Dan Matarazzo, Outside Reading 2

In Leopold’s Ghost, a historic novel about the colony of the Congo owned by the Belgium King, King Leopold. The Congo rain forest played a pivotal role in the relationship between conquerors and slaves of the Congo. The jungle itself became a character within the story, sometimes sinister as it housed the rubber trees that encouraged the Belgium’s to enslave the indigenous, sometimes a hero as the natives only chance to escape and gain freedom from their captures. There was a great tremendum and mysterious aspect about the jungle. European explorers would frequently go missing during the explorations, being swallowed by the jungle. The river running through the jungle was a threshold to pass to get into the heart of the jungle. White water rapids and steep cliffs made the river impassible by boat, rather the Europeans had to travel by foot and later railroad, up the treacherous elevation, and build boats past the rapids; this process cost many lives of the natives and the Europeans alike. Beautiful lakes and river bends created a safe location for the European aliens from the harsh jungle of hostile natives, diseases, and terrain. The environment of the Congo directly influenced the way the Europeans went about colonizing the Congo and influenced the history of the African continent.