The Importance of Joseph Conrad’s Congo Journey Essay -- Biography Bio

It was the social class 1868. A young boy of about nine years of mature stood looking at a map of Africa. The boy raised up his hand and stuck his finger directly into the middle of the dark continent. When I take on up I shall go there, said this boy with great ecstasy (Conrad 13). Little did he know that some years later his puerility wish would come true.Joseph Conrad grew up to become quite the sailor, starting as an apprentice on a French vessel in 1875 and running(a) his way to become a master of English ships from 1878-1889 (Jean-Aubrey 19). He spend fifteen years at sea, traveling to destinations all over the globe. aft(prenominal) much traveling he returned home to Europe. While there, he well-tried desperately to stimulate a new ship to command, but there were none available. He spent months searching and still could not find a ship to call his own. It was then, while stuck in Europe with nought to do, that Conrad wrote Almayers Folly, his first novel. When Conrad was presented with the opportunity to go to the Congo in 1889, he did not hesitate. After months of correspondence between himself and members of the Societe Anonyme pour le profession du Haut-Congo in Brussels and the killing of a steamboat captain by natives in the Congo, Joseph Conrad was ready to journey deep into the heart of Africa.The first part of Conrads prompt would take him to Brussels, where he would sign the final contract, obligating himself to serve for 3 years as an officer on river steamboats in the Congo. Conrad was to sail on the Ville de Maceio to get to Boma, seat of the Government of the Independent State of the Congo since 1886 (Jean-Aubry 46). On the steamer, he traveled with a man by the name of Harou. He was a Belgian officer who had mad... ...e, including attacks of fever and gout (Jean-Aubry 73). But, more importantly, the trip had changed who Conrad was. The best way to describe this change would be to quote his lifelong friend Edwa rd Garnett who said, Conrads Congo experiences were the turning-point in his mental life and that their cause on him determined his transformation from a sailor to a author (Garnett 8).Works Cited Conrad, Joseph. A Personal Record. New York Harper, 1912.Garnett, Edward. Letters From Joseph Conrad 1895-1924. Indianapolis Bobbs-Merrill, 1928.Jean-Aubry, Georges. Joseph Conrad in the Congo. New York Haskell, 1973.Karl, Frederick Robert and Laurence Davies, eds. The Collected Letters of Joseph Conrad Vol. 1-6. New York Cambridge U., 1983.Najder, Zdzislaw, ed. The Congo Diary and former(a) Uncollected Pieces. New York Doubleday, 1978.