Marlows Aunt believes that colonialism has great noble causes.

The
Europeans make an arrogant assumption that Africans are primitive
people, and they are to be civilized regardless of their own volition.
This is the antecedent here, which comes from the ignorant millions.
Marlows aunt and many others glorify imperialism and lack the
understanding that it is, after all, a deed out of self-interest. Conrad
has Marlow show how uncomfortable he is with his aunt's
fanatical assimilation attitude. In this way he is showing the
darker evil to the apparent cause in Africa.

Some people can get away with doing all kinds of bad things while
others get in caught on very minor infractions.

Throughout the novel, Marlow argues that what Europeans call
civilization is superficial, a mask created by fear of the law and
public shame that hides a dark heart, just as a beautiful white sepulcher
hides the decaying dead inside. Heart of Darkness pays more attention to
the damage that colonization does to the souls of white colonizers than it
does to the physical death and devastation unleashed on the black natives.
Though this focus on the white colonizers makes the novel sound somewhat
unbalanced, it does allow Heart of Darkness to extend its criticism of
colonialism all the way back to its corrupt source, the "civilization" of
Europe. The book implies that civilizations are created by the setting
of laws and codes that encourage men to achieve higher standards. It
acts as a buffer to prevent men from reverting back to their darker
tendencies. Applying my personal values, I believe that Heart of
Darkness is in fact showing that civilization is superficial. But, in my
own ethical values, I believe that belief and faith contribute to
civilization and would therefore not have it become superficial. This
contradicts the statement that civilization is directly related to the
physical and moral environment one finds him/herself presently in.
The physical environment doesnt really shape civilization. When
adding my ethical values, civilization wouldnt be affected by
anything except for what ones faith wants it to be or change into.