An Outpost of Progress (Masterplots II: Short Story Series, Revised Edition)
At a glance:
- Author: Joseph Conrad
- First Published: 1897
- Type of Plot: Adventure
- Time of Work: The late nineteenth century
- Setting: Central Africa
- Principal Characters: Kayerts, Carlier, Makola, Gobila, The director
- Genres: Short fiction, Adventure
- Subjects: Africa or Africans, Politics, Racism, Colonies or colonization, Psychology or psychologists, Greed, Business or business people, Imperialism, Investments or investors
- Locales: Africa
The Story
From the first lines of “An Outpost of Progress,” the reader knows that the two main characters are comical and pathetic, thrust into circumstances that will first humiliate and then destroy them. As different as they are in appearance—Kayerts is short and fat, while Carlier is tall and birdlike—both of these men embody the arrogance and stupidity that are the distinguishing marks, according to author Joseph Conrad, of the white European men who set out to make themselves rich by spreading commerce and civilization to black Africa. The fate of the two new...
[The entire page is 1842 words long]
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