Heart of Darkness: Cruelty Essay

Throughout the novel, I’m Not Scared the hero, Michele, realises that the adult world is not as innocent and caring as he originally thought. Niccolo Ammaniti’s novel takes the reader on a journey through an innocent and too trusting world seen through the eyes of a nine year old boy, Michele. It is set in Southern Italy in the hot summer of 1978. Michele finds a dirty, incoherent boy, Fillipo, chained in a hole hidden outside his village, but is too scared to speak of it. He begins to connect the boy, his own impecunious parents, and an unexplained visitor, with a headline kidnapping that has the whole country on edge. Michele discovers that people around him, particularly his father, are capable of cruel actions.

He, obviously, is the narrator, and the person whom we see the story through. He gives us his opinions on the matters at hand, and we see the book through his viewpoint. The traits described above allow him to be such a great narrator, for he can get people to confide in him, and relay this information to the reader.

the big idea: cruelty leads to dehumanization (either by idolizing someone as a hero: ‘the undefeatable’, ‘god-like’, or villainizing someone: ‘tyrannus villain’, ‘hell-creature’, ‘earth-razer’)

According to Ann Marie Paulin in “Cruelty, Civility and Other Weighty Matters”, the mass media are discriminating against overweight people, which creates a society where being fat is looked down upon. Paulin argues that, “the media are notorious for getting things less than accurate” (243), therefore we shouldn’t believe how they depict fat people on tv, magazines and other media sources. The author believes that not all overweight people are like, how the media portrays them, but rather their lifestyle is influenced by the culture we live in. She claimed that, “Sugary or fatty foods are often available in grab and go packages that are so much easier to take to work or eat in the car than making a healthy snack” (245). She believe there are evidence to show that humans are naturally attracted to unhealthy foods, but society continue to manufacture them to make people eat more (243-249). I agree with Paulin about how the media need to stop fat shaming because it’s not only making people feel bad, but it is promoting obesity.

When living through the holocaust the SS men were continuously cruelty to keep the prisoners in fear of them so they are easy to control. Elie Wiesel uses his personal experiences from living in the camps to write the memoir Night. The memoir shows how cruelty can change a person's personality, and how they react and treat other people. Cruelty is not always a physical thing, the SS men used emotional cruelty to bend the prisoners to there will. Several cruel things happened to the prisoners, but the Nazis were not the only ones who were cruel. The prisoners became rude and ruthless to each other.

At the beginning of the story, the narrator provides a brief description of himself that allows readers to reflect upon his character and morality. He introduces himself as someone who believes that

Cruelty can come in many forms and some of them are shown throughout this memoir. In the memoir Night by Elie Wiesel, the cruelty during the Holocaust is described from Elie’s point of view. The Holocaust happened between 1936 and 1945 during World War II. An estimated six million Jews died as a result of the Holocaust. The Holocaust was done by the Germans and more distinctively Nazis, followers of Adolf Hitler. Jews along with many different races, religious groups, and people with mental/physical illnesses were beaten, put to work, killed, and plenty more amid this time period. Elie is fifteen when he starts his journey in Night ; it makes it hard to believe he lived through all the cruelty at such a young age.

Lastly, the theme is shown in Night by Elie Wiesel and the article by Maia Szalavitz by treating people as if they were animals, unworthy of their time or attention. In Night Wiesel writes, “They said that we were sick, that we would die soon, and it would be a waste of food” (Wiesel 107). This quote supports the theme of cruelty being used to get a point across by the SS officers scaring the people of the concentration camp. The officers inflicted fear and torment into the people, making them think that they were worthless and there was no purpose in saving them. The theme is also shown in the article by Maia Szalavitz, “[...] the co-founder of the D.A.R.E. anti-drug program, said that users should be ‘taken out and shot’” (Szalavitz 2). The

1. The setting of the story begins on the Nellie, a ship. The turn of the tide is significant because it gives the men on board extra time to talk, and Marlow begins telling his story. In addition, symbolically, the turning of the tide conveys a change, and perhaps, foreshadowing of the story. The author spends a lot of time dealing with light because it is the main symbol in the novella. Light and darkness are universal symbols that represent good and evil. Although not explicitly stated, those who have the light are those who are “civilized”, and those who have the darkness are those who remain “uncivilized”, particularly the people living in Africa.

Some critics believe that in Heart of Darkness Conrad illustrates how ‘’the darkness of the landscape can lead to the darkness of the social corruption.” This statement means that if the environment is dark, then the people in that environment will match the surrounding feeling, which is dark and depressing. For example, if it is a gloomy rainy day, most people feel tired and not as happy. If it is a bright sunny day, the most people feel motivated to get things done and joyful. Yes, this statement is believable because I have noticed that the weather, my surroundings, and even other people’s behaviors around me affect my mood. Today, for instance, it rained all day and the sky was dark, as a result I slept throughout the whole

“All cruelty springs from weakness,” said Lucius Annaeus Seneca. To me, this quote means that cruelty comes out from a person who is feeling weak. A big question people ask each other is “Why are people cruel to each other?” In John Steinbeck’s novel, Of Mice and Men, there are many incidents of cruelty. Cruelty appeared in the book when George yells at the mentally handicapped Lennie in the beginning of the book. This trend of cruelty continues throughout the book. Characters that were notably cruel in the book are Curley, Curley’s wife, and George. The three things that motivate people to be cruel in the book are: when people feel they are powerless, when a person wants a feeling of short term enjoyment from

Studies show fifty percent of animals who are shot with crossbows are wounded but not killed. (Peta.org, 1). This is one of the few reasons that we need to join the fight to end the cruelty and abuse. Most often we do not hunt for legitimate reasons. My purpose is to educate people about all of the unnecessary, cruel, and destructive things going on in our society. Our wildlife does not need any more destruction than has already been done to damage are world.

Psychoanalytic criticism originated in the work of Austrian psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud, who pioneered the technique of psychoanalysis. Freud developed a language that described, a model that explained, and a theory that encompassed human psychology. His theories are directly and indirectly concerned with the nature of the unconscious mind. Through his multiple case studies, Freud managed to find convincing evidence that most of our actions are motivated by psychological forces over which we have very limited control (Guerin 127). One of Freud’s most important contributions to the study of the psyche is his theory of repression: the unconscious mind is a repository of repressed desires,

Throughout literature, there are journeys that characters must take to progress from being naive to withhold great wisdom. However, in Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad, the characters progressed from civilized men to inhumane animals. The novel explains the journey of a sailor from London to the heart of Africa to began colonizing. As that people refuse to acknowledge the truth of humanity because “civilized” men unravel their sanity and unites with their insidious self.

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