Heart of Darkness Q.2

London, to the Romans, was uncivilized, savage, and a mystery. Africa, to the British, is a dark spot on the map. Conrad starts the novel with this tale of old London to illustrate a point about the hypocrasy of British colonialism. Marlow is drawing this parallel. Marlow does go on to explain the distinctions between the two groups but the point has already been made. My favorite quote from our first reading: "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."