By Anil Raturi
Joseph Conrad believed that the nicety of civilised behaviour amongst humans is only a thin layer – a veneer- like the thin crust of lava that has just cooled – below which there is an enormous uncontrollable steamy cauldron (a metaphor for primitive barbarism) waiting to come up anytime from a crack!
We have seen in history how the so called “civilised” European powers treated natives of their colonies while ostensibly trying to “civilise” them! The story is familiar everywhere. The treatment of native Americans, African slaves, Roman slaves, Indian Dalits, etc., by the ruling classes (in their respective contexts) who claimed to be ‘civilised’ is well known!
Conrad expanded this theme in his novella “Heart of Darkness”, in which the scene of action is set in the Belgian Congo in Africa–a place navigated by the River Congo, literally and metaphorically at the centre of Mother Earth – like the womb from where all was born! The centre of unfathomable darkness of primordial life! It is said our species originated in Africa a few hundred thousand years ago. In comparison, “Civilisation” came to us a mere six thousand years ago with the dawn of agriculture. It is only a “thin crust” under which the habitual barbarian is always lurking!
The Belgian Colonists ironically treated the so called “uncivilised” natives of Congo in a barbaric and reprehensible manner!
The Chief Belgian Colonist–by now a famous literary character called “Kurtz” – says in a moment of epiphany, “the horror, the horror”, referring to the primordial savage propensities in each one of us so called “gentlemen”!
TS Eliot, in his famous and appropriately titled poem, “The Hollow Men”, has an epigram alluding to Conrad’s work saying “mistah kurtz he dead”!
Soldiers and Policemen have seen it everywhere, especially in the moments when the “veneer” of civility collapses–during riots —wars, etc. For some time now, we have been reading such stories in the news relating to the Ukraine-Russian war.
The latest replay of “The Horror” is now going on in Gaza!
Interestingly, Francis Ford Coppola in his 1979 iconic film “Apocalypse Now” used this very theme of Conrad’s for the setting of the Vietnam War!
In the film, the main protagonist, Marlon Brando,
is named “Col Kurtz!” who talks about “the horror!” with Capt Willard (Martin Sheen).
Even more interesting is that, perhaps, taking a cue from Conrad in 1964, VS Naipaul seeing the “horror and darkness” of India for the first time, named his first book about India “An Area of Darkness”!
(Anil Raturi is a retired IPS officer)
