An Outpost Of Progress Themes

“An Outpost of Progress” is a controversial work of fiction that conveys an image of a civilized society in connection to other uncivilized parts of the world. In this short story, Conrad describes the civilized society’s influence as vulnerable and unable to cope with life outside of the empire. The story is about Carlier and Kayerts, two Europeans sent to Africa on a mission to make profits in this land, winds up unexpectedly with two deaths; a crime and a suicide.

In Conrad’s description of the two men’s lives in a land portrayed radically different than theirs, irony is clearly recognized in his style throughout the story. This ironic approach contributes to provide a better perception of the civilized society’s fragility. In this paper, I will point out how Conrad’s ironic style to tackle the numerous themes helps in providing a unifying tone in his short story.

Essay Example on An Outpost Of Progress Joseph Conrad

From the very beginning, Conrad starts the story by describing the physical features and personality traits of the two characters; a description that seems utterly ironic and contradictory to one another.

Conrad describes the two men in his story as, “[] Kayerts, the chief, was short and fat; Carlier the assistant, was tall with a large head and a very broad trunk perched upon a long pair of thin legs.” (Conrad 1897: 3). Moving on to their personality traits, their response to the job offer shows the difference between the two of them; Kayerts, who was almost moved to tears by the kindness of his director; whereas, Carlier, was less impressed as stated by Conrad, “[] Kayerts was moved almost to tears by his director’s kindness [] Carlier, an ex-non-commissioned officer of Calvary in an army guaranteed from harm by several European Powers, was less impressed.

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”(Conrad 1897: 4).The first one seems to be naive, while the second one seems less excited about the job and more interested in making profit.

Conrad then moves to convey the lack of meaning i…