f the Congo can not sway their belief that people simply do not do the horrible things Marlow recounts. The whites are dumbfounded and can not comprehend how people, even the natives, would simply attack these innocent people. The blacks, however, who are cognizant of the reality in which they live, are "essentially quiet.” They feel right at home and are not phased by the shriek. Similarly, one can see the difference of mentalities when Marlow speaks to the cannibals in the crew. While in the midst of his journey, Marlow quite casually talks with these cannibals, even about their animalistic ways. How can a man from the refined world of England calmly and casually discuss eating human flesh with those who do so on a regular basis? One would think such a topic would be repulsive to Marlow, but he seems quite all right with the topic of conversation. He would have never had such a conversation in London, but he is not in London. He is in the Congo, which is quite a different world. On the Congo River, the subject of cannibalism is an unremarkable topic of conversation. This atrocity is unspeakable in the Congo because it is a normal occurrence. Marlow explains to his comrades on the Nellie the basic difference between living in Europe and being in the Congo. He states: You can't understand. How could you --- with solid pavement under your feet, surrounded by kind neighbours ready to cheer you or to fall you, stepping delicately between the butcher and the policeman, in the holy terror of scandal and gallows and lunatic asylums---how can you imagine what particular region of the first ages a man's untrammeled feet may take him into by the way of solitude---utter solitude without a policeman---by the way of silence --- utter silence, where no warning voice of a kind neighbour can be heard whispering of public opinion. (49-50) In Europe, there are "kind neighbours" who are there to make sure that everything is all right. There is alwa...
