Joseph Conrad's Heart Of Darkness

Kurtz’s Intended is a character who blindly believes anything anyone says. She is kept in the shadows of who Kurtz really is. She thinks of Kurtz as a great man and can only admire him. She believes in Kurtz to an extent that she devotes everything to him. Just like how the Mistress grieved when hearing about Kurtz’s death, she grieved as well.

Due to man’s ability for evil, both Conrad and Leibniz argue that a deterioration of these morals exist when in penetrating and corrupt circumstances despite the commonality or “justice” in a structured civilization. The greatest motive for working in the Congo is the grand opportunity to obtain ivory. Meeting Kurtz in the Inner Station, Marlow experiences a “heavy, mute spell of wilderness” that draws him “to the pitiless breast” all by the “awakening of forgotten and brutal instincts, by the memory of gratified [...] passions” (Conrad 82). Conrad alludes that such force has caused Kurtz to dwell and reside to savage manners. Although it may seem like only the powers of darkness assaulted Kurtz, no “devil is too much of a devil” and it is indeed with the significant combination of the personal, overwhelming desire for Ivory that lead to his deterioration. In “Opinion on the Principles of Pufendorf”, Leibniz believes it is self-evident that desire always drive the man drives

Long ago, a battle raged. In the great prairies of Greater __________, knights shed their blood in a bloody, gruesome battle against an undefeatable army of tens of thousands of creatures who yearned for the blood of their enemies. The creatures couldn’t stop; wouldn’t stop until they could lay their hands on the greatest treasure of all. A treasure greater than any mortal man could fathom. A treasure so great that it could absorb men into itself where they would stay until summoned by the owner of the treasure. The treasure even had the ability to grant immortality to the most pure of heart. If destroyed, this treasure could enable the destroyer to render dark magic more dangerous and evil than what was known the people of ______________.

Kurtz makes friendships with the natives, and exploits them (brutal raids) for ivory. The sad part about this Kurtz scheme is so far and complex the natives are being robbed blind. (The natives look at Kurtz as a god and helpful for the community from the image he pained for them). Also, Kurtz has lost his immorality(morals) from this and other actions (one of the reasons they call it hear of darkness). However, Marlow see’s these actions as inhumane and wicked, but Kurtz looks at this as necessary for success. According to SparkNotes, Joseph Conrad said “This is the natural result when men are allowed to operate outside a social system of checks and balances: power, especially power over other human beings, inevitably corrupts”. It was said in the story that Kurtz was working his way up to the top with connections all over the world, I personally think power would corrupt an induvial. The result of Kurtz tapping into this ended into a sickness and his last words were “The horror, the

In Conrad’s Heart of Darkness, Marlow’s tale brings him at last to Africa where he finds himself in the base camp. He is immediately appalled. The jumble of debris aimlessly strewn across the site. The waste, the heat and ultimately the disarray A group of dead eyed natives pass him, chains clinking, guarded by a somewhat jolly white man who seems unconcerned for the slaves’ plight. To escape this disorder of the senses, Marlow stumbles into a shaded copse, where he is horrified to find it is a refuge for men who have come to die. All in all, it is not only disconcerting, but chillingly peculiar. Finally, he makes his way up the hill of this wasteland only to run into the oddest sight of all, the Accountant. Although he only appears in the

Kurtz, once a good man according to his Intended, “‘of all his promise, and of all his greatness, of his generous mind, of his noble heart” (323), is transformed into a monster from the greed of the jungle. Even his closest confidant, The Russian, lives in fear of his power and refuses to defy him. Despite the fear however, The Russian stays loyal to the man he does not recognize anymore and pleadingly states, “‘I don’t want any harm to happen to these whites here, but of course I was thinking of Mr. Kurtz’s reputation”(312). Kurtz’s power comes to an advantage in the jungle, as he becomes the leading ivory station and achieves god-like worship from the natives. However, this power ultimately results in his demise, as the greed develops him into a very sick man. Upon meeting Kurtz, Marlow states “The thing was to know what he belonged to, how many powers of darkness claimed him for their own” (301) as the darkness of the jungle is the sickness that ensues Kurtz. He gives into the greed and power resulting in a completely new man and an instrument to his own destruction. The diction and imagery used to depict Kurtz’ lifestyle in the jungle, is also what carries the entire novella’s theme of resisting evil

She is a token of Kurtz’s old life, an embodiment of everything he left behind in Europe, including traditional values such as marriage. She, like the African mistress is not included for diversity, but rather to provide further insight into Marlow’s plot. Interestingly, she is compared to religious images or paraphernalia, exhibited in the quote “[She] seemed surrounded by an ashy halo”. The comparison is a commentary by Conrad on the nature of European colonisation, which the English believed to be rescue for “savage” nations by delivering civilisation upon them, much like salvation from God. Furthermore, she is described as meeting Marlow “all in black”, a characterisation choice which further embodies Conrad’s views on Imperialist Europe. Considering that the mistress’s colourful garments represent the rich experiences the Congo provides to both Marlow and Kurtz, the Intended’s black clothing undoubtedly represent the men’s dismissive attitudes towards their “home” in England. Both Kurtz and Marlow are unfulfilled by the comfort of Europe and seek risk in the elusive heart of Africa. This is also displayed earlier in the novella when Marlow notices that the characters around him do not expect him to return home from the voyage. He says “The secretary…full of desolation and sympathy, made me sign the document…I began to

There are many different views of Africa. Africa is a very large continent consisting of various countries, cultures and ethnic groups, but the image of Africa that is portrayed in modern media via the news, television and movies is completely different. Most media sources depict Africa as being a single country filled with villages of starving children that always have flies on their faces. This image usually comes from commercials that are trying to play on the viewer’s sympathy by emphasizing the idea of Africa needing help from western countries such as the United States of America.

Joseph Conrad was born by the name Jozej Teodor Konrad Korzeniowski on Dec. 3, 1857. He was an English novelist and short story writer who wrote many titles to include Lord Jim, Nostromo, and The secret Agent. He was known for his richness of the use of prose and also using his encounters with living on the high seas. His reputation as a great story teller covers up his great fascination when people are faced with nature’s invaraiable unconcern, man’s frequent malevolence, and his inner battle with good and evil. Conrad’s father was a poet and a polish patriot who was arrested and sent in to exile in late 1861. Conrad was introduced to English at the young age of eight while listening to his father translate some great

Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness, published in 1899, is a novella (a short novel or long short story) that is a good representation of the genre of colonial literature; it is about Marlow, who is a sailor, and his voyage up the Congo River. His top priority is to meet Kurtz, a man who is known for his success of collecting ivory and his other captivating potentials. Marlow’s journey begins once he accepts a job with the Company, a Belgian organization concerned with trade within the Congo area (Conrad 9). However, Marlow is surprised by the widespread suffering and inhumanity of the natives when he arrives at his designated areas in Africa near the Congo. Marlow soon realizes that the Company’s intentions of “helping” the natives may not be as optimistic as it first seemed when he acquired the job as the steamboat sailor. Marlow’s urge to meet the fascinating Kurtz is what keeps him motivated in the midst of all the horror.

Another main character was Kurtz, the chief of the company, who had made to be Marlow's main purpose of his travels. For three quarters of the book, he has remained to be known as the man with many talents, and a striving chief who has accomplished riches. Marlow had to journey to the far station where he is located, just to have a meeting with this man, since he had joined the company. Stories were told of him and his obsession of his trading for ivory. Some foreign employees of the company looked up to him, admiring his accomplishments, while the locals who were forced on working in the company despised him for causing such suffering among them. Only for the last 20 pages, he has finally made an appearance, shortly before his unfortunate death.

     Kurtz’s madness, although made clear early in the novel, is barely recognizable among the horrors of the men of the Company who completely dehumanize the Africans and treat them like animals or even worse in some cases. The difference is found in the fact that the Company tries to downplay their brutality while Kurtz is completely honest about his suppression of the natives, whom he refers to as “brutes,” and his desire to eradicate them. In his final days, he reveals to Marlow

She seemed uncanny and fateful.” This represents the Moirae, the personifications of fate. The Fates have the foresight and can see into every man’s fate, so they are pretty much a big deal if you believe in that sort of stuff. Maybe this also doesn’t catch your eye whiles you read, Marlow may have had a mentally lasting impact from it based from his initial reaction. Another woman you most definitely could not ignore was Kurtz’s African Mistress. She caught the eye of Marlow based off of the vivid description given. He mentions that She walked with measured steps, draped in striped and fringed clothes, treading the earth proudly, carrying her head high, her hair was in the shape of a helmet, she had brass leggings to the knee, brass wire gauntlets, etc, etc, you get the point. This woman isn’t just Kurtz’s mistress, she carries the personification of Africa herself, dark and mysterious and from Marlow’s description of her being gorgeous, embodying all the beauty, mystery and danger within Africa. She also carries some power with her or influence over the natives around the station, and Kurtz himself. This was probably one of the only women who showed clear influence whiles the other women mentioned in this article were more background like the 1900s from a man’s perspective would want you to see.

Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad has intrigued and confused many literary theorists since the book gained prominence in the early 1900s. People like Achebe have criticized it for being too racist, whereas others have simply regarded it as an allegory of imperialism that portrays how the colonists really lived their lives in the far flung places. One might also assert that this literary masterpiece is a thematic description of a spiritual journey to discover the "true" heart of darkness that lurks beneath every human soul. Thus, in this paper, I intend to show what the author really meant when he said "heart of darkness" and show how he depicts the true nature of human beings through the use of appropriate structure, imageries, symbols and the narrative frame.

In that same waiting room is another woman present who does not speak either, but glances with an “unconcerned wisdom” and “seemed uncanny and fateful” (Conrad 11). As women did not have the freedom to express their thoughts, they might have come across as mysterious. Marlow finds this woman mysterious and threatening which connects to Beauvoir’s idea of men not understanding women and classifying them as ‘angels’ or ‘demons’ (De Beauvoir 1269). Beauvoir states that “Women are mystified, as ‘the man who “does not understand” a woman is happy to substitute an objective resistance for a subjective deficiency of mind; instead of admitting his ignorance, he perceives the presence of a “mystery” outside himself: an alibi, indeed, that flatters laziness and vanity at once” (1268). These concepts seem accurate in this novel especially when comparing Kurtz ‘intended’ with the native African woman. Kurtz fiancée symbolizes the perfect example of how women should be according to men. Women are shaped after biology and “cultural defined characteristics” (Barry 117). This woman believes that this is how she is supposed to be because this is how God and society intended it. She is an oppressed woman in a domestic sphere devoted to her husband, the man she has to thank for her status. Kurtz keeps referring to her as ‘my intended’ which makes her seem as yet another object that he owns. Comparing this to the native African woman, who is wild, confident and more powerful which is shown by her ivory jewelry, she is the opposite of the Western white woman. This makes her mysterious and frightening. However, though her higher status and Marlow’s fear towards her, she is still a woman in the eyes of the white man and Kurtz’s only interest in her seems to be the ivory. She is his road to wealth which