Joseph Conrad 's Heart of Darkness is both a dramatic tale of an arduous trek into the Belgian Congo at the turn of the twentieth century and a symbolic journey into the deepest recesses of human nature. On a literal level, through Marlow 's narration, Conrad provides a searing indictment of European colonial exploitation inflicted upon African natives. By employing several allegoric symbols this account depicts the futility of the European presence in Africa.…
Cited: Conrad, Joseph, and Robert Kimbrough. Heart of Darkness: An Authoritative Text, Backgrounds and Sources, Essays in Criticism. New York: Norton, 1971. Print.…
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 sensation point of view of European expansion that was a sporadic subject of Conrad’s time.…
After setting foot on the land and beginning his journey to the Inner Station, Marlow observes a group of slaves, from which a particular one stands out in his decimated clothing and deprived appearance. Marlow, in vain, offers the slave a biscuit immediately before they die of hunger right before his eyes (28). This simple encounter echoes the irrefutable damages caused by imperialism and the idea that no matter what anyone does to try and reverse the effects, including Europeans themselves, the damage that has been done has been set in stone for centuries to come. As noted in Edward Said’s essay critiquing Heart of Darkness, “Conrad… could clearly see… imperialism was pure dominance, [but] he could not conclude that imperialism had to end so that natives could lead lives free of European domination” (Said par. 18). This quote unequivocally supports the notion that Europe became a necessary crutch for Africa, and provides evidence for the transformation of darkness to convey the idea of the long-lasting effects of…
He outwardly castigates Conrad’s novel as being racist and demeaning to non-white cultures. Chinua Achebe criticizes Conrad’s depiction of Africa as being stereotypical in the views of Western culture. One of Achebe’s fundamental arguments is that Conrad is advertising a false version of the African continent and its people. He portrays them as being hostile and uncivilized through the accounts of the main character, Marlow. Achebe is infuriated at this notion because Conrad’s style of writing covers up the true nature of its meaning. He believes that this form of writing emanates from Conrad’s own racist beliefs and upbringings as a child. Specific citations from the story indicate that Conrad put the Europeans on a higher pedestal as he characterizes them as being “illuminating”, and “twinkling” with brilliant ideas (Achebe 3). Conrad’s racism is delineated perfectly when there is an encounter with a black man and he describes his feelings as being “blind, furious, and unreasoning rage” when he encountered this man (Conrad 11). This vast disparity of descriptions of the two races show his inner thoughts and his hatred towards non-whites. According to Achebe "Conrad appears to go to considerable pains to set up layers of insulation between himself and the moral universe of his story”(Conrad 14). This is exactly how Conrad uses his stylistic form of writing to cover up these feelings of hatred and detest towards the African continent and its population. Achebe also points out that Conrad’s depiction of the rivers is a symbolic sign of his inherent racism. He states in his story that "going up that river was like traveling back to the earliest beginnings of the world” (Conrad 9). This is referencing the Congo River that led to Africa and Conrad uses a negative connotation in describing…
In the beginning of the novel, Heart of Darkness, the story takes place outside of London, England, on thee Thames River. This is pictured to be a peaceful and civilized place. The sky, without a speck, was a benign immensity of unstained light" (Conrad p16), further introduces the civilized Thames to be bright, pure, and good. As Marlow's journey continues, he later discovers the darkness, or evil, that is represented by the mysterious and unknown dangers of the jungle environment. While Marlow is in the beginning of his journey throughout the Belgian Congo, his route, the river, is observed as "Flames glided in the river pursuing, overtaking" (Conrad p20). The river is displayed as a river of fire, similar to the rivers of fire in the depths of hell. Man views hell as being synonymous with evil, as does Conrad. He uses this as a device to foreshadow the upcoming events in which the Marlow is about to endure. As the story moves deeper into the jungle, the obscurity and unknown of the jungle begin to set in. "The long stretches of the waterway ran on, deserted, into the gloom of over-shadowed distances." The darkness of the over-shadowed distances foreshadows the upcoming events in the novel. While the characters proceed up the river the certainty of their future becomes bleaker. Furthermore, as Kurtz is taking his last breaths and on the…
‘The Heart of Darkness’ is a psychological masterpiece, revealing the relationship between subconscious life and conscious motivations. In the text, Conrad through Marlow reviews the memories of his journey to the Congo: personal nightmare is mixed with his own psychological complexities. He is looking for self-understanding, and showing his own mental picture of the conflicts between savagery and civilization. Many critics have called it the best short novel written in English. The text involves the reader in dramatic and decisively difficult moral judgements, which are in parallel with the central characters: Marlow and Kurtz. It is a dramatic, layered, paradoxical and problematic novel: a mixture of autobiography, adventure story, religious drama and a symbolic text, thus making it an allegorical text.…
The setting is the basis of every story or novel, the basis of every prose work. Heart of Darkness is by no means an exception. Joseph Conrad's nouvelle or rather said mysterious work is not being easily understood let alone assessed. But each reader of Heart of Darkness should try to solve the mystery the author has opened.…
Conrad uses contrast in his novel “Heart of Darkness”. Conrad would use contrast to convey meaning in his writing. Not only did contrast help convey meaning, but he also used it to show feelings. Of the many contrast in “Heart of Darkness” the difference of light and dark and the difference between the Thames River and the Congo River are the most obvious.…
Joseph Conrad’s “Heart of Darkness” confers about the evil actions that are still part of the society. These types of actions cannot be determined by the superficial aspects of the individuals. The Heart of the Darkness is a complex story which shows numerous representations throughout the novella. A story is stated by Marlow in a convincing manner where he describes what he observed and felt about the things. He also shares his thoughts about the things in the story, but it still remained moderately ambiguous. In the beginning, it seemed dreadful for Marlow to convene what exactly he experienced as he could not provide the narrative…
In “Heart of Darkness” Conrad introduces his protagonist Marlow, his journey through the African Congo and the “enlightenment” of his soul. With the skilled use of symbols and Marlow’s experience he depicts the European colonialism in Africa, practice Conrad witnessed himself. Through Marlow’s observations he explicates the naiveness of the Europeans and the hypocritical purpose of their travelling into the “dark” continent.…
Heart of Darkness is a captivating adventure tale of a journey into the Belgian Congo designed to give us a thrill. The main character, Marlow, is intrigued by the mystery of Africa as represented on the map and travels up the Congo to seek the unknowns in Africa. We’re told Marlow’s journey into the jungles of Africa, getting a glimpse of the provoked attacks on other Europeans for ivory. Joseph Conrad creates a symbolic journey into Africa, digging deep into the darkness of human conscience.…
Conrad uses the literary elements of symbolism, character development, and setting to create the image that when humans are surrounded by darkness they can no longer see the truth. In the novel, as Marlow travels further and further into the Congo he discovers more and more…
Heart of Darkness portrays multiple themes about the evil of mankind. In his novel, Conrad uses the literary elements of conflict, characterization, and symbolism to illustrate the theme that when humans are surrounded by darkness, they can become…
Symbols are crucial for any work of literary merit. By using symbolism, the work is given a deeper meaning. In Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness, symbols are used to support the overall theme that imperialism only breeds evil. In the novel, one of the major symbols Conrad uses is the river which symbolizes man’s innate cruelty and also the unknown, both revealing that inside every man lies a heart of darkness that can be brought out under the right conditions.…