Essay on Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness

Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness takes place in a world built on imperialism. Written in 1899, Conrad is living in a world still very much involved in Africa. Infect this presence did not begin to end until the early 1960s. Heart of Darkness can be viewed as a very forward thinking book. Joseph Conrad utilizes his book as a mean to send a message. He utilizes his rhetorical devices and moves in order to help him get this message across. One way Conrad portrays his message is by establishing the connection between light and dark. Additionally Conrad uses vivid description to depict the savage behavior of the natives. He makes meaning by later creating a parallel with the behaviors of the white imperialists. Conrad also utilizes imagery to describe the perceived outcome of the voyage in the eyes of the imperialists. He makes meaning by doing this as he later contrasts this showing how things are oven not as they seem. Continuing the idea that things are often not as they seem is Conrad’s diction

    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 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.

There is an abundance of literature in which characters become caught between colliding cultures. Often, these characters experience a period of growth from their exposure to a culture that’s dissimilar to their own. Such is the case with Marlow, Joseph Conrad’s infamous protagonist from ‘Heart of Darkness’. Marlow sets off to Africa on an ivory conquest and promptly found himself sailing into the heart of the Congo River. Along the way he is faced with disgruntled natives, cannibals, and the ominous and foreboding landscape. Marlow’s response to these tribulations is an introspective one, in which he calls into question his identity. This transcending of his former self renders the work as a whole a

     While sitting and talking to the man on the pier, Stevens questions his life, realizing that his entire method of thinking has been wrong. He realizes that he has not been living as a human being, but rather as simply a butler.

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

Without personal access to authors, readers are left to themselves to interpret literature. This can become challenging with more difficult texts, such as Joseph Conrad’s novella Heart of Darkness. Fortunately, literary audiences are not abandoned to flounder in pieces such as this; active readers may look through many different lenses to see possible meanings in a work. For example, Conrad’s Heart of Darkness may be deciphered with a post-colonial, feminist, or archetypal mindset, or analyzed with Freudian psycho-analytic theory. The latter two would effectively reveal the greater roles of Kurtz and Marlow as the id and the ego, respectively, and offer the opportunity to draw a conclusion about the work as a whole.

The book The Heart of Darkness talks about a guy named Marlow that shows leadership traits. A good leader should have willing to pay the consequence in order to succeed. In the book The Heart of Darkness Marlow explains, "I don't like work but, I do like what is in the work." This trait is an important trait because a leader is willing to work and get the benefit of it later on. Marlow connects back to this and shows good examples because he really does not like work but always does it in order to find the outcome of it in a near future. In addition a great leader needs to learn to deal with confusion. According to Cashman, "As leaders too often we step forward with action to deal with complexity without first stepping for the clarity we need."

     Joseph Conrad's novel, Heart of Darkness, was written to explore the soul of man. If the book is viewed only superficially, a tragic story of the African jungle is seen, but when examined closely, a deeper meaning arises. Through his narrator Marlow, Conrad uses the theme of light and dark to contrast the civilized with the savage.

Written in the late 1890’s, Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness holds two different meanings. Heart of Darkness is both a metaphor for a psychological side of man, and an allusion to Africa. The title suggests both a physical and mental reference. During the time the novel takes place, Africa was called the dark continent. This was because little was known about Africa, and it was rather a mystery to Europeans. The main character in the novel, Marlow describes Africa as “a place of darkness” (Conrad 43). He also compares the Congo river to a snake: its head in the sea, its body curving over a country, and its tail in the deep of the land. Marlow speaks of it with this meaning, saying the place “had become a place of darkness.” The beginning of Marlow’s journey on the French steamer starts his descent into proverbial darkness.

The setting of Heart of Darkness is a very critical part of the book, and Conrad goes to extreme lengths to highlight the evil radiating from the region in which he sets his

In Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness, women characters hold minor, but significant roles. Female appearances, although few, are powerful and impressionable. Their presence aid Marlow gain insight and knowledge throughout his journey.

As Steven Patrick Morrissey said “Racism is beyond common sense and has no place in our society.” Tragedies in African nations have been glossed over or omitted throughout history. The Congolese genocide, prompted by King Leopold II’s acquisition of the Congo Free State, killed an estimated 10 million people. Heart of Darkness, by Joseph Conrad, can be criticised through many different lenses. Though Natives are a large part of Conrad’s narrative of European atrocities in the Congo, his treatment of Congolese Natives throughout the book show them to be nothing more than props. Conrad skews Natives language, culture and intelligence to fit Europeans schema for Africa and Africans.

In regards to Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness, many literature reviews focus on the motifs of Imperialism, the symbolism of darkness and fog, or the aspect of racism in Conrad’s work. During the era which Conrad wrote, England was going through the Victorian Era, which was marked by a shift in views on morality. The term “Victorian morality” is used today to describe values which adopt a social code of conduct in a restrictive way, such as views on sexual restraint and a low tolerance of crime (Sanders, 2). The Victorian era saw social issues such as child labor and prostitution become issues which influenced societal views on the roles of women in British society (Sanders, 10). These social norms shaped men’s views on women in general, giving rise to the underlining perceptions of female purity and the role of women as homemakers. This essay will examine the role that societal views on women in the 19th century had on Conrad’s portrayal of women by the analysis of four sets of minor characters in his book, Marlow’s aunt, the two women knitting outside of the office, “The Intended” (Kurtz’ fiancé), and Kurtz’ mistress.

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.”