Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad Corrupt Cosmopolitanism and the Savage Garden A compare and contrast essay comparing civilized and uncivilized society's in Conrad's Heart of Darkness

Corrupt Cosmopolitanism and the Savage Garden <Tab/>Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness is the story of the meeting of two worlds, the so-called "advanced" society of Europe and the "Primitive" society of Africa. Throughout the novel he explores the various characteristics that reveals what it means to be "civilized" juxtaposed with what it means to be "savage." During the story white Europeans are portrayed as powerful and educated, faithless and greedy, …

…in the Ivory trade frequently behave ruthlessly, and the savage natives show admirable restraint and humanity. There are many tell-tale signs that the world sees as civilized, and many that are viewed as savage. He does not belittle the African's savage culture. On the contrary, he upholds the virtue of the savage culture by condemning the pettiness of the civilized countrymen, calling them "intruders whose knowledge of life was to me an irritating pretense" (pg 66).