Connection: Heart of Darkness and an Eco-Catastrophe

In regards to Heart of Darkness, Joseph Conrad mentions Africa's forested regions as an endless "God-forsaken wilderness", yet today, there are very few places in the world that can be likened to this. Very little darkness remains. Fewer "blank spaces" on the map. And while wildnerness may still exist, none of it remains in the same untouched aspect that we read about in Heart of Darkness. The eerie and wonderful places that Conrad talked about now probably stand as farms or residential areas. So in this sense, we're aware of how ENORMOUSLY mankind's influnence has spread in that timeframe.

So another thing to be aware of is the amount of exploitation that's involved in the spread of mankind's influence. Countless tracts of forest destroyed. Land going up in flames. Native tribes being wiped off the map. Animals as well as people going extinct. It's just like what Conrad said: "The conquest of the earth, which mostly means the taking it away from those who have a different complexion or slightly flatter noses than ourselves, is not a pretty thing when you look into it too much." And most conquest, after all, is centered on human greed.

So this ties in very well to what's happening in the Amazon frontier, where mankind is slowly creeping up on wilderness and encroaching on the remaining darkness. Resources are also being exploited in very similar ways: Where it was rubber and ivory in 19th century Africa, it's timber and cattle in the South American rainforest. Settlers are moving in, grabbing as much money and profit as they can possibly get their hands on. Brazil alone has lost over 4,600 square miles of rainforest in just 1 year. Even protected areas are hugely vulnerable to logging. And this rate of deforestation is even worse for Indonesia (which is smaller in area, but loses a much larger percentage of trees). Species are disappearing like crazy, and almost invariably, as a result of this, there are native tribes who are also being displaced.

And so this "rape of land" lies at the heart of almost every modern-day ecological issue. Whether it's caused by desperate farmers struggling to earn a living or corrupt and power-hungry white men like Kurtz, we simply cannot allow it to continue. The results are becoming catastrophic already.

Really! Such exploitation of the land is not only short-sighted, but also harmful to the ones who inflict it. Saying it does continue, it WILL be the downfall of mankind. Just look at what happened to Kurtz!