Cultural Collisions in Joseph Conrad's "Heart of Darkness" Essay

Joseph Conrad's short novel Heart of Darkness (first published in 1902) is undoubtedly critically acclaimed, moreover, it is considered to be one of the greatest English novels. Conrad, who is of Polish ancestry, is as well considered to be an outstanding storyteller and a great stylist of modern fiction (Achebe 2). Even though this novel was written more than hundred years ago, it still draws many people's attention. The plot of the novel revolves around the main character, Marlow, and his journey to the heart of Africa (the Congo River). Marlow accepts to work as a steamship captain for a Belgian ivory-trade company and seeks to meet Kurtz, another important character in the novel whom many people admired, including, to a point, Marlow. On

Another great irony in the novel is the attitude Marlow ultimately adopts towards Kurtz. Marlow's beginning impressions from the various reports he has heard about Kurtz are very adverse. Yet, after the events have taken place, Marlow becomes an admirer of Kurtz harboring strong feelings of respect and friendship. The reader would expect Marlow to continue to react to Kurtz in the same adverse manner as the start of the novel, but the opposite occurs. Marlow becomes so attached to Kurtz that he uses all his powers of persuasion to bring Kurtz back to the ship. Marlow then tells the reader that he could “not betray Mr. Kurtz—it was ordered I should never betray him—it was written I should be loyal to the nightmare of my choice” (94). Thus Marlow has now become almost a follower of Kurtz knowing the full extent of the evil that prevails in Kurtz. Evidently, Marlow's own primitive instinct have come to the surface resulting in a bond between Kurtz and himself. So another civilized European man who is an embodiment of reason and sanity has fallen victim to the influences of savagery.

    Literature is never interpreted in exactly the same way by two different readers. A prime example of a work of literature that is very ambiguous is Joseph Conrad's, "Heart of Darkness". The Ambiguities that exist in this book are Marlow's relationship to colonialism, Marlow's changing feelings toward Kurtz, and Marlow's lie to the Intended at the end of the story.

Joseph Conrad's novella, Heart of Darkness, describes a life-altering journey that the protagonist, Marlow, experiences in the African Congo.  The story explores the historical period of colonialism in Africa to exemplify Marlow's struggles.  Marlow, like other Europeans of his time, is brought up to believe certain things about colonialism, but his views change as he experiences colonialism first hand. This essay will explore Marlow's view of colonialism, which is shaped through his experiences and also from his relation to Kurtz.  Marlow's understanding of Kurtz's experiences show him the effects colonialism can have on a man's soul.

The Heart of Darkness, by Joseph Conrad, is one of the most critically debated novellas of its time. It is about a man, named Marlow, who joins the Trading Company, specifically having to do with the ivory trade, so that he can adventure into the African Congo. The setting of this story is around the time of the colonization of Africa. Due to the time period and the sensitive things that are addressed in the story, there are many ethical decisions and dilemmas found in the Heart of Darkness. This is discovered in the time period itself, in Kurtz’s decisions, and in Marlow’s loyalty.

    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.

Joseph Conrad 's Heart of Darkness is both a dramatic tale of an arduous trek into the Belgian Congo at the turn of the twentieth century and a symbolic journey into the deepest recesses of human nature. On a literal level, through Marlow 's narration, Conrad provides a searing indictment of European colonial exploitation inflicted upon African natives. By employing several allegoric symbols this account depicts the futility of the European presence in Africa.

What makes Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness more than the run of the mill adventure tale, is its moral complexity. By the end of the novel, we find a protagonist who has immense appreciation for a man who lacks honest redemption, the mysterious Mr. Kurtz. It is the literal vivaciousness and unyielding spirit of this man, his pure intentionality, which Marlow finds so entrancing and which leaves the reader with larger questions regarding the human capacity. Therefore, Heart of Darkness is profoundly different given its character complexity and ambiguous narrative technique which ultimately deliver home a message of the complex motivations and capabilities of mankind.

     Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad is a story about a man named Marlow and his Journey into the African Congo. By reading the novel and understanding all the imagery Conrad has inserted, we can get a better understanding of the

The mysteriousness of the title is the first indicator of the mysteriousness of Marlow's journey into Africa. Seemingly no one--Marlow, Kurtz, the reader--is quite certain if any conclusions he draws over the course of the story are completely accurate.

Characters in a novel are normally not just static. They develop in myriad ways ranging from intelligence to physical characteristics. Charles Marlow from Heart of Darkness is one of these types of characters. Marlow’s development is not like most characters. His changes are not simple they are multidimensional. These changed qualities add up to create an overall sense of enlightenment. What exactly is Marlow’s enlightenment is something very hard to distinguish as there multiple definitions for enlightenment. However, Enlightenment can be best defined as a state in which one person becomes more knowledge or more spiritually aware that is greater than themselves. Therefore, it is possible to say that there many degrees in which a person is

In Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad, the imperialism of Africa is described. Conrad tells the story of the cruel treatment of the natives and of the imperialism of the Congo region through the perspective of the main character, Marlow. Throughout the novel, Marlow describes how the Europeans continuously bestow poor treatment to the native people by enslaving them in their own territory. Analyzing the story with the New Criticism lens, it is evident that Conrad incorporates numerous literary devices in Heart of Darkness, including similes, imagery, personification, and antitheses to describe and exemplify the main idea of cruel imperialism in Africa discussed throughout the novella.

An inescapable ignorance dominates the way we define "culture".  It is all too easy to define culture when a group of people feel as though they are part of the same culture.  A bias arises when defining this term, because we consider ourselves to be "cultured".  We define culture with our own definitions, and we judge it through our own prejudiced eyes.  To accurately define culture, we must take ourselves out of the cultural boundaries we have been accustomed to.  Of course, this is impossible.  Accordingly, defining the essence of culture is something I cannot attempt to do.

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.”