Empire, Tropical Medicine, and Conrad

While discussing tropical medicine in Paul’s lecture last week, I was very interested in how the British Empire had not only been aided to some extent made possible by the development of medicine. In the most imperial terms, until the diseases of the colonies were overcome, the colonies themselves could not be overcome. Patrick Manson and Ronald Ross both worked to educate doctors going abroad on the disease that they would encounter. Though they did not see eye to eye on the best way to go about this, the idea that it was necessary was consistent. While I was listening to this, however, could not help but to wonder to what extent it really worked. I was reminded of a passage from Conrad’s Heart of Darkness (which, granted, takes place in a Belgian colony rather than a British one but the analogy is to the British Empire) in which Marlow meets the station master in the interior of the Congo and is taken aback by his inefficient and poorly run station. The only reason that Marlow is able to come up with for why this man had gained such a high rank in the service is his innate constitution. Simply put, the man was better than any other at surviving the wilds of Africa. Therefore, he advanced in his career over other less hardy individuals who either went back to Europe or died in Africa. Yet, Marlow certainly considers this person with disdain. It was with this thought in mind that I raised the question about whether people who were able to withstand the climate change were looked down upon as closer to the “savages” or if they were simply rewarded for their health. While certainly not all officers who could live in Africa were unfit for their jobs, the Conrad novella raises the question of how the empire would have been different and likely stronger had they been able to overcome the diseases that befell so many fit British men.