WR 122 11 August 2010 King Leopold’s Ghost: Illuminating Congo’s Heart of Darkness King Leopold’s Ghost: A Story of Greed, Terror, and Heroism in Colonial Africa by Adam Hochschild is a sweeping and often revolting account of the atrocities of the Belgian colonization of the Congo and its aftermath. Using a variety of writing techniques, Hochschild creates an engrossing narrative which not only unveils a dark chapter in our global history, but also fosters an empathy in the reader to the victims of the barbarity of the time. The story unfolds around the turn of the twentieth century when European powers began to explore and colonize Sub-Saharan Africa. Belgian king Leopold II laid individual claim to the enormous chunk of land surrounding the Congo River and proceeded to strip the land of its resources, including, but not limited to, rubber, ivory, and people using a deadly system of forced labor. Under the ironic and spurious guise of humanitarianism, Leopold built himself an empire in central Africa, lining his pockets and satisfying his egotism, becoming the largest individual landowner in the world, while the brutality of his reign slashed the Congolese population by 10 million people, or approximately in half (Hochschild, 233).
There was this sort of contest Erurope was going through; countries would rush to get as much African land as they could, usually going after the rich land. Leopold quickly joined in on that, sending the explorer, Stanley. After Leopold hired Henry Morton Stanley to travel across the Congo to conquer most of the land there, he used his clever ways to make major European counties and the United States recognize that this territory was personally owned by him. 2. Hochschild writes of Joseph Conrad that he “was so horrified by the greed and brutality among white men he saw in the Congo that his view of human nature was permanently change.” Judging from Hochschild’s account and from Heart of Darkness, in what way was Conrad’s view changed?
The character of Jack in Lord of the Flies serves to highlight the uneven cruelty and power distributed through society. His character depicts a battle between good and evil, this theme is one that was influenced by Golding's own experiences in World War two. Jack represents the breakdown in society and how the “blood thirsty”, savagery in human nature can cause the fall of man and lead to autocratic tribalism. Jack’s craving for power is made evident right from the beginning of the novel. when the boys decide that they “ought to have a chief”, Jack jumps at the chance with “simple arrogance”, and states that its because he is “chapter chorister”, and can “sing C sharp”,so in other words, for no valid reason at all.
Hopper was sympathetic to blacks because he remembers a specific instant that changed him forever. His family had a farm helper named Mingo, who cried to Hopper explaining his story, in tears, about how he was kidnapped from slave traders. This was the reason why Hopper wanted to help blacks so much. Once in Philadelphia Hopper learned two lessons,
In the political cartoon “Governing the Continent unitedly: A Reality”, by Paresh the extremes of Africa are illustrated. This political cartoon shows us all the bad sides, all the true stereotypes that are part of the continent Africa. People deem Africa as a country of poverty, disease, dictatorship, famine and many other negative concepts that portrays Africa as a much flawed continent. The cartoon shows the continent Africa surrounded by several skeleton figures sitting on chairs. Each of these skeletons is named; warlord, civil war, dictatorship, disease, poverty, hunger, famine, drought or rights abuses, that is written on the skeleton’s cloaks.
Hoan Truong Mrs. Masters CP English 11 October 28 2011 Purity from Within Good v. evil played as an extremely important theme in both the Beowulf and Grendel text. In Beowulf, Grendel, the mean bloodthirsty monster, obviously represents evil; killing innocent human lives because of his mechanical animalistic behaviors. Beowulf on the other hand was looked up to as a hero. In the human perspective; he was described as strong, courageous hero. In contrast Gardner portrayed Grendel and Beowulf completely different than how Orwell did.
Night, by Elie Wiesel, is an autobiographical book about the survival of a young Jew that is living in the times of the horrifying Holocaust. The characters face terrifying accounts that takes place at the concentration camp, Auschwitz. Wiesel writes of his battle for survival and the utmost degradation of the human race. What he sees and experiences as a young boy shapes his outlook on the world entirely. The story is powerful and affecting through the negligence of the Nazis.
A man called John Oxley said” They trembled excessively and were absolutely intoxicated with fear….”. This happened when two Indigenous men saw his party. A wise, notable, Indigenous resistance fighter called Yagan was feared and admired by the British colonist. He fought for his peoples rights and seeked revenge as one of his own was killed. He quoted saying ‘ A black man claims nothing as his own but his cloak, his weapons and his name..
These colors, presented in Django Unchained, have great significance to the story itself and have also had their place in the history of the United States as colors that behold immense power. The four colors are representations of power that many enslaved peoples could only hope to obtain one day. After escaping from a second chance at slavery, Django finds himself back in the Candyland Plantation dressed in a red suit. He has single-handedly killed all Whites in the plantation; there is blood splattered around the walls, and plans to kill the man who gave away his true identity, Stephen a well-respected house slave. Django already is presented to the audience as a powerful man, a man capable of many things, including murder.
INTRODUCTION This paper attempts to evaluate the extent to which renowned scholar, Peter P. Ekeh’s claim applies true to the contemporary politics of the Democratic Republic of Congo by tracing its historical struggle with slave trade and colonisation; and its resultant internecine warfare and exploitation of resources. THE BEGINNINGS OF THE SLAVE TRADE (West and West-Central Africa) Slavery is one of the most emotive issues in history. According to Black (2015), slavery is similar to war: in one light, enforced servitude, like large-scale, violent conflict, is easy to define. But, what the slave trade means for the history of East Africa or the Mediterranean lands is different from what it means for the Atlantic world.