperialism. Marlow said: “I respected the fellow. Yes; I respected his collars, his vast cuffs, his brushed hair.” However, before these sentences, Marlow also said that he wouldn’t have mentioned him if it were not for his information of Kurtz. It’s very ironic that we may say Marlow didn’t really respect the accountant. He is just curious and surprised of his uninfluenced hygiene in this muddle.
Besides, when Marlow asked him how he managed to sport such linen, the accountant said that he has been teaching one of the native women. It means that he has to maintain this immaculate cleanliness through the help of those people who are considered brutal by them. It is also very ironic.
From the dress-up of the accountant, we know that he is a white man with “a high starched collar, white cuffs, a light alpaca jacket, snowy trousers, a clear necktie, and varnished boots.” When we look deeper, the words he picked such as ‘’white”, “light”, “snowy”, “clear” and “varnished” all symbolize the cleanliness of white people. On contrast, the African was always described as “darkness”, “gloomy” “somber” and “dirty”. In those white men’s vision, maintaining cleanliness is equal to the power of civilization and imperialism. The accountant’s obsession of the clothing implies his superiority and importance. Here, the accountant is just like a torch which lights up the people in the wilderness.
There are many ironies from Marlow’s point of view. To begin with, he uses “amazing” and “unexpected elegance” to describe the accountant and even says that he is a “miracle.” His words emphasize how odd the accountant is, to dress up in the wilderness for such a long time. In other words, the accountant is out of place. Then, Marlow says he is just like a “dresser’s dummy” which suggests how empty he is. Like a hollow man, with a perfect surface but nothing on the inside. Next, he says he “respect” the accountant and sarcastically says that “His starched collars and got-up shirt-fronts were achievements of character” In fact, Marlow means totally the opposite. He even wouldn’t introduce this accountant if it were not for Kurts. Thought he is the Company’s chief accountant, we know how insignificant the accountant is in kurt’s eyes.
In the first part of the story, Marlow met a white man who was the chief accountant of the company. Marlow described the accountant who was perfectly clean and looked tidy even he was in the wilderness. For instance, “I saw a high starched collar, white cuffs, a light alpaca jacket, snowy trousers, a clear necktie, and vanished boots. No hat. Hair parted, brushed. Oiled under a green-lined parasol held in a big white hand.” This is how the accountant achieves sartorial spruceness. To maintain cleanliness and beautiful is a way to differentiate between civilization and barbarism. For the accountant who is symbolic to the whole European, “white” is a kind of civilizing mission and insures the rightness of morality which I think is very ridiculous. White people see themselves as civilization and they can light up the dark which refers to the savages who mean dirty and barbarism. Europeans thinks that they have the duty to “teach” savages and to assimilate them. This idea is absurd and unreasonable. That’s why so important to maintain cleanliness for the accountant who thinks that he is superior to savages.
Before meeting the accountant, Marlow saw the scene of hell, people were dying. However, when Marlow met the accountant, he could not believe his eyes- ”in the first moment I took him for a sort of vision.” Marlow also mentioned that “in the great demoralization of the land he kept up his appearance.” I think this is not only a conflict but also a dramatic irony because in the inside of the house, there is a white man dresses beautifully, but outside the house, savages are working and even some of them are dying. Besides, Marlow mentioned “I shook hands with this miracle.” and “I respect the fellow.” I think Marlow did not really think the accountant was a miracle but a disaster and also I don’t think Marlow really respected the accountant. When the accountant treated the sick people, he did not regard the sick people as human. It’s ironic that the accountant presents civilization but what he does is actually barbarism.
In the story Marlow encountered the company’s chief accountant, who appeared in his elegant outfit, with his hair oiled, looking totally different from those native Africans. “That’s a backbone”, said Marlow, he respected this person. Many times he had described the accountant with words that sounded like a gentleman yet how he acted is quite the other way. When Marlow asked about how the accountant managed to keep clothes clean, he answered “modestly” that he had been teaching a woman about the station, and by teaching he could mean slaving, or even treating her like a prostitute. The use of the word “teach” also shows a sense of superiority as a white people. As the accountant mentioned Kurtz, he thought of how Kurtz would become so successful and superior. His jealousy made his eyes mild and bulging, which is a very sarcastic scene that one can be mild and bulging at the same time. The accountant appeared to be the token of civilization, but he end up being corrupt. In this interior Africa, all the brutality of whites, and the creepy, lifeless black people are awareness to Marlow. On the contrary, the accountant seemed to be so ignorant of what happened around him. He had no sympathy for the natives, or even his own sick colleague. By dressing extremely not natural, the accountant separated himself from the natives. He dedicated his efforts to the document works and his appearance, trying hard to maintain cleanness to pretend that he’s not like them, that’s the way he occupied his time and paid no attention to the chaos at all. He actually brought the wildness into the civilization inside his heart.
Marlow met an accountant who is “in such an unexpected elegant of get-up that in the first I took him for a sort of vision,” which was strongly contrasts to those “black shadows of disease and starvation, the moribund people” whom he met just before he met the accountant. And we also can see that the environment there is totally a chaos, but the accountant can still maintain his appearance perfectly. “In the great demoralization of the land he kept up his appearance. That’s a backbone,” that is how Marlow praises the accountant. It’s quite interesting that why the accountant takes the cleanliness and the grooming as an important ritual in such a dirty place, and makes himself so different for that situation, the reasons I think are because whites regard cleanliness as a virtue, and whiteness or cleanliness is a powerful way to distinguish whites from nonwhites, and it also can show their superior to nonwhites and their civilization. By disdaining the natives’ “uneducated and barbarous behaviors,” whites can justify their aggressive behavior in Congo since they can call their invasion as an “education” or a “salvation.’ Whites impose their values upon the natives, and use the name of rescue to seize the land. We also can see that the accountant does not make any efforts to improve the environment or sanitation, the only thing he cares about is himself, just like those whites intrude Congo just want to get their profits, they are not concern the natives’ situation.
The way that the accountant can keep his sartorial spruceness is that he trains a native woman to care for his wardrobe, he says: “I’ve been teaching one of the native women about the station,” and Marlow makes a comment that “Thus this man had verily accomplished something.” It is very irony because the whites should accomplish something to help natives, but in the end, they just utilize them to accomplish their own advantages.
The accountant that Marlow met had a high starched collar, white cuffs, a light alpaca jacket, snowy trousers, a clear necktie, a pair of varnished boots, with hair parted, brushed and oiled, he even had a parasol in his white hand, his appearance is totally different from those black people, and that is an irony. The accountant maintains his cleanliness to show his status is more dignitary than black people, just like Marlow said, “Yes; I respected his collars, his vast cuffs, his brushed hair. His appearance was certainly that of a hairdresser’s dummy; but in the great demoralization of the land he kept his appearance. That’s backbone. His starched collars and got-up shirt-fronts were achievements of character.” The white people think they are superior to the black people, and they think they have the right and the duty to teach the black people what is cleanliness. Actually, when I see the Pear’s Soap ad and the “Heart of Darkness,” I feel very angry about those white people’s thinking and behavior, they think they bring something civilized to the “savages” and deceive them by very abominable way; however, I think they are haunted by imperialism, they are not bringing civilization to the black people, they are bringing disaster to them, they are intruding other’s land without shame.
Claudia 49602011
Before Marlow’s encounter with the accountant, he witnesses bundles of sick, hungry and deceasing black people on his way which accentuates the contrast between the aboriginal and the accountant. He sees a young dying man with a white worsted round his neck, in my opinion, the white worsted symbolizes the influence of European civilization and that is what these foreigners wish to bring to them which they believe would make them better. However, from this dying young man, the ironically negative effects of European civilization on these original residents are shown bluntly.
Marlow later meets the account, who definitely is like a miracle around the area since he is dressed and maintained in a perfect manner when everyone surrounds him seems to be either ill or dying. Conrad uses various words and phrases to elaborate the look of this man; for instance, he describes him as “hair dresser’s dummy”, who dresses high starched collar, white cuffs, alpaca jacket, brushed hair and so on. The striking fact is, this man shows faintest blush for his behavior, he does not care everyone else is suffering in front of his eyes, he does not give a hand, yet he still tries his best to keep himself looking “civilized” in such environment. Conrad gives an ironic comment on his behavior: “That is backbone” in the paragraph.
In my opinion, the accountant’s obsession toward his look is his expression of an imperialist’s self-righteousness and ignorance. Europeans intrude these lands in the name of bringing civilization to the aboriginal only to cover their dirty business when they come to the land chiefly for their own business benefits. These imperialists are arrogant and ignorant, thinking their own way of life is the only civilization when they neglect the fact that these aboriginal people have their distinct culture that fits their way of living, they do not need the outsiders’ ways and those can even make their lives worse.
Before Marlow encountered the wonderfully sleazy accountant, he stepped into a hole where the black shapes were dying there. Marlow was astonished by the scene and then he encountered the accountant which made him harder to believe his eyes. What the accountant did showed the extreme arrogance which even made Marlow think he’s inferior than him as both being white men.
From the long and detailed narrative of the accountant’s appearance by the author, the accountant was incompatible with where he was in. Like “high starched collar, ”
“white cuffs, ” “light alpaca jacket, ” “snowy trousers, ” “clear necktie, ” and “varnished boots, ” these represented an image offending to the eyes as an irony when we compared the image of the station which filled of savage people and undeveloped surroundings. For achieving his sartorial spruceness, the accountant tried to teach the natives to work for him about the station, and from his narrative, “I’ve been teaching one of the native woman to… . It was difficult. She had the distaste for the work.” We could suspect that the native women distasted not for the work itself but work for the European who disturbed their life. “His starched collars and got-up shirt-fronts were achievements of character.” The accountant not only dressed for cleaniness but his status which showed to the savage people that he’s different from them. I also think that dressing well for the accountant eventually had became the breathe of his life because he’s been lived there for a long time and he actually missed his original country a lot which made him transform the depressed feeling into the persistence of dressing.
In Conrad’s Heart of Darkness, the author used irony to present the inhumanity of colonialism and the superiority of white people. In part one, Marlow described an accountant that looks like a “dresser’s dummy”. Although the accountant went to Africa for three years, he still insisted to wear “a high starched collar, white cuffs, a light alpaca jacket, snowy trousers, a clear necktie, and varnished boots” in such a horrible and awful circumstance. His appearance suggested a symbol of white men’s superiority. In that time, the Europeans had the idea that only with white skin could be clean, pure, and civilized. With this presupposition in mind, the indigenous people of Africa are considered to be uncivilized and dirty, and the Europeans have the responsibilities to educate, civilize, and purify them. They weren’t treated like human beings but like animals. “Strings of dusty niggers with splay feet arrived and departed”, and their lives weren’t much important than an ivory. Moreover, the accountant was so cruel and merciless that even when an agent were sick. In page 1903, while there was an invalided agent putting in the station, “he exhibited a gentle annoyance”. He said that the sick man’s groans distract his attention, so he couldn’t concentrate on his work. All he cared about was the trade or the plunder of ivories. It’s very ironic that the men who tried to “brightening the dark corners of the earth” actually are the ones to have the savage behaviors.
1899, the age of new imperialism, colonialism flourished over the whole world and those developed countries got the power to reign backward countries as their colonies. Most of the powerful worlds consisted of white. The superiority of white caused that anything about white such as the color, the culture, the custom would be highly praise. On the other hand, whiteness was the principle of ethics and standing. To educate people in colony learning how to live as the same as white was considered to be grace. Therefore, the ideology of whiteness became a trick to govern those colonies. As the influence of whiteness becomes mighty, the ideology of whiteness becomes noble.
In “Heart of Darkness”, Marlow encountered an account and said:” I respected the fellow. Yes; I respected his collars, his vast cuffs, his brushed hair.” However, the account’s appearance that Marlow described: “His appearance was certainly that of a hair-dresser’s dummy; but in the great demoralization of the land he kept up his appearance. That’s backbone.” To maintain cleaning and glooming is a way to reveal the superiority of whiteness and civilizer. The achievement of the account is to distinguish the difference between the savage from the civilized. The irony is that to maintain cleaning is “backbone” of such as the essential of the guy is sleazy. It reveals that the definition of dignity of whiteness is superficial. To judge people good or bad by if the appearance of people conforms to the principle of white or not no matter what the substance is. This kind of ironical situation can find in history of colonialism and we can realize how arrogant and ridiculous of colonialists and racialists.
The accountant who Marlow encounters brings three ironies in these paragraphs. First, before Marlow meets the well-dressed accountant, he sees the dying aboriginal people. Marlow notices one of them ties a bit of white worsted. However, the dying aboriginal people have no food, the white worsted cannot help them at all. Later, in the place where is dirty and is full of dying people, the accountant appears elegantly. It is unexpected for Marlow to see the accountant’s elegance. “I saw a high starched collar, white cuffs, a light alpaca jacket, snowy trousers, a clear necktie, and varnished boots. No hat. Hair parted, brushed, oiled, under a green-lined parasol held in a big white hand. He was amazing, and had a penholder behind his ear.” Marlow respects the accountant is a miracle because the accountant can maintain his condition well like a “hairdresser’s dummy” regardless of the bad environment and the dying people. That’s the accountant’s “backbone.” In addition, the most ironic thing is the accountant cannot manage the linen which symbolizes civilization. The accountant says, “I’ve been teaching one of the native women about the station. It was difficult. She had a distaste for the work.” Although the woman does not like the work, the accountant forces her to do it. It is similarly violent that the aboriginal people think they do not need to be civilized but the white people force them to be. In conclusion, these ironies make civilization unreasonable and absurd.
Because maintaining cleanliness is the easiest way to show not only one’s civilization but also the difference from the savage people, it is so important for accountant to maintain his cleanliness. People in “Brave New World” insist on cleanliness as well. I think maintaining cleanliness can be distant from disease and harmful insects, so the accountant’s obsession with cleaning and grooming rituals is to keep his health well. However, the accountant disregards the bad environment and the dying people that may also kill him. I think the white people don’t want to civilize the aboriginal persons or to make the aboriginal persons’ life better. What they really want is just the bloody ivory.
There are actually a lot of ironies in these paragraphs. In my opinion, the accountant is completely a big irony. For example, when Marlow made towards the station, he saw groups of the black were dying, feeling in a hell. But when he saw the accountant, he can’t believe the accountant could keep such a cleaniness. Marlow described the accountant wore a “high starched collar, white cuffs, a light alpaca jacket, snowy trousers, a clear necktie, and varnished boots. No hat. Hair parted, brushed, oiled, under a green-lined parasol held in a big white hand.” Moreover, Marlow mentioned that His sartorial spruceness was his “backbone”. Contrary to the hell scene of “black bones” in the former paragraph, the accountant seemed to live in his perfect world and pretended that he was in an office at London without seeing the occurrence of the black’s death. In addition, Marlow described “the accountant’s appearance was certainly that of a hair-dresser’s dummy. I think that the hair-dresser’s dummy reveals the accountant merely had his surface and nothing at heart.
The main work of the accountant did was making correct entries of perfectly correct transaction. In fact, all the accountant did didn’t fit the reality. Marlow mentioned that everything in the station was in a muddle; climate and environment there was extremely awful. For instance, “It was hot there too; big flies buzzed fiendishly, and did not sting, but stabbed.” “A violent babble of uncouth sound burst out…” “…the lamentable voice of the chief was heard ‘giving it up’ tearfully for the twentieth time that day…” Even though Marlow thought that all thing there was exceptional terrible, the accountant didn’t think as Marlow and asked he told Kurtz that everything was very satisfactory. Furthermore, Marlow described the accountant’s behavior and manner was “modest” and “gentle.” When Marlow was startled to ask whether the sick agent was dead, the accountant still answered with “great composure.” According to Marlow’s description, it manifest that the accountant‘s indifference to the agent and the black’s death. All he concerned was to make the book perfectly.
In Heart of Darkness, Conrad keeps making contrast between describing the “light” (the white, civilization) and the “dark” (the black, barbarism) to display the Eurocentric ideology which later he would always reveal clues to overthrow. And these paragraphs which Marlow met the accountant are just good evidence of Conrad’s revelation that overthrows the ideology of whiteness.
Grooming rituals are proud by Europeans and are seen as the symbol of civilization. (Probably that’s because “neatness” and majestic appearance are emphasized especially in Victorian time, which is regarded as the most splendid time of England.) However, the chaotic and severe natural environment and life in Africa cause the natives to show an image of “dirtiness” and this also gives the white a chance to boast their “virtue” of cleanliness and thus becomes their excuse of intruding Africa. As a result, maintaining cleanliness is important for the accountant because it’s a way to show his difference and “superiority” to the natives, that is, to enlarge his ego. And by maintaining his “superiority” on appearance, he can justify his intruding and belittling on the land and the natives. However, in Marlow’s eyes, the accountant’s groom rituals seem more incomprehensible and ironic, and only to be an adverse effect. That’s because before he meets the accountant, he has seen the ghastly situation of the natives, which is a picture of hell. Although the appearances of the black are horrible, they are more conformable to the environment. And that’s why Marlow would say: “When near the buildings I met a white man, in such an unexpected elegance of get-up that in the first moment I took him for a sort of vision,” which ironically points out the impropriety and injustice of the accountant’s both dress and attitude. What’s more ironic, the way he achieves his sartorial spruceness is to force the native woman to do the work for him. This just echoes to the earlier paragraph which Marlow describes the black: “The work was going on. The work! And this was the place where some of the helpers had withdrawn to die.” Both above evidences point out the irony: The white’s “superiority” (i.g. comfort and “cleanliness”) is based on the “inferiority” (i.g. pains and sacrifices) of the black natives. And the superiority of being whiteness in Africa only proves the Europeans to be barbarous because the more civilized they dress on appearance, the more sacrifices the natives undergo and the more inhuman the Europeans are. Thus, here comes the biggest and the last irony: The center of light is proved only to be the opposite- the center of darkness.
I think it’s hard to define whether such obsession with cleanliness of the white is a faith to realize imperialism or just an access to achieve colonialism. However, no matter it’s the real reason or the excuse of their intruding, the obsession and ideology of whiteness only shows an inconvenient truth to them: the egoism of Europeans and their ignorance of respecting the divergences of other cultures.
When Marlow near the buildings on the journry, he met a white man who is a accountant with elegant dressing. According to heart of darkness, Marlow saw a “high starched collar, white cuffs, a light alpaca jacket, snowy trousers, a clear necktie, and varnished boots. No hat. Hair parted, brushed, oiled, under a green-lined parasol held in a big white hand.” Marlow felt verily astonished because his appearance didn’t suit africa surroundings. For example, marlow narrated, “everything in the station was in a muddle and dusty niggers arrived.” However, he spends time on caring his images in order to become perfect. “His appearance like a hair-dresser’s dummy”, I think his facial expression is gloom and lack of energy due to his indifference to those africans. In addition, his brushed hair is so clean that like a dummy. We can know some irony Marlow narrated. First, what is the accomplishment he achieved? He devoted himself to his books rather than helping those natives. He said that one native woman dislikes the work so that his instruction is very difficult. What is on earth the accountant can teach? The story makes me reflect the “teaching”. White people considers themselves to be a leader to educate those savage, black, and filthy people; but they ignore their dignity and real need. Second, why the accountant eagers to have the grooming ritual? He wants to be specially clean to symbolize his status because he thinks those “dirty” people is inferior. He has the superiority like most of white people. However, he only cares his imperial hygiene instead of helping to improve the terrible living the native people inhabits. It is so ironic that his clean appearance can become a backbone for eduacting those natives. Apparently, when he knows the groans of the sick person, he just feels it is so noisy that distracts his attention. Therefore, although he is a white man who has good looks, he still cann’t bring the light to the heart of darkness.
49502027 蘇羿慈
The accountant achieves a great deal of dramatic ironies comparing his looks to his behaviors. The truth that his quality of being a human is already corrupted cannot be covered by the flawless, neat and tidy outfit. I see a nervous and tense man is trying hard to stay completed and uses arrogance as a defiance of being in a “wild” place. To dress up, to look clean, and to do accounting precisely, make the accountant feels that he is superior to those “savage” people, so that he won’t fall apart in this infernal land. However, his pitiless reaction toward something bad – the people was suffering and dying in front of him – proves that he is just a “hairdresser’s dummy,” a paper tiger, and a hollow man. The narration of Marlow is ironic, too: “He had just the faintest blush, and said modestly, ‘I’ve been teaching one of the native women about the station. It was difficult. She had a distaste for the work.’ Thus this man had verily accomplished something.” It is questionable these imperial intruders think they are bringing the torch of civilization to the dark corner, and take it as “the white man’s burden.” In fact, they are here for profit and they are here to exploit. The imperial intruders have only darkness cannot bring any brightness to the native people.
Before Marlow meets the accountant the depiction of land is waste and dark. It reveals a strong contrast while the image of the accountant is white and cleanness shows up. It is bizarre that a man in such a place insists on keeping cleanness. The accountant symbolizes the imperial power that brings civilization but his appearance reminds readers of cruel of imperialism.
The accountant insists on maintaining cleanness for several reasons. First of all, the cleanness separates him from the environment, because he is the symbol of civilization. Secondly, it is important to keep calm in the tropics so cleanness proves he still can manage himself. At last, the civilized people must be the model for the natives and cleanness is the one of civilization.
In my opinion, it is ridiculous that he insists on maintaining cleanness to reveal his dignity. The comparison between the accountant and the environment conveys how cruel the main concept of civilization is. And the truth of the imperialism is invading other countries to fulfill their desires. Their civilization seems to be the best lives to natives, but it become worse.
“Moreover, I respected the fellow. (p.1902)” The ‘respect’ here is a sarcastic compliment. The chief accountant is described as ‘amazing, miracle, and unexpected elegance’ sarcastically. His spruceness which reveals his achievements of character is incompatible with the great demoralization of the land. “He had come out for a moment, he said, ‘to get a breath of fresh air.’ (p.1902)” As a prudent dresser, the chief accountant does need fresh air because he requires his appearance taking so much time and work. He can not breathe easy and freely for he cramps himself by the superficial clothing.
“I saw a high starched collar, white cuffs, a light alpaca jacket, snowy trousers, a clear necktie, and varnished boots… under a green-lined parasol held in a big white hand. (p.1902)” The Company’s chief accountant clothes himself the white, snowy, and light color appearance. In the behaviorist’s point of view, how you dress yourself does not depend on your personal preference but predominantly attracting other’s attention. The white color is granted as the imperial dignity. As one of the imperialists, the chief accountant treats the white people like him superiorly to those original inhabitants. They consider themselves extremely exceptional. Otherwise, seeming so light, the white color presents not only the conceit but also the frivolity. Without being shrouded in the light color skin, they remain nothingness and emptiness inside. Even their spirit is worthless and inferior to the wilderness.
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