Killing a man over a cube of sugar seems a little extreme, but when placed in such a terrifying situation that is the reality. When arriving in Africa, the two white men have very high hopes. Carlier and Kayerts soon realize that they are entering a whole other world much different from their home of Europe.
In Joseph Conrad’s “ An Outpost of Progress”, the two men working at the trading station are on an emotional roller coaster. The horror of this situation is too much for Carlier and Kayerts to handle.Throughout the course of the story, the men had a lot of trouble keeping hope. When one of the company’s steamers broke, the Director “… thought that the useless station, and the useless men, could wait. Meantime Kayerts and Carlier lived on rice boiled without salt, and cursed the company, all Africa, and the day they were born” (94).
Without the goods the steamer would bring, the men got irritated and frustrated. Days passed, and soon weeks passed, and still no steamer. Eventually the men started thinking the steamer may never return.The lousy trading station did not have any ivory or luxury items to trade, so Makola decided to take matters into his own hands. Makola traded the workers for ivory because “ those traders wanted carriers badly, and our men were no good here” (90).
Makola thought he was doing the best thing for the company, but by trading all the workers, the business was now doomed. Without workers, the company has no future. With the company doomed, his only friend dead, and no news of the steamer returning, Kayerts could not handle his situation.To escape the mess, he “ … climbed the grave, which was high and narrow, and after tying the end of the straps to the arm, had swung himself off” (101).
Kayerts has lost all hope in Africa and refused to stay here another day, miserable and alone. The men had a hard time adjusting from the comforting society in Europe to a rural village in Africa. Kayerts and Carlier felt very protected in their community. When they arrive in a place different from what they are use to, they automatically think it is unusual and scary.
They believe that “ … there is added the affirmation of the unusual, which is dangerous; a suggestion of things vague, uncontrollable and repulsive, whose discomposing intrusion excites the imagination and tries the civilized nerves of the foolish and the wise alike” (78). Without the feeling of being safe, the men become paranoid and cannot accept the idea of anything but what they know. Never feeling protected in a strange place made the men feel helpless. Not having their normal, high standard accommodates was also a huge change for them. Huts “ built neatly with reeds” (70) was not exactly what the men planned.Unlike Europe, the men had to ration their food.
Luxuries were rare to come by in Africa, so they tried to save everything they could. “ The last fifteen lumps Kayerts had solemnly locked away in his box” (94). Since they never knew when the steamer with their supplies was coming, they attempted to save specialties for drastic need or sickness. Never being able to expect what was going to happen next was a hard concept the men had to comprehend. Fear ruled the lives of the two men working at the trading post. Fear of the steamer never returning, fear of starving, fear of not making money.
If the men were not scared of one thing, it was another. In the middle of the night,” A man shouted loudly; then a shot was fired…they were both startled” (88). After being reassured from Makola that everything was okay, they returned inside. Kayerts and Carlier did not sleep the whole night. They were horrified that something was out there that would possibly hurt them. Kayerts was terrified when Carlier started going insane for just a single cube of sugar for his coffee.
Kayerts felt “ he had never seen that man before. Who was he? He knew nothing about him.What was he capable of? There was a surprising flash of violent emotion within him, as if in the presence of something undreamt-of dangerous, and final” (95). Seeing his once close friend go crazy and scream for such a silly thing made Kayerts give up all hope of saving him.
He felt he had lost his friend for good and that things would never be the same between them ever again. Witnessing his friend going insane was a petrifying experience. When Carlier starts getting more violent, Kayerts has to make a decision “… give way now to that brute of a soldier…” (97), or end it now.Kayerts believed that if he did not end this now, Carlier would continue to torture him like this. Chasing Carlier around the hut and accidently shooting and killing him, Kayerts starts to feel crazy himself. Kayerts “ found life more terrible and difficult than death” (98).
He killed an unarmed man over something he cared nearly nothing about. After contemplating what he had just done, he felt that things would be a lot easier if he was dead, for he would not have to live with his crazy self and guilt. Disgust and fear of himself is what lead to his suicide.Fear always lurked within the men during their time in Africa. Being placed in such an extremely different location from what one is used to can be quite a culture shock. The new terrain and people are different from anything Kayerts and Carlier have ever seen.
The horrible experience made the men turn on each other and do things they would normally never think of doing, such as murder. Having to live through tough conditions of Africa were hard enough, but being very inexperienced, frightened and out of shape made the journey too much for the white men to handle.
