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Walker Rouse

Ms. Singh

AP English IV

29 April 2019

The Logistics of Exerting Control

History has shown that there has only been attempts to exert control. The attempt follows

a pattern, one that does not break. No matter the circumstances, if a controller is corrupt or the

controlled is unfit it is only time that tells when the attempt will inevitably fail. In ​Heart of

Darkness, ​this pattern is found in modern European imperialism. King Leopold II was given part

of the Congo to exert his control over. He took advantage of its inhabitants and slaughtered

millions of people which is known to be one of the worst genocides in history (History). This

went on for almost a decade until the Belgian people saw Leopold's corrupt behavior (History).

Eventually, decolonization occurred in the Congo and years later in ​A Bend In The River​ we see

the same pattern in the same Congo. After gaining independence, leaders were put into place to

guide the Congo in the right direction. It only took five years for Mobutu Sese Seko, a dictator,

to rise (one of the harshest dictators the Congo has seen)(Britannica). He killed those who

opposed his rule and treated the Congolese terribly. Eventually, President Mobutu was

overthrown by a rebellion in 1997 and died in exile (Britannica). What can be seen from these

novels is that this pattern is absolute. There can be many routes in which this pattern plays out,

but the result will be the same: failure. From the dawn of civilization with the Roman Empire

and Julius Caesar, Great Britain and their control over the Colonies, and Hitler's attempt to exert

control with the Nazi Regime all of them end in failure. These novels perfectly highlight the
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different aspects of this pattern from why people want control, how the control manifests itself,

and how it eventually ends. The attempt to exert control is more than a pattern of inevitable

failure. It is a relentless cycle human nature that --if the controller is corrupt or the controlled is

unfit-- will not break.

Just as this pattern has become human nature of subconscious practice, so has the greed

for wealth and power. This greed, whether shared by one person, a group, or a company of

people engulfess all that desire something more. In ​A Bend In The River, ​Salim, the narrator,

starts the novel by saying, “The world is what it is; men who are nothing, who allow themselves

to become nothing, have no place in it” (Naipaul 1). This perfectly explains the desires of those

who want control. The controllers do not want to amount to nothing. They strive to make

something of themselves, become bathed in riches and fame. For the President there was no

better way to make something of himself then to exert his control over the Congolese. For King

Leopold there was no better way to become rich and famous in Belgium then by controlling the

Congolese. The Company in ​Heart Of Darkness​ in Marlow’s perspective was from his Aunt as

he said, “She talked about ‘weaning those ignorant millions from their horrid ways till, upon my

word, she made me quite uncomfortable. I ventured to hint that the Company was run for profit”

(Conrad 13). The relationship of control over the Congo by Belgium and the Company can be

best described as parasitism. The Company and its greed for wealth took everything related to

ivory and rubber at the Congolese expense. Marlow recognized this from his Aunts’ words and

saw first-hand the true effects at the Grove of Death, where enslaved Congolese went to die from

the brutality the Company forced on them. Similarly, in​ A Bend In The River​ Raymond explains

why the new President was so interested in the Congo by quoting him saying, “Africans had
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prodigious skills as wood-carvers and that the country could supply the whole world with high

quality furniture” (Naipaul 186). This just shows the President’s greed for wealth and power to

exploit the Congolese as people who could provide the world with furniture. People like the

President and the Belgian Company are corrupt. They will do anything to fulfill the desire for

wealth and power. They are the controllers and part of the pattern. They have succumbed to the

relentless cycle of exerting control because of their greed. They had different circumstances and

different ways but both faced the same eternal issue: greed for wealth and power, a dark desire

for more.

Like a mad virus attacking a weak immune system the attempt to exert control is similar.

Someone who desires control will attack others who are weak in spirit, mind, or body. They see

people who are weak as an opportunity to control them. As Salim explains what was happening

on the East Coast he says, “People who had grown feeble had been physically destroyed. That, in

Africa was not new; it was the oldest law of the land” (Naipaul 29). He gives insight to why

people seek control over others. If people are shown as physically or mentally weak, it is easy to

manipulate them and take control over their will power. It has happened time and time again and

is happening in the little town Salim resides in at the bend in the river. The people at the bend in

the river were weakened by outside forces and controlled by outside forces. The same can be

said in ​Heart Of Darkness​ as well. Marlow explains to his audience on the boat when he says,

“They grabbed what they could get for the sake of what could be got. It was robbery with

violence” (Conrad 7). He shows how the Company's attempt to exert control was of the same

manifestation. The Congolese were weak in mind and body and could be easily manipulated.

They were controlled, hurt and killed if they got in the way of their dark desire for wealth and
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power. One of the most powerful emotions in human nature is fear and what it can make people

do. In ​A Bend In The River,​ Salim says,

Father Huismans went out on one of his trips and was killed. His death need never been

discovered;.. But the people who killed him wanted the fact to be known. His body put in

a dugout, and the dugout drifted down the river until it caught against the bank in a tangle

of water hyacinths. His body had been mutilated, his had cut and spiked. He was buried

quickly,..(Naipaul 82)

Father Huismans was someone seen as Old Africa, and the President was trying to make New

Africa (a modern place like the world powers). Although Huismans killer (a symbol) was never

found, his death was meant as a message. The fear created by the mutilated body and spiked

head put people at the bend in the river in a state of unrest. This was just the President's plan to

rid of the old and keep them in fear of him. So they followed under his control the plan to change

Africa and the Congo. A similar incident happened in ​Heart Of Darkness​ with Freesleven the

Dane who “thought himself wronged somehow in a bargain, so he went assore and started to

hammer the chief of the village with a stick…. He probably felt the need at least of asserting his

self respect therefore he whacked the old ni**** mercilessly, while a big crowd of his people

watched him” (Conrad 9). Freesleven was someone who worked for the Company that was

exerting its control over the Congo and the Congolese people. He thought showing himself

killing the chief of a tribe would make the villagers respect him. Ultimately he was killed for

doing so. The tribe was so frightened by the repercussions from the Company and the Belgium

Imperialists that might happen (from killing a white man exerting their control over them) so

they ran away. The tribe was never to be seen again. In both instances, the emotion of fear was
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used to keep people in control or to keep them from acting out even more. The manifest of

control is dictated by opportunities to overpower other individuals and ability to strike fear. Its an

undeniable part in the pattern of exerting control over others.

No matter the circumstances, the attempt to exert control will fail. The pattern is a

relentless cycle. If a corrupt person is in control it will not steer away from the pattern. People of

the same mindset will conspire against them. In ​Heart Of Darkness​ an Uncle and his Nephew

scheme against Kurtz a controller of great corrupt power. Marlow is recalling the overheard

conversation as he says, “‘We will not be free from unfair competition till one of these fellows is

hanged for an example,’ he said. ‘Certainly,’ grunted the other; ‘get him hanged!’” (Conrad 33) .

They all worked for the Company, but Kurtz was seen as the most powerful with his control over

the Congolese. The Uncle and his nephew and their dark desire to become just as powerful and

wealthy wanted him dead. If people of the same mindset are not the ones to end the attempt to

exert control then a rebellion of unfittingly controlled people will. In ​A Bend In The River​ Salim

talks about a rebellion uprising, “At first they were only going to kill government people. Now

the Liberation Army say that is not enough. They say they have to do what they did the last time,

but they had to do it better this time” (Naipaul 275). The President treated the people of the

Congo in awful ways. His recent nationalization was the final burden for the Liberation Army,

the ever growing rebellion to fight back against the corrupt government that was attempting to

exert control over them. The President planned to execute someone in Salim’s town at the bend

in the river. The Liberation Army planned to assassinate him that day and all others opposing

them. It was the President’s corrupt behavior that led the rebellion to such actions and the

eventual failure of attempt to exert control. If there is no one to stand up against the atrocities of
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a corrupt controller, then their own heart of darkness will. Different from ​A Bend In The River

the reason Kurtz who was a part of the Company In ​Heart of Darkness​ could not keep control

was because his own dark heart consumed him. Salim explains as he says, “His was an

impenetrable darkness. I looked at him as you peer down at a man who is lying at the bottom of

precipice where the sun never shines” (Conrad 69). Kurtz was the symbol of the attempt to exert

control that not only he did but the company. As he was perishing Marlow got to see the epitome

of what a corrupt soul looked like. A corrupt soul is unfit to control others. In the attempt to exert

control they will fail to keep even control of themselves and eventually that will end their control

over others.

No matter the route the pattern will not break. The relentless cycle will continue with no

regard of time. ​Heart Of Darkness ​and the insight of Belgium Imperialism proves just that with

the corrupt control of the Company and Kurtz. The story of the eventual failure because of his

own heart of darkness. ​A Bend in The River​ and the insight on the New Africa and a President

who in reality was an extreme dictator. This story shows that a corrupt government will always

fail in the attempt to exert control. Both of these novels have one main thing in common and that

is they only attempted. In the end they were both unsuccessful. In the battle between the

controller and the controlled, nobody wins. The battle does not stop, it is only reborn in a new

face, in a new place, and in a new time. The relentless cycle has been something that has plagued

mankind since the dawn of civilization. It was here for the Roman Republic, Belgium

Imperialism, Mobutu's reign in the Congo, and still exists today. The pattern will not break and

the cycle will continue far into the future. For as long as greed for wealth and power exists in

people it will stay. For as long as people are seen as less than other or can succumb to their fears
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it will stay. For as long as the controller is corrupt or the controlled are unfit the pattern and the

relentless cycle that it is will stay. The Company and Kurtz had no chance in breaking it. The

President ever since Raymond showed him the way to the top had his fate sealed. The attempt to

exert control inevitably fails.

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Work Cited

Britannica, The Editors of Encyclopaedia. “Mobutu Sese Seko.” ​Encyclopædia Britannica​,

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 10 Oct. 2018,

www.britannica.com/biography/Mobutu-Sese-Seko.

History, “King Leopold II of Belgium Takes the Congo | History Channel on Foxtel.” ​History

Channel,​ 9 June 2017,

www.historychannel.com.au/articles/king-leopold-ii-of-belgium-takes-the-congo/.

Naipaul, V.S. ​A Bend in the River​. Alfred A. Knopf, 1979.

Conrad, Joseph. ​Heart of Darkness.​ Blackwood's Magazine, 2015.