The significance of darkness in Conrad’s novella is first indicated by the title of the story, Heart of Darkness, which sets the theme for his story. Upon first reading, the title refers to the physical darkness of the Congo River and the mysteries of an uncivilized place. However, as the plot of the story progresses further, darkness becomes a metaphor for the savagery encased in the heart of man. Ultimately, Kurtz is revealed as the epitome of one embracing his heart of darkness.
While reminiscing about his days as a little chap on the deck of the Neile, Marlow contrasts the Congo before and after his journey. He mourns, “It had ceased to be a blank space of delightful mystery -- a white patch for a boy to dream gloriously over. It had become
…show more content…
The conditions of the Congo incite a horror in Marlow as he witnesses the weary situation of the African natives, the prejudices of imperialism, and the utter indifference that possesses the people of the river. Consequently, once the darkness of the Congo is consumed, it transforms into a metaphorical darkness that describes the savagery, barbarity, and ferociousness encased in a man’s heart. Marlow observes, “Not the faintest sound of any kind could be heard. You looked on amazed, and began to suspect yourself of being deaf—then the night came suddenly, and struck you blind as well. When the sun rose there was a white fog, very warm and clammy, and more blinding than the night. It did not shift or drive; it was just there, standing all round you like something solid.” (2.13) This observation relates the physical changes of the jungle to the physical changes in a man’s senses, stressing that the power of the jungle is able to overcome both man’s physical and mental state. Accordingly, Fresleven, Marlow’s predecessor as the captain of the steamer, was overcome by the power of the wilderness. Although he was known as “the gentlest, quietest creature that ever walked on two legs,” (1.21) Fresleven gets into a fight with the chief of the village over a trivial bargain and ironically dies in the fight as a savage, thus …show more content…
During his last words, Kurtz confesses, “The horror, the horror.” (3.43) Although his state of savagery indicates that Kurtz had completely lost his mind, he was still aware of the changes he underwent in the Congo and conscious of the horrors of the darkness he consumed and thus became. Marlow concludes, “His was an impenetrable darkness. I looked at him as you peer down at a man who is lying at the bottom of a precipice where the sun never shines.” (3.40) Kurtz’s situation was hopeless as he had set his veiled darkness free and yielded to his primitive nature with no chance of regaining any control over his heart and mind again, and no possibility of returning as a civil
Throughout the first two parts of Joseph Conrad's book, Heart of Darkness, the character Kurtz is built up to be this amazing and remarkable man. In the third book, however, we learn the truth about who Kurtz really is. Kurtz cries out in a whisper, "The horror! The horror!"(p. 86), and in only two words he manages to sum up the realization of all the horrors of his life during his time in the Congo.
Although Kurtz was alone, that loneliness helped him in the end. Through isolation, Kurtz was able to see who he really was. The main place where Kurtz finds himself is on his deathbed. Marlow says, ‘"But the wilderness had found him out early, and had taken on him a terrible vengeance for the fantastic invasion. I think it had whispered to him things about himself which he did not know, things of which he had no conception till he took counsel with this great solitude-and the whisper had proved irresistibly fascinating’"(Conrad 57). Marlow is saying that since Kurtz has been in the wilderness,
The novel, Heart of Darkness, by Joseph Conrad, portrays a dark and somber theme throughout the entirety of the book. Even in the end, the darkness is still there. But even so, the end is difficult to understand. The ending is very vague on certain perspectives. Conrad intentionally does this, not to detract from the rest of the novel, but to sum the entirety of his main point up.
Kurtz dying words are a cryptic whisper: “The horror, the horror”. There could be more than one possibility of the “horror” Kurtz could have been talking about. I think that it symbolizes the darkness of Kurtz’s tyrant and savage-like qualities that he gained when he lived with the natives. When he
Marlow's oscillation between viewpoints is almost startling in its rapidity. On his very first meeting with the natives of the Congo, he swings from one pole to the other in only a few sentences:
Darkness is a major theme in The Heart of Darkness. Kurtz is unaware of his own darkness which leads to his downfall. He cannot see what kind of person he has become and how the darkness of the jungle has completely taken over him. The jungle is so secluded and mysterious that it actually influences Kurtz’s bad behavior. Kurtz becomes greedy and powerful but never realizes that this behavior is bringing him down until he is on the verge of death. Kurtz last words, “The horror! The horror!”(63) show Kurtz’s realization that the darkness had consumed him. Kurtz himself is one of the biggest examples of darkness in this book.
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.
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
Marlow is able to come out of the jungle unchanged and Kurtz is not. This is because of Marlow’s abilities of self-restraint. Marlow was able to see the evil in the forest and therefore he was able to detach himself from it. Marlow witnessed Kurtz’s lack of restraint, which led Kurtz to his demise. Kurtz had no restraint against the dangers of Africa; he threatened to kill the Russian, one of his only friends for a small amount of ivory.
In Heart of Darkness, the terrain and river can be contrasted as the two locations that demonstrate the notion of comparing Africa to Europe as a reinforced theme, along with the ideas of racism. Throughout Marlow’s journey in Africa, he describes the terrain with misery as he mentions the African citizens suffering from starvation and death, some of the conditions rarely shown out to the public in Europe. In addition, there was little to describe nature. While based on Marlow’s perspective it indicated that everywhere in Africa showed signs of suffering.
The Congo is a jungle deep in Africa. Once Marlow arrives into the Congo he begins to realize the evil that he as gotten himself into. The company he is now involved with is using african slaves to get resources out of the jungle. The slaves are treated so bad that they die from starvation, disease, and killed for fun by europeans. I think it had whispers to him things about himself which he did not know, things of which he had no conception till he took counsel with this great solitude -- and the whisper had proved irresistibly fascinating.
Marlow is the wanderer into the unconscious mind; he is meandering through his deepest understanding of himself. In other words, he is a symbol for the archetype meeting himself in the depths of his unconscious mind. Not only is he initially finding meaning through his encounter with Kurtz but also he is attempting to find meaning through the retelling of his story. Marlow’s voyage ventures “deep into his own personal heart of darkness, where lurks the impulse to savagery that he had never acknowledged while in the deceptive milieu of a sophisticated city” (Spivack 432). Marlow is the principal character through which
Joseph Conrad published his novel, Heart of Darkness, in 1902, during the height of European Colonization in Africa. The novel follows Marlow, a sailor, on his journey deeper and deeper into the Congo on a mission to bring the mysterious ivory trader, Kurtz, back to “civilization”. Both the topic and language of the novel elicit debate over whether or not the text is inherently racist, and specifically, whether or not the novel supports certain historical texts from around the same time period. Around 1830, G.W.F Hegel published an essay entitled “The African Character.” Hegel’s essay illustrates racial essentialism, the idea that there are certain traits that are essential to the identity of one group, or race, Hegel presents what he deems
Although, as a society, we discourage the process of not judging a book by its cover, we have all been guilty of doing it at some point. The first item we look at when we pick up a new book is the title and the cover as a whole. These are two key components when it comes to using our heuristics to decide if a book is worthwhile reading or not. With only two items to judge by, each has to hold significant importance in order to draw a reader into reading the novel. Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad represents a mysterious title to draw readers into reading the novel, but hold a much more significant underlying meaning which represents many elements in the novel, while also symbolizing external concepts in the overall plot. The title represents many important elements such as the character of Mr. Kurtz and others, to the setting of Africa in the novel, and to the concept of the evil nature of imperialism outside of the novel. Through the title, Conrad has created significance for elements of the novel creating a very large impact on readers of the book.
The constant change in scenery throughout the Heart of Darkness contributes heavily to the meaning of the novel as a whole, for it allows the novel’s author, Joseph Conrad, to expand on the effects the physical journey of travelling through the Congo has on the inner mentailites of the characters- Marlow and Kurtz- in the novel. Conrad’s continuous comparisons between characters, their surroundings, and the plot, create the genuine progression of the novel, while the physical journey that is taken allows the characters to make their own discovery of humankind. As Kurtz’s destiny and the struggles he overcomes go on to deeply affect the two characters’ journey through the story’s plot, as everything in the Heart of Darkness is linked or comes back to Kurtz and all the wrongful actions he has committed in the Congo- as he was the perpetrator of all the darkness in the novel to begin with.