Through Blood River, the Congo is presented as a place of immense and wild natural beauty, but to the point of being intimidating and dangerous. Butcher describes it as a place that corrupts men and a place where there is always a battle between humanity and nature. This is evident in a particularly powerful excerpt, on pages 110-111, as it describes to the reader a "boy" (highlighting the cruelty of the Congo as he works from a young age to survive) who fights through muddy conditions, only to find some worms. The fact that so much effort is expended to benefit his life, in such a minor way, demonstrates exploitation as it is clear that the imperialist invaders have taken away many luxuries from the natives and kept them for their own benefit, which demonstrates their greedy nature and how they don't care about the suffering they cause to the indigenous people. The struggle due to nature is made more evident in this excerpt when it states "ten kilometers an hour", which is very slow movement due to the treacherous conditions and devastation that may have been caused by foreign powers who are known to have they blew up parts of the Congo for fun, clearly highlighting the exploitation. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay This excerpt highlights that the natives do not like intruders, even if they are harmless like Butcher. This is evident from the accusatory tone used by a native towards the butcher ''You white men''. The use of this second person pronoun distances the speaker from the narrator by making it clear that the speaker does not want any association with him and already suggests dislike despite not knowing him. Queries like “how do I know you didn't come here to profit?” further highlight the lack of confidence and the use of short “Stanley went first” sentences. Then the Belgians arrived.'' further demonstrates the accusatory tone used towards newcomers, and once again the lack of trust. The repetition of "profit" even by the natives suggests exploitation since it is evident that the only reason countries come to Congo is to exploit its raw materials, and the fact that it is repeated suggests that the natives are bitter at the regard, and the fact that they were treated badly, as well as being robbed, which definitely conveys the exploitation of the natives. The danger in Congo and its history is evident in this excerpt and is shown in many forms. The fact that landmines are present in the Congo serves as a representation of the hidden danger in the Congo, and also as a reminder of the previous exploitation as devices of destruction left over from the previous devastation of the country. The fact that Butcher states "we have followed our steps backwards" suggests a wasteland that has not been tended and also suggests that there is limited security (e.g., a safe path) which may serve as a metaphor for the lack of security that the natives have from exploitation, as is clear throughout the extract, which continued for many years with Congolese places even being named after the exploiters, "Arabs Crossing". This shows the control the exploiters have over the natives and that they believe they can come to Congo and change the lives of the natives to suit themselves without thinking about the natives, showing that their imperialistic nature has no limits. The "passage of the Arabs" is described as the place where the slavers arrived. The word "slavers" has connotations of tired souls, of slavery which demonstrates how the indigenous people were exploited to produce goods for "foreign powers", and the fact.