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of his short stories and novels were inspired
                   by his personal experiences of those years. For
                   instance, The Heart of Darkness, the story on
                   which  Francis  Ford  Coppola  based  his  film
                   Apocalypse  Now,  builds  on  the  experience
                   Conrad gained when employed by the Belgian
                   company  managing  travel  on  the  Congo
                   River, while the short story Youth: A narrative
                   was inspired by his trip as a second mate on a
                   merchant ship to “the Orient”.


                   A  feature  distinguishing  Conrad  among
                   such authors in his time as Rudyard Kipling,
                   who  idealized  Western  intervention  as  a
                   civilizational  effort,  was  Conrad’s  staunch
                   criticism of colonialism. This reflects Conrad’s
                   hereditary  aversion  to  oppression  and  his
                   personal observations of what was happening
                   in  colonized  lands.  No  one  who  reads  The
                   Heart  of  Darkness,  published  in  1899,  can
                   take  the  civilizational  claim  of  colonialism
                   for granted any more. “To tear treasure out of
                   the bowels of the land was their desire, with   imagination of it! To me she was not an old  Joseph Conrad
                   no more moral purpose at the back of it than   rattle-trap carting about the world a lot of coal  on the cover
                   there is in burglars breaking into a safe”, says   for a freight – to me she was the endeavour,  of the Tome
                                                     1
                   Marlow - Conrad’s character and alter ego.    the  test,  the  trial  of  life”,  Conrad  wrote.   Magazine,
                                                                                              2
                   Yet  the  most  impressive  aspect  of  Conrad’s   Enthusiasm helps a young person overcome  7 April 1923,
                   works is their deep insight into the psychology   the  vagaries  of  life,  expecting  the  natural  by TIME
                   of the human being. As if his stories combine   course of things to lift him up. In the story,  Magazine
                   the concrete personal experience of the writer   the youth’s mindset contrasts the scepticism,
                   with  an  essay  on  a  fundamental  feature  of   bordering  cynicism,  of  the  old  captain  and
                   the human psyche. In the Heart of Darkness   his  first  mate,  for  whom  everything  about
                   Conrad explores an old approach in literature:   the trip to the Orient, which exults the young
                   sailing along a river is associated with a travel   boy, is part of an uninspiring routine at the
                   through  one’s  consciousness.  Youth  is  also   end  of  their  lifetime  journey.  In  my  life,  I
                   an  example  of  Conrad’s  psychologism.  It   often  recollected  this  story.  I  apprehended,
                   describes the first trip of a young enthusiastic   for example, as the story of Youth the devoted
                   sailor as a second mate, longing for his first   efforts  of  some  friends,  medical  students,
                   encounter  with  the  Orient.  He  is  ready  to
                   accept the numerous failings of the old ship
                   on which he is affected (“all rust, dust, grime   2  Conrad, Joseph. “Youth: A narrative”, Selected
                   – soot aloft, dirt on deck”) – a barque carrying   Short  Stories,  Ware,  Wordsworth  Classics   997,
                   coal from England to Bangkok, which finally   p.75.
                   catches  fire,  burns  down  and  sinks.  In  the
                   background, the youth’s mind apprehends all   “For instance, The Heart of Darkness, the
                   these  troubles  as  temporary  circumstances
                   on  the  way  to  greater  accomplishments.  “O   story on which Francis Ford Coppola based
                   youth! The strength of it, the faith of it, the   his film Apocalypse Now, builds on the ex-
                                                          perience Conrad gained when employed by
                      Conrad, Joseph. The Heart of Darkness, Gut-  the Belgian company managing travel on
                   tenberg Project 2006, online https://www.guten-
                   berg.org/cache/epub/526/pg526.html     the Congo River...”


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