Marlow feels pity for the .
blacks and their situations but still views them as inferior to white people. .
Though Marlow's attitude towards black may be one of pity and of superiority, his .
attitude towards white people is completely different. Marlow views white people with .
disdain because of the way they carry themselves as people who claim to be.
"civilizing- the black people as they brutalize them. "It was as unreal as everything else-as .
the philanthropic pretence of the whole concern, as their talk, as their government, as .
their show of work- (2036). The white people had arrived on foreign soil under the .
pretense of "civilizing- the blacks when their true intention is to plunder as much ivory as .
possible. .
"The word 'ivory' rang in the air, was whispered, was sighed. You would think .
they were praying to it. A taint of imbecile rapacity blew through it all, like a .
whiff from some corpse. By Jove! I've never seen anything so unreal in my life. .
And outside, the silent wilderness surrounding this cleared speck on the earth .
struck me as something great and invincible, like evil or truth, waiting patiently .
for the passing away of this fantastic invasion." (2037). .
The white man's greed for ivory is clearly demonstrated as consuming these people so that all .
they think about is plundering the ivory. The use of the word praying in the quote captures this .
sentiment perfectly. The image of a person praying intensely with such faith and devotion .
allows the reader to see how much ivory meant to the white people that they would treat it as if it .
were their God. .
Marlow's impression of Kurtz before he meets him is that he is an honorable and .
noble man because all of the feedback Marlow gets from the attendant. Kurtz is considered to .
be noble because the Europeans think that he is coming to this foreign land to civilize the .
savages and teach them how to lead better fulfilling lives. "It was impossible to know him and .
