The Novel ' Heart Of Darkness '

Who is "the flabby devil" who is "running the show'? Why is Marlow so frustrated by what he sees in Africa and by the Europeans he meets?

1. Does Conrad really "otherize," or impose racist ideology upon, the Africans in Heart of Darkness, or does Achebe merely see Conrad from the point of view of an African? Is it merely a matter of view point, or does there exist greater underlying meaning in the definition of racism?

      The Congo in Africa is home to dark native peoples that are portrayed with a natural, primal quality, a stark contrast to the civilizations in Europe. This is the setting for British imperialism at work. It is therefore the setting where the supposed sophistication of civilized men is deconstructed, and all men are revealed to share a common darkness. Africa and its inhabitants show an external darkness, while it is revealed that the colonizers contain darkness within. Heart of Darkness is a criticism of imperialism that uses the metaphor of darkness in the human heart to show the similarity between cultural groups perceived as different; elements of racism are used inside the darkness metaphor to emphasize anti-imperialism.

As almost any child knows, darkness symbolizes the unknown; it gains its power from its ability to conceal things we are too frightened to face.  Numerous times in the novel Heart of Darkness written by Joseph Conrad, we see characters afraid, not of the darkness itself, but of what potentially lies within it. Marlow's tale begins and ends in literal darkness; the setting of the novel is often dark, such as when the steamboat is enclosed by fog or when Marlow retrieves Kurtz; dark-skinned individuals inhabit the entire region; and, of course, there is a certain metaphysical darkness that pervades the work. Darkness operates in several ways through out the entire novel.

First and foremost, In "Heart of Darkness" the internal and external conflicts are intertwined with Marlow's trip into colonial Africa. Initially seeking adventure, Marlow is looking forward to taking a journey up the Congo River to find Kurtz, a man who he initially looks up to. However, during the trip, Marlow encounters many external conflicts that begin to change his internal beliefs. His journey is a difficult one and the external conflicts Marlow sees are horrible. He sees a French ship shelling the bush country but there seem to be no humans in sight. He sees naked black men dead and dying of disease. His boat is fired upon by supporters of Kurtz. Finally, when Marlow meets Kurtz, he finds a man who he can't look up to. He sees and feels how low a

Setting: On the sea, which is dangerous and risky at the time because they do not have advanced technology to navigate.

The significance of darkness in Conrad’s novella is first indicated by the title of the story, Heart of Darkness, which sets the theme for his story. Upon first reading, the title refers to the physical darkness of the Congo River and the mysteries of an uncivilized place. However, as the plot of the story progresses further, darkness becomes a metaphor for the savagery encased in the heart of man. Ultimately, Kurtz is revealed as the epitome of one embracing his heart of darkness.

The novella Heart of Darkness gives a diverse view of life in Africa during the time of colonization. The main character Marlow, a somewhat naïve man, enters Africa to fulfill his dream of meeting Mr. Kurtz, a prominent man who is said to have a vehement way of speaking. Throughout Marlow’s journey to meet Kurtz, Marlow is required to travel along with other pilgrims, or other white men traveling into the Congo, or as Marlow would like to call it, the heart of darkness. Along the way Marlow is tested and must endure the wilderness that surrounds him, and the natives, who wish to hinder the rescue Kurtz from his own madness, but in the process of saving Kurtz, Marlow is losses his self in his own perdition.

Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness depicted women and savages in the same manner, which indicated that in the eyes of the government that the two were essentially the same in their rights and supposed value. They should be seen not heard. In Heart of Darkness, the company functions like a government. Every plan, action, and and decision that is made to some extent is done for the good of the company, or at least for a while. I chose the passage where Kurtz lover appeared by the steamer before he died and I will apply Marxism theory. When we look at this passage through this lens we must ask two questions: what social classes do the characters represent? Also what social or societal values are being presented?

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

Heart of Darkness is an exploration of Marlow’s reactions to a world of hypocrisy, ambiguity, and moral confusion. As an idealistic Marlow is forced into either allying with the rule-defying, malevolent Kurtz or the malicious colonial business, it becomes increasingly clear that there is no correct choice. Rather, the world is filled with undeniably ambiguous situations. In this way, the novel examines Marlow’s choice between the lesser of two evils: Kurtz or the bureaucracy. Marlow condemns the Company because of its hypocritical and dishonest behavior while siding with Kurtz because his upfront nature.

Heart of Darkness begins on the Thames river where an unknown narrator describes a night spent on a ship. He and several other men are on the deck of a ship when Marlow, a captain, begins to tell the story of an adventure he had on the Belgian Congo. Marlow had always wanted to travel to Africa and up the snakelike Congo River. With the help of his aunt in Brussels, Marlow gets a job as a boat captain on the Congo River with a company that deals in ivory. After getting his assignment at the office in Brussels, he travels to the mouth of the Congo River in a French steamer. When Marlow arrives at the mouth of the Congo, a Swedish captain takes him to the Company’s Inner Station on a smaller boat. Outside of the station he sees Africans

Nowhere in the modern day world is completely undisturbed by the influence of imperialism or its core ideas. Thus, one should not be surprised that Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness, a book published in 1899 about imperialists in the Congo, still contains ideals relevant over a century later. However, to delve into these persistent values, one must consider the broader definition of imperialism: “state policy, practice, or advocacy of extending power and dominion, especially by direct territorial acquisition or by gaining political and economic control of other areas” (Encyclopædia Britannica). With this, imperialism can be analyzed by its central qualities, its relationship to Heart of Darkness, and its modern day appearance and consequences.

Joseph Conrad lived in a time where racism and colonialism were prevalent and often went hand in hand. In his novel, Heart of Darkness, he uses characters Kurtz and Marlow to detail his psychoanalytical findings and account for the evil that came with the colonization of the Congo. The exposure to horror and the absolute freedom of mind blurs Kurtz’s reality and pushes Marlow to the edge of insanity. On his own journey to the Congo, Conrad witnessed many atrocities done by colonists toward the natives. According to Conrad's accounts, the exposure that the colonists experience in the Congo switches on a mode of survival, leading them to make decisions without accounting for the lack of morality. As a result, as more time passes, they become

When you hear of the word “darkness”, what do you think of? The simple definition of “darkness” is the lack of presence of light. In “The Heart of Darkness” by Joseph Conrad, “darkness” is relevant throughout the text. “Darkness” is evident in many of the themes and even the setting of the text. The biggest theme of the text is imperialism. If we were to rewind many years back, imperialism was one of the darkest times. During imperialism, the “civilized” countries have invaded the “uncivilized” countries to exploit the indigenous people of the “uncivilized” country. Along with the exploitation of the indigenous people many of them were killed. Just learning about the age of imperialism filled the classroom with clouds of darkness. How can someone be so dark? In the text Joseph Conrad tries to contrast light from dark and white from black. Conrad makes it clear that he does not support the darkness imperialism brought to the world. Conrad uses “darkness” throughout the text in many different situations, this paper will analyze the different purposes and different styles used when Conrad introduces “darkness” in the text.