Analysis Of Heart Of Darkness By Joseph Conrad

Individuals are constantly saying that the human condition is the pursuit of happiness. The true human condition is continual fear, and yet most people will choose not to believe this truth. In Joseph Conrad’s novel Heart of Darkness, the narrator listens as Marlow describes an experience he had while traveling through Africa and how it changed his perception of life's meaning. The efforts to colonize and capitalize Africa and exploit its resources had a lasting impact on Marlow. His contact with African natives, his inspirational hero Kurtz, and his return to a ‘civilized’ environment all wrought great change in Marlow’s perceptions of reality.

“Hunters for gold or pursuers of fame, they all had gone out on that stream, bearing the sword, and often the torch, messengers of the might within the land, bearers of a spark from the sacred fire. What greatness had not floated on the ebb of that river into the mystery of an unknown earth!…The dreams of men, the seed of commonwealths, the germs of empires.” The tone in this quote is very significant. It starts as almost optimistic and turns to grave at the end of the quote. This foreshadows the success of the imperialists and their system. They come in with a sense of hopefulness. They feel they are superior, important enough to enslave a whole race, more significant than anyone who attempted this voyage before them. In the end it always ends the same way, with demise and despair. This quote is very significant as Conrad shows the unsuccessfulness of the system of

One interpretation of Marlow's relationship to colonialism is that he does not support it. Conrad writes, "They were not enemies, they were not criminals, they were nothing earthly now,-nothing but black shadows of disease and starvation, lying confusedly in the greenish gloom" (p. 27-28). Marlow says this

“The only journey is the one within”, said a famous poet, Rainer Maria Rilke. Life is a long journey; we learn, understand and find meaning with the experiences of this journey. A journey is full of experiences and from these experiences one changes from inside and out, and one starts to live a new life. In the book, Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad, Marlow tells a tale of himself going into Africa’s wilderness to explore and humanize, and he encounters Kurtz, who Marlow considered an idol at some point. The events that occurred and the surroundings which impacted those events, influenced Marlow and Kurtz to change their representation from these experiences. One can only imagine the ways one can change but the changes itself comes

    Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness is full of oppositions.  The most obvious is the juxtaposition of darkness and light, which are both present from the very beginning, in imagery and in metaphor.  The novella is a puzzling mixture of anti-imperialism and racism, civilization and savagery, idealism and nihilism.  How can they be reconciled?  The final scene, in which Marlow confronts Kurtz's Intended, might be expected to provide resolution.  However, it seems, instead, merely to focus the dilemmas in the book, rather than solving them.

When Marlow first hears about Kurtz he sort of pushes it to the side. He wasn’t very interested in who Kurtz was. He didn’t want to have the same opinion about Kurtz as everyone else. He wanted to form his own. Once Marlow learns more about Kurtz, and how he gave up the rich life of Europe to stay in the jungles of Africa, he begins to admire Kurtz. As the story progresses Marlow begins to become obsessed with Kurtz and getting to meet him. For example, when the crew was on the boat and Marlow heard that Kurtz had died he became devastated that he would not get the chance to meet Kurtz. “I couldn’t have felt more lonely of desolation somehow, had I been robbed of a belief or had missed my destiny in life.” (Conrad, 67-68) “Talking with … I flung one shoe overboard, and became aware that that was exactly what I had been looking forward to – a talk with Kurtz… The man presented himself as a voice” (Conrad, 67). Marlow’s obsession with Kurtz was an obsession with his voice. I think Marlow is obsessed with Kurtz because he believes that Kurtz is different than the other men. He believes that he has some sort of restraint and can control his destiny.

Inherent inside every human soul is a savage evil side that remains repressed by society. Often this evil side breaks out during times of isolation from our culture, and whenever one culture confronts another. History is loaded with examples of atrocities that have occurred when one culture comes into contact with another. Whenever fundamentally different cultures meet, there is often a fear of contamination and loss of self that leads us to discover more about our true selves, often causing perceived madness by those who have yet to discover their own self.  Joseph Conrad’s book, The Heart of Darkness is a story about Man’s journey into his self, the discoveries to be made there and about

During the 19th century, Europeans tried to colonize as much of Africa as possible. The

Heart of Darkness was written by Joseph Conrad in 1902. Before it was published it appeared in a 3-part series in Blackwood’s magazine. The story tells of a detailed incident when Marlow who takes over the assignment of the captain of a ferry-boat travels into the darkness. He was employed by the Belgian Trading company. Marlow is employed to transport ivory downriver; however while doing his job, he comes across a person called Kurtz to whom he has to give the ivories after he have collected them. Kurtz is a very reputed man throughout the region and is known by everyone. The novella starts as the main character Marlow at the Thames River in the evening with several other people and starts telling the story about how he entered into the

Setting: On the sea, which is dangerous and risky at the time because they do not have advanced technology to navigate.

The novella Heart of Darkness gives a diverse view of life in Africa during the time of colonization. The main character Marlow, a somewhat naïve man, enters Africa to fulfill his dream of meeting Mr. Kurtz, a prominent man who is said to have a vehement way of speaking. Throughout Marlow’s journey to meet Kurtz, Marlow is required to travel along with other pilgrims, or other white men traveling into the Congo, or as Marlow would like to call it, the heart of darkness. Along the way Marlow is tested and must endure the wilderness that surrounds him, and the natives, who wish to hinder the rescue Kurtz from his own madness, but in the process of saving Kurtz, Marlow is losses his self in his own perdition.

Beyond the shield of civilization and into the depths of a primitive, untamed frontier lies the true face of the human soul. It is in the midst of this savagery and unrelenting danger that mankind confronts the brooding nature of his inner self.  Joseph Conrad’s novel, Heart of Darkness, is the story of one man's insight into life as he embarks on a voyage to the edges of the world. Here, he meets the bitter, yet enlightening forces that eventually shape his outlook on life and his own individuality. Conrad’s portrayal of the characters, setting, and symbols, allow the reader to reflect on the true nature of man.

Heart of Darkness is written by Joseph Conrad and published in 1899. It is a novella written in the early modernism literary period.

The two major themes of Heart of Darkness are the conflict between “reality” and “darkness,” and the idea of restraint and whether or not it is necessary. Conrad’s passage describing the restraint of the hungry cannibals exemplifies both themes:  It describes how reality shapes human behavior, and contrasts the characters of Kurtz and Marlow.  “Reality,” as it is used here, is defined as “that which is civilized.”

It has been said that although Conrad may not have been 'the greatest novelist, he was certainly the greatest artist every to write a novel';. I feel that this is an apt description of Conrad's writing style in Heart of Darkness (1902), as he paints many verbal pictures by using expressive words and many figurative descriptions of places and people. An extensive use of words relating to colour, is evident throughout the novella. The idea of darkness (and light) is emphasized from the title of the novella, and continues to play an important role throughout in the story .