Essay on Psychoanalysis and Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness

"The horror, the horror!" Kurtz exclaims prior to his last breath of life on earth. In those final moments, Kurtz was able to say something so true about the whole mess of human life. A life dominated by the fittest, perceived differently through each human eye, and full of judgement lacking understanding of all sides. The various ways the world is viewed causes many problems amongst its people. Whether they are about racism, wealth, or even common sense, conflicts are still subject to arouse. Why? The answer to this is not yet clear because of its complexity and endless variables. Yet what is clear is that it ties into two other aspects-prejudice and social

    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.

In the midst of the narrative, Marlow stops and speaks to his listeners: "Do you see him? Do you see the story? Do you see anything?

These key lines in the work serve as the turning point of the short story, it is also interesting to note that Brown does not realize that it is all a dream, until it is too late for him. The transition signifies Brown’s squandered love for his wife, and it is evident through his lack of affection for her and spiels about her.

Marlow is ecstatic; he is close to meeting the enigmatic Kurtz, of whom he has heard much praise. He and his companions arrived at the bank below Kurtz’s station, and Marlow observed that “There was no joy in the brilliance of sunshine. The long stretches of the waterway ran on, deserted, into the gloom of overshadowed distances” (Conrad 30). Throughout the story, Marlow has heard of Kurtz’s skill in procuring ivory and his strong character. Yet as he is faced with the reality of coming face to face with Kurtz, Marlow finds “no joy” in the sunshine, which he even uses “brilliance” to describe; wondrous sights no longer hold wonder. The “long stretches” of the river are seen, “deserted,” and they continue into “the gloom of overshadowed distances.” Marlow can see the path he must take, and it is filled with shadows; it is devoid of light. Marlow’s entire journey has been building to the moment when he reaches his destination, yet to reach it, he must travel through the darkness: the path to enlightenment. Marlow sees the stillness and rejects the “brilliance of sunlight,” rejecting also anything that would hinder his enlightenment. Light therefore does not represent illumination, as the path Marlow must travel to fulfill his physical and spiritual journey is shrouded in

"Restraint! I would have just as soon expected restraint from a hyena prowling amongst the corpses of a battle," comments Marlow as he questions why the hungry cannibals aboard his steamer hadn't gone for the white crew members (Conrad 43). "The glimpse of the steamboat . . . filled those savages with unrestrained grief," Marlow explains after recalling the cries of the natives seeing the steamer amidst a brief fog lift (Conrad 44). "Poor fool! He had no restraint, no restraint . . .a tree swayed by the wind," speaks Marlow of a slain helmsman amidst an attack by tribal savages (Conrad 52). "Mr. Kurtz lacked restraint in the gratification of his various lusts," says Marlow a few moments after he tells of his first glimpse of

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,

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.

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 ______________.

Marlow wants to inform everyone about the darkness and light on earth. He traveled many places and he had endured events of injustice, and he had good memories. The air was dark above Gravesend, and further back still seemed condensed into a mournful gloom, brooding motionless over the biggest, and the greatest, a town on earth (17). Marlow describes a change coming over the water, and peacefulness became less brilliant but profound. We looked at the venerable stream not in the vivid flush a short day comes and departs forever, but in august light of abiding memories.

Conrad’s usage of imagery in the - Heart of Darkness - Aristotle, a famous Greek philosopher, said that the aim of art is to represent not the outward appearance of things, but their inward significance. If that is the case, then Joseph Conrad is a true artist regarding the pictures he paints with his words. Conrad's most effective literary tool for plot development and expressing the theme is his use of imagery. Karl, a noted critic, explains this technique that Conrad uses. “The scenes and images (that Conrad depicts) are a variety which permits extension and almost a limitless number of references are possible”(168).

As Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness eludes to the inverse interpretation of colors as a motif, Francis Ford Coppola’s Apocalypse Now not only mimics but also portrays through the Vietnam War, the contrasting misguided crusades of enlightenment that the supreme race forces upon savages. The reversed meanings amongst the colors and entangled description in Heart of Darkness shows how backwards civilization is through the need to enlighten or civilize the natives is flamboyantly flaunted in both the movie and book. Ultimately, both portray an allusion to Dante’s inferno and through comparing and contrasting the symbolisms and imagery effectively personify the dangers and recklessness of the ensembles in the Eldorado Exploring Expedition, from Heart of Darkness, and Captain Willard’s mission to kill Kurtz in Apocalypse Now.

Madness is seen as the middle ground, a black and white line, between normality and abnormality, sanity and insanity. Heart of Darkness, a novella written by Joseph Conrad, centers around a sailor named Marlow, who struggles between awareness and madness as he journeys across the Congo River in Africa and comes into contact with the African residents and his surroundings, and Kurtz, a trader of ivory in Africa and commander of a trading post who struggles with madness both physically and mentally. Conrad is able to illustrate the theme of effects of madness through the fictional element of characterization, with both Marlow and Kurtz as his main focuses.

Mr. Kurtz is the main character in Joseph Conrad 's English novella, Heart of Darkness. There is no proof that Mr. Kurtz is based on a real person, so it is assumed that he is a made up character. When Mr. Kurtz is first introduced the audience learns that he is a Belgian ivory trader and he was sent to Africa by his employer for work. At first glance, Mr. Kurtz just represents a normal but really ambitious man, who has worked his way up to become chief of the Inner Station. However, "he also represents a highly refined civilized, European, moral self" ("Exploration of a Noble Savage", 2017). Appearance wise Mr. Kurtz is

Chinua Achebe’s controversial essay published in 1977 focuses on the racist views woven into Joseph Conrad’s 1899 novella, Heart of Darkness. Achebe claims that Conrad uses many western stereotypes of Africa and subtly weaves them below the surface of his writing. However, due to the popularity of the novella and the skill of Conrad, his racist views go undetected. The most obvious indicator of Conrad’s racist views is the depictions of the people. They are described as “savage creatures,” yet Conrad’s novella is noted for its excellence and not its horrible racist claims. Conrad’s novella is full of parallels, such as the River Thames, which is peaceful and calm contrary to the Congo River, which is depicted as being a rough and dangerous place. By creating these parallels Conrad is representing the differences between the European people and the Natives of Congo because he fears the thought of having anything in common with them. Achebe declares that the racist views in the novella come from Conrad 's own beliefs but to conceal them he hides behind multiple narrators. Achebe puts forth a compelling article that delves deep into the depths of Heart of Darkness.