The theme of imperialism in Heart of Darkness Of the themes present in Conrad's Heart of Darkness, imperialism and colonialism are probably the most important. While Heart of Darkness is actually set on the Thames, the events described by Marlow are set on the Congo River. “The Congo is the river that determined the partition of Africa which occurred from 1880 to 1890” (McLynn 13). This event marked the beginning of the colonization of Africa. In 1884, European nations held a conference and decided that every European country should have free access to the interior of Africa. “Thus began the colonization of Africa, without any consideration that the land was already inhabited” (McLynn 18). King Leopold of Belgium already had, thanks to a previous investment, control of much of Africa surrounding the Congo. In 1878 King Leopold had hired Henry Stanley to establish trading posts along the Congo River. It was in this context that the events described by Marlow in Heart of Darkness took place. For Europeans, colonization meant bringing civilization, religion, and order to a world devoid of these elements. What Marlow saw, however, was the inefficiency and horror resulting from colonization and imperialism. Kurtz's portrait of the aspirant represents this ironic situation. The portrait is of “a draped and blindfolded woman, carrying a lighted torch” (Conrad 92). The girl represents the Europeans and the light is the civilization they hope to bring to the wild countries but by which they themselves are not enlightened. The abandoned tools, the "flaccid... devil of a rapacious and merciless madness" (p. 81), the leaky bucket used to put out fires, and the abandoned helpers left to die, all.... .. half of the paper ...... of Darkness." A Lawrence University Freshman Studies Lecture, January 24, 1996. Rpt. James Banks, Willamette Univ.; & Free Speech Television: http://www.freespeech.org /james/conrad/heart .htm (Accessed: April 2001) Conrad, Joseph. Heart of Darkness, New York: Dover, 1990. Dintenfass, Mark. "Heart of Darkness: A Lawrence University Freshman Studies Lecture" 1996. *http://www.acsu. buffalo.edu/~csicseri/dintenfass.htm* (February 2, 2000). Hayes, Dorsha “Heart of Darkness: An Aspect of the Shadow,” Spring (1956): 43-47..Hillman, James white: essay on an archetypal account of historical events", Spring (1986): 29-57. McLynn, Frank Hearts of Darkness: The European Exploration of Africa: Carol & Gey, 1992. Mellard, James "Myth and Archetype in Heart of darkness", Tennessee Studies in Literature 13 (1968): 1-15.