Returning to the Heart of Darkness

Orientalism is making generalizations or stereotypes of the East. Said argued that some of these stereotypes include being politically power hungry and devious. Easterners are sly and cannot be trusted. Their men are seen as ¨sexually incontinent¨ and their women are seen as sexually subservient. I think Said showed the West´s dependence on the East really well through his connection to Heart of Darkness. Orientalism can be maintained because the West is politically dominant. I think this factors into the generalizations of Eastern governments especially, because Western governments are democratic and honest, while Eastern governments are stereotyped as despotic and deceptive. In Heart of Darkness, most imperialists had no hesitation going to Congo because they operated under the assumption that they were helping Congo modernize and making the Congolese more civil. They could subordinate the Congolese for labor because they were ultimately ¨improving¨ the country, and just happened to economically benefit from it.

I think portions of this mindset are still visible today, most visibly in Western consumerism. I´m sure large companies still think they are helping the Eastern countries they build factories in because they are providing jobs and possibly improving local economies. However, the standards for labor are much lower than they are in the West, and the companies knowingly benefit from it and continue the trend. Despite the spotlight that gets placed on companies like Nike whenever a new story breaks about poor labor conditions in their factories, I rarely stop to question where my clothes come from or how they were produced. I think we have all looked at the tags on our shirts in a class and had a short discussion on the surprising distant locations they were manufactured in, but I know I never took the time to research the specifics of how the clothes were made. Most likely, I wouldn´t have been comfortable with what I found.