Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad there are two social groups represented throughout; the natives and the Europeans. Europeans were shown living in their own world and having their own roles that they wanted to achieve. This particular description was used to explain in economic terms the power of the world (Europeans) fought for power. In Heart of Darkness, Europeans represented through women, lower class and upper class men represented the need for power and their own world in which the social group lives. In the European social group, power and hierarchy were seen as the most important women. they were seen as inferior and too weak to live in the power-struggling society that men had created. Instead, women lived in their own world where everything was in a certain sense perfect. «It's strange how far women are from the truth. They live in a world of their own, and there has never been anything like it, and never can be,” (77). This quote sums up the way women are seen throughout the story. Although this is one of the few times when it comes to the topic of women because they are rarely mentioned in the whole debate representing the strong male European social group At the end of the story there is another example of women who seem too weak to adapt to reality: “But I couldn't tell him. It would have been too dark, too dark as a whole (164) he was delivering the message of Kurtz's death Kurtz's words and instead of revealing the truth to her, he lies to her not only because she is too weak to understand reality, but this would take her out of her perfect fantasy world. Women would not be able to bear reality... in between à la carte... they behave themselves. “He was a first-class agent, young, gentlemanly, somewhat reserved… he was the director's spy” (92). The quote shows how well he carried it with the diction of “gentleman” and “first class” to show that he stood tall within the social group. To maintain this status he spied on the manager, so if there was someone causing problems the manager could remove them. Men of higher status were the examples of what the European social group wanted from men. The portrayal of Europeans in Heart of Darkness showed a power struggle within the social group. This group was shown with the desire for power and hierarchy because during the time they settled, Europe was going to many different countries for money and power. Works Cited Conrad, Joseph. Heart of Darkness and the Secret Sharer. New York: Classic Seal, 1997.