Civilization's Poison

Conan the Barbarian

The recurring contrast between glittering civilized corruption and the clean cruelty of the barbaric world, which Conan passes through and survives.

increasing

Bearing strength in each event

decreasing

The Slums Behind the Marble The Slums Behind the Marble from "Conan the Barbarian". The Slums Behind the Marble Behind the palaces of Shadizar, Conan discovers crooked alleys of whores, painted children, and sudden murder.

The Slums Behind the Marble from "Conan the Barbarian". The Slums Behind the Marble Behind the palaces of Shadizar, Conan discovers crooked alleys of whores, painted children, and sudden murder.

The Slums Behind the Marble Behind the palaces of Shadizar, Conan discovers crooked alleys of whores, painted children, and sudden murder. The Flesh Market Every pleasure, however decadent, can be bought for money. Civilization has made a commodity of its own corruption. The Barbarian's Eye Conan sees no contradiction between the city's lofty towers and its stinking depths; one feeds the other.

The Paradise of Set The Paradise of Set from "Conan the Barbarian". The Paradise of Set The cult of Set wraps death in incense, garlands, drums, and promises of renewal.

The Paradise of Set from "Conan the Barbarian". The Paradise of Set The cult of Set wraps death in incense, garlands, drums, and promises of renewal.

The Paradise of Set The cult of Set wraps death in incense, garlands, drums, and promises of renewal. The Drugged Dream The marchers have the glazed eyes of sleepwalkers, already dead to conscience and kin. The False God's Promise The priests promise paradise while feeding pilgrims to cannibal beast-men in the dark.

The Cannibal Feast of Power The Cannibal Feast of Power from "Conan the Barbarian". The Cannibal Feast of Power In the Mountain, Conan sees the mechanism of Doom's paradise: a cauldron full of butchered pilgrims.

The Cannibal Feast of Power from "Conan the Barbarian". The Cannibal Feast of Power In the Mountain, Conan sees the mechanism of Doom's paradise: a cauldron full of butchered pilgrims.

The Cannibal Feast of Power In the Mountain, Conan sees the mechanism of Doom's paradise: a cauldron full of butchered pilgrims. The Servants of the Great Cleansing The beast-men are fed on the believers they guard, making the cult a self-consuming monster. The Civilized Horror Doom is no naked barbarian warlord but a sophisticated prophet whose religion is organized atrocity.

The Rot at the Court The Rot at the Court from "Conan the Barbarian". The Rot at the Court Zamora's royal palace is luxurious but crumbling: torn tapestries, stained carpets, and damp cracks.

The Rot at the Court from "Conan the Barbarian". The Rot at the Court Zamora's royal palace is luxurious but crumbling: torn tapestries, stained carpets, and damp cracks.

The Rot at the Court Zamora's royal palace is luxurious but crumbling: torn tapestries, stained carpets, and damp cracks. The Moral Rot The state's cancer is the cult, sapping the courage and resolve of the citizenry, even the soldiery. The King's Prison Osric calls his gilded throne room a prison cell. Civilization's glory has become the cage of its ruler.

The Clean Wind at the Mounds The Clean Wind at the Mounds from "Conan the Barbarian". The Clean Wind at the Mounds The wind from the Vilayet Sea moves over the burial mounds where Conan, a barbarian, makes his stand.

The Clean Wind at the Mounds from "Conan the Barbarian". The Clean Wind at the Mounds The wind from the Vilayet Sea moves over the burial mounds where Conan, a barbarian, makes his stand.

The Clean Wind at the Mounds The wind from the Vilayet Sea moves over the burial mounds where Conan, a barbarian, makes his stand. The Honest Battle No drugged incense, no palace whispers, no false paradise: only steel, earth, and courage against numbers. The Simpler Faith Conan stands in the clean air and prays to Crom, a god too hard and cold to lie. The openness of the mound feels truer than any temple.

during Conan's first walks through Shadizar

when Conan watches the cult procession and the tower of Set

inside the Mountain's cavern

when Osric's palace is described in decay

during the battle at the burial mounds