Heart of Darkness Study Guide Essay

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.

* Fifteen days after leaving the outer station Marlow “hobble[s] into the Central Station”, which was being run by “the flabby devil”, referring to the greed of the Europeans. There he finds out that his ship had been sunk when they tried to take off before he got there. He also meets the manager of the Central Station who is only employed because he never gets sick, and the brick maker who doesn’t actually make any bricks. He overhears a conversation between the manager and his uncle, who is leading the “Eldorado Exploring Expedition” that passes through the station. They are talking about Mr. Kurtz. This all occurs two months before they reach Kurtz’s station.

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

Marlow is not a native, savage, or even a man driven by greed and yet he still contains evil inside him. The European imperialists are seen to be the heroic, “good guys” throughout the novel and Marlow’s moral ambiguity challenges that belief. Even though Marlow is seen to be a man not fooled by European prejudice, he still contains evil inside of him and that effects the depiction of the natives, of the Europeans, and of the overall darkness in human nature that everyone, no matter what race you are, contains.

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.

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,

Literary Analysis of the Heart of Darkness and the Secret Sharer Thesis Statement The story Heart of Darkness and the Secret Sharer is about a man named Mr. Kurtz who embarks on a harrowing night journey into the savage heart of Africa, only to find his dark and evil soul. The saga of a young inexperienced man forced to decide the fate of a fugitive sailor who killed a man in self- defense. As he faces his first mortal test the young man discovers a terrifying truth and comes face to face with the secret itself.

This quote was spoken by Marlow. The quote signifies the beginning of Marlow’s story, and the pretense to his vivid recollection of his journey. Marlow is referring to his current surroundings because he is about to start his lengthy allegory. Basically, Marlow begins by telling the other sailors that every place was at one point unexplored and uninhabited.

Joseph Conrad the writer of “The Heart of Darkness” (1899) describes as his own narrator of thoughts, the expedition and imperialism ideology that leads him through the Congo. Conrad has just taken a short ride up river to his company’s station. He was taken up by a Swede, who warned him about fellow men hanging themselves. The environment was new to Conrad, it’s noted as he observes the hills, rocky enclosures, and the naked African-Americans walking about. The specific texts begins, as Conrad’s curiosity of his new station, leads him up a hill. The books describes the new landscape to be close to rapids, the author, who is Conrad narrating her own thoughts, makes the noise and clustered groove to add confusion and unfamiliarity.

“The bitterest contradiction and the deadliest conflicts of the world are carried on in every individual breast capable of feeling and passion” (Raskin 116). It is possible that those with the best intentions can create some of the deadliest atrocities as passion can take control over one's emotions. This emotional instability can be seen in Heart of Darkness as Joseph Conrad illustrates how one’s “passion” of saving others slowly turns into madness that causes hundreds of fatalities. We wonder, what could cause a man, such as Kurtz, in Heart of Darkness, to enter another country with the best intentions, to become so violent and be the reason behind thousands of brutal and torturous killings without

Pauline Hopkins was indeed telling the truth when saying “and, after all, our surroundings influence our lives and characters as much as fate, destiny or any supernatural agency”. A prime example of surroundings influencing an individual’s character can be found in Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness. In this novel, the protagonist, Charles Marlow, journeys through an undiscovered land at the time, Africa. As he journeys to the “heart” of Africa, Marlow’s surroundings transform him from a man of good morals to a man of darkness.

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 Heart of Darkness is one of the narrative works by Joseph Conrad, who presents the main character, Marlow a guide to the reader to relate to the bigger picture of the history of imperialism of European nations in Africa. Thereby conceiving the insights of indirectly condemning the barbaric acts by European colonialists on their subjects. There are controversies over the story among scholars who differently view the pros and cons associated with the imperialism. Marlow is an intermediary figure between the activities of imperialists of a Belgian Company and Kurtz a supporting character. From his experiences, Marlow encounters personal conflicts with his inner-self as he gets entirely disappointed from his earlier anticipations in being part of the imperialism. Although Marlow has a fascination with the explorations Africa must offer, he seeks a name for himself and a fortune.

In Heart of Darkness Marlow is sitting on a boat, the Nellie, and tells the story of his journey through Africa’s Congo to his fellow seamen. Marlow starts his story with his childhood, during which he had a great passion for maps and the blank spaces on earth. “ ‘There was one… the biggest, the most blank, so to speak- that I had a hankering after… by this time it was not a blank space any more.’ ” (Conrad 13). This is Marlow’s opening remark about why he wanted to travel around Africa. With help from his Aunt, Marlow gets a position as skipper of a river steamboat, which allows him to travel the snake-like river he has been eyeing up since his childhood. Eventually Marlow travels up the

As Marlow lands in the Congo and begins his trip overland, we listen to him describe the Africans he sees, “I could see every rib, the joints of their limbs were like knots in a rope; each had an iron collar…and all were connected together with a chain…” (Conrad 27-8) He describes another group of workers as a group of people who had “withdrawn to die.” He meets a white man, the bookkeeper, and hears the lament for how a sick African is interrupting his concentration. Slowly, Marlow builds up a picture of Africans being oppressed and killed in a variety