In His Shoes

I had the strangest dream the other night. I was on a ship for one minute but then I wasn't. You know how weird dreams can be... Anyways, I can't really remember where I was or who I was with, all I can recall is that there were three pairs of shoes on the floor. I tried the closest pair on. As I was tying my right shoe, I looked up and realized I was in an unknown place. I did, however recognize a few faces. Where had I seen them, I began to wonder. That's when it hit me. I knew them from my History textbook! I stood up and everything seemed smaller than I imagined. I was Abraham Lincoln. "Are you all-right Mr. President?," I heard someone ask. I nodded and sat down. Instantly, something changed and I was no longer conscious of the soul change I had just experienced. It felt like I had been the sixteenth president of the United States all my life. I remember saying "fourscore and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal," and actually believing it. I was aware of slavery and wanted to fight against it, but I knew that first, I had to get the Union back together. Then I don't remember exactly how it happened but for some reason I started trying another pair of shoes on. My beard was gone, but I was still tall. I was more built than before actually. "Those inferiors serve no purpose!" I heard myself saying. It is now that I realize how awful that makes me seem. But when I said it it seemed totally fine. I really did see myself as superior. I looked at all those natives and thanked God I had been born in Europe. Suddenly my body started rocking from one side to the other. I looked at my feet and had the third pair of shoes on. I was on that ship again, the one from the beginning. Some men were surrounding me and I was telling a story. I was talking about how misguided the task of civilizing natives is. I thought it was wrong not because it was unmoral, but because I found it useless. I never thought those savages could learn anything and therefore found it to be a hopeless project. I woke up with The Heart of Darkness resting on my chest. I began to think about the different existing perspectives on colonization and equality. Sounds like blog material, I thought.

Yes, We Live In Trees.

Sometimes people say stupid things. I never thought I would say this but it’s not their fault. I blame imperialism for their stupidity. Imperialism is the reason why people write Colombia with a “U” and ask if we live on rainforests. Once people are taught they are superior, it is hard for them to realize they are not the only ones who live in cities and eat McDonalds.

We see a similar thing happening in The Heart of Darkness, where Marlow compares his experience in Africa to traveling back to "prehistoric earth." For some time, he has to travel with cannibals. Surprised, he remarks: "And, after all, they did not eat each other before my face" (PDF). For your information Mr. Marlow, and all of you out there who think cannibals eat each other, they don't. If they did, then they wouldn't live in groups. Otherwise, they would always be in danger and it would just be stupid. People seem to live without thinking. Marlow thinks the native people in Africa are prehistoric because imperialism has taught him so. This is a statement he has never questioned. Thankfully, in The Heart of Darkness, the cannibals prove to remain calm and obedient in times of struggle while the pilgrims, on the other hand react violently. Through the ironic behavior of these two groups of humans, Conrad criticizes how hypocritical and poorly sustained imperialism ideas can be. How’s that for “prehistoric”?

Equals?

In The Heart of Darkness, an obscure side of European colonization is exposed. One of the most shocking occurrences that are seen throughout the novel is the mistreatment of humans towards other humans. This is not the first time we read about human's cruel treatments. As a matter of fact, this topic has been present through most of history. It's interesting to see the variety of opinions on the subject. Those who believe all men are created equal, may have had ancestors who thought they were superior to other human beings. There are those who still believe their skin color reflects their status, and men who still hold women responsible for the sex of their child. Biology however, insinuates another reality which eliminates the validity of these affirmations.

Many texts focus on the equality of men. The Declaration of Independence, where Thomas Jefferson so expressively writes: "we hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness," is the most evident example. Nevertheless, it's hard to acclaim this renowned piece of work when it's author wrote one thing but lived another, praised liberty but owned slaves. The idea of human equality is very romantic but also highly unrealistic.

Life is a competition and our main purpose is to survive. No, we are not born equal. We do not have the same skin or eye or hair colors. Some are smart, some are athletic, some are both, unfortunate ones are neither. We aren't born with the same opportunities or beliefs. If we were, then who would survive and who wouldn't?

Jefferson's utopic ideals can't explain this. Biology, on the other hand can. In fact, biology not only explains human inequality. It also turns the story upside down. The "superior" ones slide down the status triangle and those "inferior" human beings now find themselves on top.

Let's begin with the typical example: light colored people are superior to dark skinned individuals. Most History textbooks are full with stories where Europeans colonized and killed Native American tribes. American history beholds slavery as the perfect example. It was okay to exterminate a whole population because they were inferior right? In comes biology with a different story at hand. Dr. Susan C. Taylor, a Harvard-trained physician speaks about the advantages of having a darker skin color. "Our skin is made up of three distinct layers: the epidermis, the dermis and the subcutaneous layer. The only visible layer, the epidermis, is composed mainly of keratinocytes-cells that provide a protective barrier to the skin." The epidermis also contains cells that produce melanin, the pigment which gives skin color. The more melanin you have in your skin, the darker tone you have. "Our melanin has many significant health as well as beauty benefits," Taylor adds. Some of these include a natural protection from the sun, less risks of skin cancer and guarding the skin from long term damage associated with aging like wrinkles and age spots. So according to biology, not only are dark skinned people are less common to suffer from the harmful effects of the sun, they preserve their young complexion for a longer time as well.

Another common belief proved wrong by biology has to do with women being responsible for the sex of their child. All those men who mistreated, killed or left their wives for having baby girls instead of boys have no one to blame but themselves. Humans have two sex chromosomes represented by the letters X and Y. Women have two X chromosomes and men have one X and one Y chromosome. When a man and a women produce an offspring, each one gives one of his/her chromosomes to the baby. Since women's two chromosomes are the same, they will always contribute an X. It is therefore on the male's hands whether or not the child is a male or a female.

Even if you don't consider one race being superior to another, or hold females or males responsible for a particular event, you should question yourself if everything you believe in can be supported by some sort of evidence. It's easy to create stereotypes and easier yet to believe in them. Once you do, the words you say about certain subjects stop being your own.

Romanticism In The Heart Of Darkness

In times of darkness, when cruel colonizations are taking place and humans are constantly mistreated and depicted as inferior, nature shines a light of hope.

The Heart of Darkness is without a doubt very obscure. But the nature descriptions provided in the novel give it a hint of romanticism and make all the darkness bearable. "The sea and sky welded together without a joint" (PDF) is probably one of my favorite. Another good one: "The day was ending in a serenity of still and exquisite brilliance. The sky without a speck was a benign inmensity of unstained light" (PDF). It's interesting to see how in the novel, nature is many times related to "light" while human doings are often accompanied by "darkness". It gives the impression that nature is trying to fight against evil acts driven by imperialism.