Joseph Conrad and Henry Lawson use environment and setting to challenge the motivations and values of the characters in their texts. Specifically, Conrad uses the philosophical, independent-minded and sceptical character of Marlow to juxtapose the hypocrisy of 1890’s British imperialism in his novella, Heart of Darkness. Conrad typically embellished personal experience in his novels, with a specific interest in inter-cultural communication owing to his history as a multi-lingual refugee. This context heavily informs the tension between Marlow’s character and the imperialist ideologies present in his surroundings. Similarly, Australian poet Henry Lawson juxtaposes the motivations of the protagonist in his short fiction The Drover’s Wife, with the titular narrator finding her femininity ostensibly challenged by post-colonial Australia. Lawson uses a female perspective to convey the gender tensions of post-colonial Australia, effectively using the short story form to provide insight. Ultimately, both Conrad and Lawson use formal design to challenge the notions of their characters with the tumultuous environmental context in which they find themselves.
Heart of Darkness is centred around Marlow, an introspective sailor, and his journey up the Congo River to meet Kurtz, a man of great skill reputed to be idealistic. Marlow takes up a job with the Company as a riverboat captain, a Belgian business organized for Congo trade. As he voyages to Africa and after that up the Congo, Marlow encounters widespread wastefulness and brutality within the Company’s stations. The local occupants of the locale have been constrained into the Company’s benefit, and they endure horrendously from exhaust and sick treatment at the hands of the Company’s operators. The brutality and griminess of royal Endeavor contrasts strongly with the detached and magnificent wilderness that encompasses the white man’s settlements.
“The word ‘ivory’ rang in the air, was whispered, was sighed. You would think they were praying to it. A taint of imbecile rapacity blew through it all, like a whiff from some corpse. By Jove! I’ve never seen anything so unreal in my life. And outside, the silent wilderness surrounding this cleared speck on the earth struck me as something great and invincible, like evil or truth, waiting patiently for the passing away of this fantastic invasion.”
This quotation, from Part 1 of the novel provides Marlow’s impression of the Central Station. The word “ivory” has taken on a life of it possess for the men who work for the Company. To them it is more than the tusk of an elephant, instead it represents financial opportunity and social progression. The word has misplaced all association to any physical reality and has itself gotten to be an object of revere. Marlow’s reference to a rotting cadaver is metaphorical: elephants and local Africans both pass on as a result of the white man’s interest in the ivory trade. To Marlow, this greed is symptomatic of a more prominent, ageless evil: the evil of imperialism, colonisation and cultural assimilation.
“The brown current ran swiftly out of the heart of darkness, bearing us down towards the sea with twice the speed of our upward progress; and Kurtz’s life was running swiftly, too, ebbing, ebbing out of his heart into the sea of inexorable time.”
This cite, which comes as the steamer starts its voyage back from the Inner Station within the third segment of Part 3, with Kurtz and his ivory on board, brings together the pictures of the river and the “heart of darkness” which it leads to. The waterway is something that isolates Marlow from the African interior whereas on the waterway he is outside to, encompassed by wilderness. Moreover, despite its “brown current,” the waterway unyieldingly brings him back to white civilization. This quote proposes that Marlow and Kurtz have been able to leave their “heart of darkness” behind, but Kurtz’s life appears to be subsiding at the side the “darkness,” and Marlow, as well, has been forever scarred by it, since he is presently ineradicably stamped as being of Kurtz’s party. Hence, it appears that the “darkness” is internalized. This demonstrates how Marlow’s own beliefs are challenged by the environment which he finds himself in. Following the formal design of the novel, Marlow’s character follows an arc that changes his preconceived notion of imperialism. In this way, Conrad challenges the beliefs of the audience, using the nuanced character of Marlow to confront the harsh, historical context of Heart of Darkness.
What has come to be known as the sublime is an awe inspiring experience, caused by an equilibrium between aesthetic gratification and negative pleasure that one receives from witnessing raw power. What causes this awe is not solely a mere sense of beauty, but a much more magnitudinal force. Using the ocean as an example, one may relish in the allure of its reflective surface or even the methodicality of the waves seeming to endlessly rush onto the beach. However, what makes such an experience sublime is the recognition of danger, or terror that it incites, that, for the ocean, could be the power of the waves crashing against rocks or the mystery of what lays below the surface. These experiences are so appealing to humans as a result of a certain negative pleasure that comes with the aesthetically pleasing aspect. It is through this mysteriousness and magnitude of power that leads humans to constantly seek these experiences in nature through adventure and exploration. Overall, the paragonal point of the sublime is its ability to “[produce] the strongest emotion which the mind is capable of feeling” (Burke). In Conrad’s Heart of Darkness, sublime experiences are not only used to enrich the inner philosophies of characters, but also to give insight into what makes the story such a literary masterpiece. First, Marlow comes into contact with the sublime when interacting with both the natural world and Kurtz, allowing him to initially communicate messages of disquietude. Second, Kurtz experiences himself as the sublime, skewing his morality, and therefore being able to convey this experience to other characters. Third, parallels between Kurtz and Heart of Darkness are drawn, reinforcing the book itself as a sublime experience and ultimately creating a powerful message of moral confusion. Collectively, it is the intertwinement of the sublime into characters in Heart of Darkness that allows the book to convey such strong moral messages.
The sublime encountered by Marlow spins his moral compass and inspires a sense of both adventure and disquietude. First, aboard the Nellie, the meditative yet restless tone inspires emotion “fit for nothing but placid staring” (Conrad 4). Doing this creates a sublime experience within the characters on the boat where they feel the ominous presence that Marlow’s story will bring, despite the aesthetically peaceful atmosphere. Automatically, Marlow is described as “a Buddha preaching in European clothes” (Conrad 7), differentiating his being as one that is more enlightened and fit to take the other characters on his journey. By portraying Marlow as a Buddha, he is given the role of being a guide into the soul. In addition to this, this initial boat setting is revisited at the end of the book. Throughout the story, the characters on the boat never actually move, only time passes, turning dusk into night. By combining Marlow’s role as a guide into the soul and creating a common setting between the beginning and end of the book, Conrad reinforces the notion that this journey down the Congo is one purely of the internal sense and never anything physical. This embarkment on the Nellie reinforces sublime nature through the notion that the sublime is “always internal [and] takes place within the spectator” (Fuery 150). Overall, Conrad uses Marlow atop the Nellie as a ship captain and Buddha, acting to sail the rest of the characters into his story and subsequently into a completely internal exploration of the sublime. Second, the Congo is portrayed initially as “a white patch for a boy to dream gloriously over” (Conrad 9), but is later morphed into “an immense snake uncoiled, with its head in the sea, its body at rest curving afar over a vast country, and its tail lost in the depths of the land” (Conrad 9). By noting that this snake “had charmed [him]” (Conrad 9), an experience is created for Marlow where he feels a delicate balance between the thrill of adventure and dark mystery surrounding this immense area. Relating to the example of the ocean, the initial experience that Marlow has with the Congo is given through a map, conveying solely the message of an innocent adventure, similar to the aesthetic beauty that the surface of the ocean holds. However, this spectator-like view of the Congo masks the dark reality of a deafeningly quiet jungle that forces visitors to look into the darkness of their souls, much like the mysterious dangers of what lies under the surface of the ocean. This contrast between the fierce spirit of adventure and mysterious disquietude creates a sublime experience for Marlow that essentially pulls him into the Congo. The sublime experience from the Nellie serves to pull the reader into Marlow’s story, while the Congo as a sublime experience enraptures Marlow, later enabling the start of a tenebrous adventure tale. It is the tandem of these two sublime experiences that inspires the initial unease that one feels when preparing to embark on this adventure both into the Congo and into their own souls.
Marlow and Kurtz both act to give deeper insight into each others characters, through the sharing of common moral understanding after experiencing Kurtz’s soul as the sublime. First, Kurtz’s character is forced to look within himself and be immersed in his dark soul. This sense of solitude results from the deafeningly quiet jungle “[whispering] to him things about himself which he did not know, things of which he had no conception till he took counsel with this great solitude” (Conrad 72), subsequently stripping Kurtz of the eloquence that draws humans to him so naturally. These layers of eloquence serve to immerse him naturally within society and to mask the dark intensity in his soul that would otherwise be seen as disquieting. As these layers are stripped away, Kurtz experiences a sublime sort of reflexivity, causing his soul to “ [look] within itself… [and go] mad” (Conrad 83), enabling him to break connections with the company and to pursue his own selfish desires. Through this sublime experience, Kurtz’s being is described as a “ soul that [knows] no restraint, no faith, and no fear, yet [struggles] blindly with itself” (Conrad 83). Within Kurtz, this lack of restraint serves to be the strongest of his emotions, finally being unveiled through the reflexivity he experiences through isolation. This is significant because Kurtz looking within his own soul, “his intelligence [being] perfectly clear—concentrated, it is true, upon himself with horrible intensity” (Conrad 83) cements his role as one that exceeds moral understanding. Second, Kurtz, essentially as a sublime experience, acts to convey the sublime to other characters in the story. To the Russian, “[Kurtz] has enlarged [his] mind.” (Conrad 67) as a result of being able to also look upon Kurtz as a sublime experience. It is the masking of Kurtz’s erratic ideas with eloquence that causes them to presented in an inspirational way. In comparison to the sublime, Kurtz’s eloquence presents the exterior beauty, while his deeper ideals cause the mystery and disquietude that contributes to Kurtz’s sublime existence. For the Russian, being around Kurtz is a sublime experience as he is able to immerse himself in the beauty that is Kurtz’s humanity as a well-rounded and eloquent ‘superhuman’, but also the danger that such a man with his dark morals brings, shown when Kurtz suddenly decides “he [wants] to shoot [the Russian]” (Conrad 70). This is significant because the Russian, having already beared witness to Kurtz as the sublime, is able to convey the remarkability of Kurtz to Marlow, ultimately urging Marlow into a position where he is able to fully experience Kurtz. By placing Kurtz at this paragonal standing, and eventually succumbing him to death, Marlow also experiences a Kurtz-esque reflexivity, morally separating him from the rest of society and rendering “his world… less secure and fixed” (Fuery 153). Once Marlow states that he believes “Mr. Kurtz is a remarkable man” (Conrad 77), he displays the mutual respect to the sublime he has experienced, causing him to be alienated from the rest of society. It is through his succumbing to Kurtz as the sublime that Marlow has been given the purpose to act as a narrative guide. What makes him such an effective guide in the story is his understanding of the wildness, pain, and sublime experiences that the Congo and Kurtz both offer. Kurtz and Marlow both act to give deeper insight and influence into each other’s characters ultimately creating the major sublime experience in Heart of Darkness.
Both Kurtz and Heart of Darkness are essentially portrayed as examples of the anamorphic sublime. The anamorphic aspect states that the sublime is only able to be experienced by obtaining a certain point of view. As one who has achieved this anamorphic point of view, Marlow acts as a guide to give insight into the moral rollercoaster that he encounters in the Congo, eventually leading into Kurtz’s character. First, by denying Kurtz a major narrative role, Conrad creates the notion that Kurtz is beyond moral understanding and that one must take a certain vantage point to gather insight into his character. Marlow’s job as a metaphorical ship captain differentiates him as one that is able to navigate Kurtz’s character to obtain these certain vantage points. Second, Kurtz is able “to hide in the magnificent folds of eloquence, the barren darkness of his heart” (Conrad 85) as a way to present his seemingly unethical ideas in influential ways. These folds of eloquence contribute to the beauteous aspect of the sublimity within Kurtz, and are also used to suppress the disquietude that his dangerous soul underneath brings. Similarly to the heart of darkness within Kurtz that merits the aspect of negative pleasure, Kurtz’s character, representing the complete embodiment of evil, is portrayed to be the book’s ultimate heart of darkness. The meaning behind Heart of Darkness itself is the presentation of negative pleasure, with Kurtz and the Congo as whirlwinds of moral confusion at its ‘heart’, all wrapped in the shell that is literary mastery. Thus, a paradox is created where Kurtz’s heart of darkness is the Congo, causing his sublime reflexivity, while the Congo’s heart of darkness, conversely, is Kurtz, portraying the embodiment of the jungle and all evil. This paradox is significant because Kurtz is essentially being portrayed as Heart of Darkness, creating a human vessel to illustrate the book’s messages of moral confusion. Through Marlow guidance, a vantage point is obtained where these moral messages are able to bloom out of Kurtz’s anamorphic soul into a realm that is understandable. The primary message of moral confusion that the book uses Kurtz to convey is that morality is solely a matter of perspective and that each person’s morals follow a pattern of anamorphosis when trying to be understood. Although one might question how this relates to the sublime, it is the transformation of the sublime experienced by Kurtz, harnessed by the book, and delivered to the reader that allows for a variety of moral outlooks when classifying what is right and wrong. What ultimately makes Heart of Darkness so appealing is the presence of the sublime through the utilization of a beautiful literary wildness to convey the disquietude found in disagreeable ethics. By writing with a sense of wildness, a sense of nature is induced that “excites the ideas of the sublime in its chaos or in its wildest and most irregular discourses” (Kant 84). Heart of Darkness is able to combine the sublime from characters, causing anamorphic morality, with the convoluted, primal writing style, representative of the jungle, ultimately rendering the book itself, sublime.
Overall, Conrad’s Heart of Darkness uses the sublime to prove the anamorphic nature of morality in characters, ultimately contributing to the overall appeal of the book as a sublime experience in itself. First, Marlow gives an introduction into the sublime by preparing both the reader and those on the Nellie for a dangerously beautiful journey into the Congo. Second, the tandem of characterization between Kurtz and Marlow helps to give insight into each other’s character and to prove morality exists relativistically within the heart of darkness. Third, Kurtz is essentially the embodiment of Heart of Darkness, offering the disquietude and morals beyond comprehension that in addition to the wildly beautiful literary style, creates the sublime in the book itself. Apart from creating a literary masterpiece, Heart of Darkness employs the sublime to offer the message of self reflection to humanity. It aims to hold a metaphorical mirror up to society, in hopes to inspire a Kurtz-like reflexivity. By doing this, Conrad conveys his encouragement towards humanity to resolve their own mistakes, especially to an era infested with moral issues such as global warming and political dispute. He cautions humanity away from walking down the same path as Kurtz, resulting in a life of greed without restraint. Ultimately, he wishes that the world will never experience “the horror, the horror” (Conrad 92).
Thought-provoking, challenging, engaging, and interesting are words that could be used to describe novels read as part of grade 10 academic English curriculum. Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness adopts this definition as is illustrated through the journey of Marlow, the protagonist in the novel, to eventually meet and ultimately interact with the remarkable Kurtz. Books such as Lord of the Flies demonstrate man’s inherent evil and innate desire for possessions, while novels such as To Kill A Mockingbird shows the prevalence of slavery and thirst of power throughout man’s history. Both are complex themes that warrant discussion and hopefully provoke thought while being the catalyst for class discussion. Heart Of Darkness embodies the maturity and complexity of the themes whilst including the mature stories of slavery, abuse, and thirst for power, all at a much higher standard with the inclusion of man’s greed, and colonialism. Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness illustrates the evils of colonialism which are still very much around today, as man exploits its natural resources in trade of the almighty dollar, whether that be poaching, clear-cut forestry, or open pit mining for gold in the Arctic. Grade 10 academic students should have to read this because the plots and themes of this novel are not investigated as a topic, or shown in other books in the grade 10 curriculum which could provide students with different outlooks. This type of novel could expose students’ minds to the types of events are happening around them in the World and open up room for discussion. The difficult nature of Heart of Darkness could improve their writing skills, vocabulary, ways of description, and understanding of figurative language. Heart of Darkness addresses complex themes such as man’s inherent greed, and man’s capacity for evil, letting students question, and contemplate human nature; finally, the plot of Heart Of Darkness is surrounded by the evils of colonialism and still reflective of events happening in modern society which need to be addressed.
In the grade 10 English curriculum, the books you read and analyze primarily take place in First World Countries such as the United States, and Rome, or in fictional settings such as Lord Of The Flies. Heart of Darkness takes place in Africa, more specifically Congo, a developing nation that is widely unexplored in the books existing in the grade 10 curriculum. Heart of Darkness, taking place in Africa, gives students insight into lesser familiar places, and it shows them real problems that still take place in modern-day society. It is important for people to know about the distinct issues facing developing nations such as the ones presented in Heart Of Darkness because it sheds light on issues that are rarely spoken about, and shows the students a new perspective on life and different cultures. Hopefully, this exposure might have them appreciate what they have been gifted with, and possibly inspire them to help others who may be less fortunate. Citizens of Ontario, and Canada, are unbelievably lucky to live where they do, students live life fairly stress-free, with a typical routine being to wake up, have breakfast, go to school, have some free time, eat, and repeat. It never crosses most kid’s minds to what problems go on in other countries, and no books within the grade 10 English curriculum expose them to it, this is a problem. Without exposure, companies will continue to profit from their devastating actions on developing countries, and as students, it is important for us to know about the struggles that children and the youth in developing nations may face. First World children might see how little our “issues” truly are, opening the student’s minds to what is going on around them, and hopefully, one day grow up to be the change in the World that they want to see.
Expanding your vocabulary, and perfecting your writing skills is an important part of grade 10 English curriculum; Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness accomplishes this by how it is written, both eloquently, but a little challenging at times. With the book’s advanced style of writing, and how descriptive the book is, it can advance the students’ capabilities of description and advance their knowledge of writing. A part of the English curriculum is being able to analyze, and decipher text, with Heart Of Darkness, is a novel with heavy metaphors, and figurative language throughout, it can help advance those certain reading skills a student must understand. There are numerous novels, and plays in the grade 10 curriculum, only in the curriculum partially for its eloquent, and more advanced style of writing such as To Kill A Mockingbird or any of Shakespeare’s plays, Heart Of Darkness falls in that category for its use of figurative languages, such as its metaphor of the Congo River itself being described as a snake. Marlow describes the river as a coiled snake ready to attack when least expected, being a metaphor for European colonialism and intrusion on the natives’ land, meaning eventually the “snake” will attack people trying to control it at any time. The novel suggests that the currents of the river seem to be constantly pushing people out of the heart of the Congo as in the novel it shows that the way there is slow, but the way back to the main civilization is fast. Analyzing the eloquence of his writing in the novel, most prominent are the quotes derived from, such as: ‘I’ve seen the devil of violence, and the devil of greed, and the devil of hot desire; but, by all the stars! these were strong, lusty, red-eyed devils, that swayed…” Can progress the student’s own writing style, and ways of description, but also make other readings such as Shakespeare become more effortless.
The themes presented in Heart Of Darkness are complex and have not been explored in any of the other novels in the grade 10 curriculum, analyzing, addressing, and exploring these complex themes can help them analyze themes in other novels, and also provoke students to contemplate human nature. “Leadership is a privilege to better the lives of others. It is not an opportunity to satisfy personal greed,” said Mwai Kibaki. This quote perfectly embodies one of the major underlying themes of Heart Of Darkness, that of man’s greed. Man’s greed is shown throughout of the entirety of the novel through the colonialism of Africa for their human, and natural resources, such as the stations dedicated to ivory collecting, and the enslavement of its native people. Man’s inherent evil is also a major theme of the novel, reminiscent of Lord Of The Flies, but shown in a more mature plot. Man’s inherent evil is seen through the colonialism of Africa, and also how Kurtz, once offered the ability to be followed by hundreds and worshipped as a God, he took the opportunity right away. The mad Kurtz went as far as ordering the natives to kill the rescue team sent after him as he did not want to leave, largely due to his position of a God. Kurtz was talked about as being a genius, wise, and remarkable, but the evil in all of us is represented through him and he went insane with the power presented to him. There are still some ideas presented in this novel that are illustrated in some other novels, but here are shown in a more shocking way compared to, for instance, slavery demonstrated in To Kill A Mockingbird. It demonstrates how race wars have always been a problem even on other continents. The analysis of the theme of the coexistence of good and evil in To Kill A Mockingbird and human nature in Twelfth Night, Heart of Darkness not only include these themes, it also expands on them in a more mature setting with human nature being the main idea of man’s greed, and man’s inherent evil. The coexistence of good and evil is represented by the relationship and differences between Kurtz, and Marlow; the agents collecting ivory, and the natives being used for profit and resources. Addressing these themes, and contemplating human nature can act as the catalyst for classroom discussions, and also help with the analyzing of other themes in novels.
“Greed is so destructive, it destroys everything,” said by Eartha Kitt. Man’s greed has always been a topic of discussion, with modern-day problems such as gold mining in the Arctic, and colonialism in developing nations. Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness addresses these complex issues in his novel that still have modern-day implications. Man’s greed was very visible when the oil fields in Kuwait were set on fire to stop American control over them during one of the many conflicts with the Middle East Persian Gulf War, causing heavy environmental damage. Open Pit Gold and Diamond mining in the Canadian Arctic has been one of the most recent examples of man’s greed destroying the environment. The huge machines that are brought in to dig down destroy the soil, ice, and leave giant chasms adjacent to an unpleasing mountain of soil and debris, all for the mighty dollar. This way of Arctic gold mining is reminiscent of the destruction of the land talked about in Heart Of Darkness when Marlow narrates the horrors he saw of the agents firing bombs, and shells into the dense jungle to scare, control, and displace the native population. Colonialism is defined as “the policy or practice of acquiring full or partial political control over another country, occupying it with settlers, and exploiting it economically.” Which shows just how accurate the act of gold mining in the Arctic is to colonialism. It is interesting that colonialism was a major problem then (at the time the novel was published), and still is now in modern society with there being many examples such as Cambridge Analytica. ‘This is a company that goes around the World and undermines civic institutions of, you know, countries that are struggling to develop those institutions,’ also ‘they are an example of what modern-day colonialism looks like. You have a wealthy company from a developed nation going into an economy or democracy that is still struggling to get, you know, its feet on the ground and taking advantage of that to profit from that,’ said a former employee of the company. The firm was exposed for boasting about their psychological manipulation and entrapment techniques, while they were working out of Kenya. The company created fake campaigns, and data to spread misinformation, influencing the vote of the Kenyan elections as technology is still new to them the spread of the misinformation was easy, influencing the voting for monetary purposes. Heart Of Darkness shows old ways of colonialism, it was much less hidden and was targeted at gathering natural resources, while modern-day colonialism is hidden in its tactics, and is in search of human resources, but both of types of colonialism are in search of all mighty dollar. Colonialism is just as much a problem in modern society, as it was back then, just because it is hidden it flies under the radar of the majority of people which is a problem. Modern-day colonialism should be talked about in all schools as the problem will continue to grow if there is no backlash against these companies for profiting off the backs of others or the environment.
In conclusion, Heart of Darkness should be included in the academic grade 10 curriculum because it is a well-written novel, using a very descriptive challenging form of writing, and shows issues that were as much of a problem back then, as it is now. Its plot will intrigue students to keep reading and create thought-provoking dialogue in class discussing a multitude of themes. Each student will certainly form their own perspective about the novel and the ideas presented. Although the novel is challenging, its quick pace and its relatively short length should inspire without seeming overwhelming.
Thought-provoking, challenging, engaging, and interesting are words that could be used to describe novels read as part of grade 10 academic English curriculum. Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness adopts this definition as is illustrated through the journey of Marlow, the protagonist in the novel, to eventually meet and ultimately interact with the remarkable Kurtz. Books such as Lord of the Flies demonstrate man’s inherent evil and innate desire for possessions, while novels such as To Kill A Mockingbird shows the prevalence of slavery and thirst of power throughout man’s history. Both are complex themes that warrant discussion and hopefully provoke thought while being the catalyst for class discussion. Heart Of Darkness embodies the maturity and complexity of the themes whilst including the mature stories of slavery, abuse, and thirst for power, all at a much higher standard with the inclusion of man’s greed, and colonialism. Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness illustrates the evils of colonialism which are still very much around today, as man exploits its natural resources in trade of the almighty dollar, whether that be poaching, clear-cut forestry, or open pit mining for gold in the Arctic. Grade 10 academic students should have to read this because the plots and themes of this novel are not investigated as a topic, or shown in other books in the grade 10 curriculum which could provide students with different outlooks. This type of novel could expose students’ minds to the types of events are happening around them in the World and open up room for discussion. The difficult nature of Heart of Darkness could improve their writing skills, vocabulary, ways of description, and understanding of figurative language. Heart of Darkness addresses complex themes such as man’s inherent greed, and man’s capacity for evil, letting students question, and contemplate human nature; finally, the plot of Heart Of Darkness is surrounded by the evils of colonialism and still reflective of events happening in modern society which need to be addressed.
In the grade 10 English curriculum, the books you read and analyze primarily take place in First World Countries such as the United States, and Rome, or in fictional settings such as Lord Of The Flies. Heart of Darkness takes place in Africa, more specifically Congo, a developing nation that is widely unexplored in the books existing in the grade 10 curriculum. Heart of Darkness, taking place in Africa, gives students insight into lesser familiar places, and it shows them real problems that still take place in modern-day society. It is important for people to know about the distinct issues facing developing nations such as the ones presented in Heart Of Darkness because it sheds light on issues that are rarely spoken about, and shows the students a new perspective on life and different cultures. Hopefully, this exposure might have them appreciate what they have been gifted with, and possibly inspire them to help others who may be less fortunate. Citizens of Ontario, and Canada, are unbelievably lucky to live where they do, students live life fairly stress-free, with a typical routine being to wake up, have breakfast, go to school, have some free time, eat, and repeat. It never crosses most kid’s minds to what problems go on in other countries, and no books within the grade 10 English curriculum expose them to it, this is a problem. Without exposure, companies will continue to profit from their devastating actions on developing countries, and as students, it is important for us to know about the struggles that children and the youth in developing nations may face. First World children might see how little our “issues” truly are, opening the student’s minds to what is going on around them, and hopefully, one day grow up to be the change in the World that they want to see.
Expanding your vocabulary, and perfecting your writing skills is an important part of grade 10 English curriculum; Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness accomplishes this by how it is written, both eloquently, but a little challenging at times. With the book’s advanced style of writing, and how descriptive the book is, it can advance the students’ capabilities of description and advance their knowledge of writing. A part of the English curriculum is being able to analyze, and decipher text, with Heart Of Darkness, is a novel with heavy metaphors, and figurative language throughout, it can help advance those certain reading skills a student must understand. There are numerous novels, and plays in the grade 10 curriculum, only in the curriculum partially for its eloquent, and more advanced style of writing such as To Kill A Mockingbird or any of Shakespeare’s plays, Heart Of Darkness falls in that category for its use of figurative languages, such as its metaphor of the Congo River itself being described as a snake. Marlow describes the river as a coiled snake ready to attack when least expected, being a metaphor for European colonialism and intrusion on the natives’ land, meaning eventually the “snake” will attack people trying to control it at any time. The novel suggests that the currents of the river seem to be constantly pushing people out of the heart of the Congo as in the novel it shows that the way there is slow, but the way back to the main civilization is fast. Analyzing the eloquence of his writing in the novel, most prominent are the quotes derived from, such as: ‘I’ve seen the devil of violence, and the devil of greed, and the devil of hot desire; but, by all the stars! these were strong, lusty, red-eyed devils, that swayed…” Can progress the student’s own writing style, and ways of description, but also make other readings such as Shakespeare become more effortless.
The themes presented in Heart Of Darkness are complex and have not been explored in any of the other novels in the grade 10 curriculum, analyzing, addressing, and exploring these complex themes can help them analyze themes in other novels, and also provoke students to contemplate human nature. “Leadership is a privilege to better the lives of others. It is not an opportunity to satisfy personal greed,” said Mwai Kibaki. This quote perfectly embodies one of the major underlying themes of Heart Of Darkness, that of man’s greed. Man’s greed is shown throughout of the entirety of the novel through the colonialism of Africa for their human, and natural resources, such as the stations dedicated to ivory collecting, and the enslavement of its native people. Man’s inherent evil is also a major theme of the novel, reminiscent of Lord Of The Flies, but shown in a more mature plot. Man’s inherent evil is seen through the colonialism of Africa, and also how Kurtz, once offered the ability to be followed by hundreds and worshipped as a God, he took the opportunity right away. The mad Kurtz went as far as ordering the natives to kill the rescue team sent after him as he did not want to leave, largely due to his position of a God. Kurtz was talked about as being a genius, wise, and remarkable, but the evil in all of us is represented through him and he went insane with the power presented to him. There are still some ideas presented in this novel that are illustrated in some other novels, but here are shown in a more shocking way compared to, for instance, slavery demonstrated in To Kill A Mockingbird. It demonstrates how race wars have always been a problem even on other continents. The analysis of the theme of the coexistence of good and evil in To Kill A Mockingbird and human nature in Twelfth Night, Heart of Darkness not only include these themes, it also expands on them in a more mature setting with human nature being the main idea of man’s greed, and man’s inherent evil. The coexistence of good and evil is represented by the relationship and differences between Kurtz, and Marlow; the agents collecting ivory, and the natives being used for profit and resources. Addressing these themes, and contemplating human nature can act as the catalyst for classroom discussions, and also help with the analyzing of other themes in novels.
“Greed is so destructive, it destroys everything,” said by Eartha Kitt. Man’s greed has always been a topic of discussion, with modern-day problems such as gold mining in the Arctic, and colonialism in developing nations. Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness addresses these complex issues in his novel that still have modern-day implications. Man’s greed was very visible when the oil fields in Kuwait were set on fire to stop American control over them during one of the many conflicts with the Middle East Persian Gulf War, causing heavy environmental damage. Open Pit Gold and Diamond mining in the Canadian Arctic has been one of the most recent examples of man’s greed destroying the environment. The huge machines that are brought in to dig down destroy the soil, ice, and leave giant chasms adjacent to an unpleasing mountain of soil and debris, all for the mighty dollar. This way of Arctic gold mining is reminiscent of the destruction of the land talked about in Heart Of Darkness when Marlow narrates the horrors he saw of the agents firing bombs, and shells into the dense jungle to scare, control, and displace the native population. Colonialism is defined as “the policy or practice of acquiring full or partial political control over another country, occupying it with settlers, and exploiting it economically.” Which shows just how accurate the act of gold mining in the Arctic is to colonialism. It is interesting that colonialism was a major problem then (at the time the novel was published), and still is now in modern society with there being many examples such as Cambridge Analytica. ‘This is a company that goes around the World and undermines civic institutions of, you know, countries that are struggling to develop those institutions,’ also ‘they are an example of what modern-day colonialism looks like. You have a wealthy company from a developed nation going into an economy or democracy that is still struggling to get, you know, its feet on the ground and taking advantage of that to profit from that,’ said a former employee of the company. The firm was exposed for boasting about their psychological manipulation and entrapment techniques, while they were working out of Kenya. The company created fake campaigns, and data to spread misinformation, influencing the vote of the Kenyan elections as technology is still new to them the spread of the misinformation was easy, influencing the voting for monetary purposes. Heart Of Darkness shows old ways of colonialism, it was much less hidden and was targeted at gathering natural resources, while modern-day colonialism is hidden in its tactics, and is in search of human resources, but both of types of colonialism are in search of all mighty dollar. Colonialism is just as much a problem in modern society, as it was back then, just because it is hidden it flies under the radar of the majority of people which is a problem. Modern-day colonialism should be talked about in all schools as the problem will continue to grow if there is no backlash against these companies for profiting off the backs of others or the environment.
In conclusion, Heart of Darkness should be included in the academic grade 10 curriculum because it is a well-written novel, using a very descriptive challenging form of writing, and shows issues that were as much of a problem back then, as it is now. Its plot will intrigue students to keep reading and create thought-provoking dialogue in class discussing a multitude of themes. Each student will certainly form their own perspective about the novel and the ideas presented. Although the novel is challenging, its quick pace and its relatively short length should inspire without seeming overwhelming.
Ceremony by Leslie Marmon Silko and Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad are two creative works of art, written in very different contexts but with a similar aim of reconciling collective beliefs to individual beliefs.
Their styles, the use of characters and writing techniques are different, but they both aim at bringing harmony to the apparently complex plots. They successfully do so as they take analogies of undertaking a journey, from the beginning, the rise of conflict and in finding a resolution.
Personal Experiences of Marlow and Tayo in the Heart of Darkness and Ceremony Respectively
In both novels, the writers use fiction in an attempt to bring their own personal experience to paper. The key concern in both has to do with bridging between traditional values and the ideals of modernism. Conrad, when he was serving as a steamboat commander in Congo, was open to brutality of Western world.
He relates his own experience to his main character, a protagonist in relation to the antagonist characters like Kurtz or the general manager. Leslie Marmon Silko uses her personal experience as a Native American in the Ceremony.
The Native American culture is passed on through a profoundly communal process of storytelling from Tayo’s grandmother, who on sensing the hopelessness in her grandchild, invites the medicine man, Ku’oosh to perform a traditional ritual on him.
For reconciliation to occur Tayo has to make difficult choices. He heads to the mountain in search of his Uncle Josiah’s lost cattle, which symbolize a new way of life.
During this journey he meets Ts’eh Montano, a woman his spirit is rejuvenated as she who begins to teach him Native American old traditions. Silko bases her work on traditional Native American stories, using narrative techniques that emphasize Tayo’s individual belief in relation to their communal aspects.
In both stories, the protagonists are in a journey (Silko, 87). Marlow in Heart of Darkness explores the uncharted journey to Congo, Africa. Poignantly, in Congo, he realizes that, the uncivilized Natives, perhaps, have more common sense than the Europeans who came to enlighten them.
It is only when he understands the need for balancing moderation between assimilation of western ideologies, and native beliefs that a resolution is reached.
The Departure, Initiation, Return stages Illustrated in the Two Novels
Tayo in the Ceremony attempts to reconcile his people’s traditions healing ceremonies to cure the new modern illnesses. This is evidenced by a traumatized Native American, from the Laguna Pueblo because of his unstable upbringing and experiences during World War
II. Further the trauma, is surged because of brawls insinuated by his childhood pals; Leroy, Harley, Emo and Pinkie, who also participated in the war, hence, leading to self-medicating. This situation gives them a temporal solution. On the contrary, Marlow puts himself in the position of an observer who sees the brutality of the white colonialist towards the natives.
Tayo, who participates in the ceremony and has to undergo his people’s ritual to redeem them either from the drought or from the oppression. This is evident with characters acting as the protagonist in both novels to contrast their own beliefs and the reality.
In the Heart of Darkness, Conrad embraces Marlow, whose preliminary objective is to locate Kurtz, who feels they have a common passion for the wilderness (89). As the story proceeds, it is ostensible that Kurtz is frenzied in this wilderness, which hints to his own end.
The general manager, although he has great devotion to the natives but in real sense concerned more about his own success. The brick maker cannot make the bricks because he supposedly has no material. Overall, Kurtz symbolizes how Europeans when they began to realize their harm to Africa. Kurtz relationship with the mistress the passion for Africa by whites which is only temporary.
His terminal illness is a representation of the eventual death of imperialism as they are unable to adapt or respect the existing African culture (Conrad, 90).
In the end, Marlow tells kurtz intended that his last words were her name this is symbolic of the imperialist noble act to explore and try to do good in her honor and to African continent respectively. Unlike in ceremony Tayo’s friends are in admiration of the oppressive white society for giving them the opportunity to fight in the war.
In the Ceremony, the protagonist is continually saddened, by how his childhood friends Harley, Leroy, Emo, and Pinkie spend most of their time drinking and in reminiscing about how much they felt respected in their soldier uniforms great during the war. For Tayo, this is an indication of negative bias the Native Americans experiences by the whites, whom, paradoxically they seem to esteem.
As Tayo’s journey unfolds, we are met with the story of an individual, which interweaves that of his entire community. The Native Americans culture and beliefs are portrayed as wonderful and worthy assimilating and be adopt in a white society.
The “Master of the Two Worlds”
Silko (74) illustrate that Tayo feels nausea, and vomits before Ku’oosh leaves in the ceremony, and Ku’oosh recognizes that he has no powers to cure him. The healing cannot happen because, “Some phenomenon cannot be cured like we used to since the white people came”(109).
In The Heart of Darkness, the inherent succeeds to endure the repetitive efforts of initial white subjugators, to rescind their traditional way of life, they become stronger in sustaining the conditions that loom their values, unlike before. In both novels, the protagonist, have to be removed from a state of comfort and undergo through continuous opposing forces to reach a resolution.
The plot is carefully developed by Silko such that in Tayo embarking on a journey full of personal ceremonies to bridge Native American traditions and those of the westerners. Conversely, Conrad embraces Marlow as an arbitrator between the two extreme of Kurtz and the Company
This moderation as the protagonist allows the reader to identify with him. In the end, the writer resolution is effective in reconciling Marlow, uncorrupt white who is open minded and sensitive and does not become indoctrinated to the materialistic ideals of the imperialists.
Kutz’s last words, “horror ,horror” show that his struggle between his evil tendencies and his conscience as expressed by Marlow to his intended who is a symbol of good is unable to corrupt that by rendering kurtz’ words. Oddly, it is through death that Kurtz turns to the world he had been so isolated.
However, through this isolation, he seeks Marlow for the preservation of his legacy. Both Marlow and Tayo’s disillusionment begin very early. Marlow’s disillusionment starts when he arrives on the shores of Africa (Conrad, 9). What he had expected he does not get, the atmosphere and the people has changed.
The black people he had once viewed as savages seem to make more sense that the supposed civilized white people. Tayo’s has to experience separation just like Marlow; he has to leave the very circumstance of his experiences and upbringing.
His words are formed with invisible tongue as the army physician tells him; the continued drought situation and other challenges create the need to find a solution. The climax is where the ceremony with Betonie cannot be completed.
He has to go to the mountain where he meets Ts’eh Montano, the spirit woman who he is aware at last that she has always loved him and his people. Tayo bridges the distance between the collective beliefs of his people and his own isolated consciousness because he has loved the Spirit Woman who brings all things into being.
Tayo challenges the American ideal of bravery to include an emotional awakening, “He cried finally seeing the pattern, the way all the stories fit together-the old stories, the war stories, and their stories to become the story that was still being told” (Silko, 246).
When he returns from the mountain even His own grandmother admits that that he is no longer special but has been integrated into the of Laguna way of life. She comments: “these happenings do not excite me anymore “(Silko, 260). Perhaps she is also implying the successful merging of the two worlds.
In both novels, the writers have been successful in their use of creative writing in a build- up of conflict to achieve very conclusive resolutions. Their differences in character and style of writing can be the ultimate achievement in reconciling the conflict of different worlds into one.
Works Cited
Conrad Joseph. Heart of Darkness. Oxford: Bibliolis Books, 2010
Silko Marmon Leslie. Ceremony. New York: New American Library, 1978
Plot, theme, setting, characters, symbolism and point of view are the fundamental components that comprise most literary genres. Characters, plot, setting, and dialogue aid in moving the story along. One, two, or all of these mechanisms combined explains the fundamental premise or theme of the work.
Symbolism is a conglomeration of symbols used to explain and/or embody an idea. This idea is usually the theme of the work – in essence the author’s particular commentary on something. Its vital role lies in its dual nature/purpose – it links all the components under the surface to the external action which in turn helps explain the theme.
Through allegory, metaphors, etc. the symbols represent something in addition to its literal connotation. An excellent example of symbolism and its correlation to theme is Joseph Conrad’s thought provoking novella, The Heart of Darkness – an expose on human savagery via imperialism. A part of the Western Canon, the novella was published in1902. Since the dawn of time, human nature has without a doubt exuded a persistent vein of unwarranted violence and cruelty.
The array of violence permeating the earth has been and is committed by those in high places and amongst average/ everyday people. Compound with such violence is the menacing ethos of one man’s heaven is another man’s hell. Human savagery is equally as much a weapon of mass destruction. Literature, as does all aspects of society, examines this unsavory element in human nature.
Revered as one of the greatest English novelist of all times and a cornerstone to modernist literature, Joseph Conrad was a native of Poland. His distinct contribution was the development of a unique prose style with a non-English sense of tragedy.
The backdrop for most of his literary cadre was maritime or seaboard settings. Such settings allude to the autobiographical nature of his work – Conrad had been a member of the French and British Merchant Navy. The thematic core of his writings examined the trials and tribulations of the human spirit/soul in relation to duty and honor as well as the pervading affects of world empires.
Most importantly, such inner schisms are reflective of the novelist’s fight with his own emotional demons (depression, pessimism, self-doubt, etc.). Despite such emotional upheaval and excavation of the human soul, Conrad had an unwavering sense of moral judgment and justice as evidenced in The Heart of Darkness. Aforementioned, The Heart of Darkness explores the dehumanizing affects of imperialism – in this particular instance the horrific European colonization of the Belgian Congo.
The novella depicts a sojourn in the life Englishman Charles Marlow (Conrad’s alter ego). A narrative within a narrative, Marlowe recounts his physical and mental experience as a Captain on Congo steamship.
A myriad of symbolisms exist in the novella. The deepest and second largest river in the world, the Congo or Zaire River has been used as an allegoric symbol by many literary greats (Edgar Allen Poe, Langston Hughes, Vaschal Lindsay). In The Heart of Darkness, the river symbolizes Marlowe’s search for his soul or journey into his inner spirit. This journey can yield one’s true self identity, but often is not a pleasant experience.
Quest for self identity is an integral part of the human evolvement process which is indelible and universal. Sometimes such soul searching can be dark/cloudy/ muddy experience as inferred by the dark and wilderness nature of the River. Marlowe’s description of the river renders such interpretation as true.
“In and out of rivers, streams of death in life, whose banks were rotting into mud, whose waters, thickened with slime, invaded the contorted mangroves that seemed to writhe at us in the extremity of an impotent despair. Nowhere did we stop long enough to get a particularlised impression, but the general sense ofvague and oppressive wonder grew upon me. It was like a weary pilgrimage amongst hints for nightmares (Conrad).”
The river opens Marlowe’s eye to the cataclysmic evil man is capable of rendering. The further he travels the more the layers of his soul are shed.
The elephant is the largest of land animals on earth. With a life span of 50 to 70 years, they can weigh up 26,000 pounds and measure in height over six yards. They are known for their exceptional memory as well as wisdom/intelligence and considered an exotic emblem. Elephants represent mammoth power and strength – like imperialism. Indicative of colonization is the pillaging of resources and objects viewed as sacred. Ivory is the external dentition or upper incisors of an elephant.
Profoundly amazing, countless numbers of elephants have been slaughtered for these simple protruding ordinary upper teeth. Acquiring a symbol of wealth and lavishness was and is the impetus for such slaughter. Ivory is a major commodity in this novella characterizing greed and destructiveness to the point that humanness, morality, and civility is subjugated as referenced by Marlowe’s following observations.
“The word ‘ivory’ rang in the air, was whispered, was sighed. You would think they were praying to it. A taint of imbecile rapacity blew through it all, like a whiff from some corpse. By Jove! I’ve never seen anything so unreal in my life.
And outside, the silent wilderness surrounding this cleared speck on the earth struck me as something great and invincible, like evil or truth, waiting patiently for the passing away of this fantastic invasion…….Strings of dusty niggers with splay feet arrived and departed; … and in return came a precious trickle of ivory(Conrad).”
Ivory has become an idol, deified like a God, and acquiring at the expense of others no matter what the cost.
Light and dark, good and evil, black and white – a great deal has been attached to these words when it comes to justifying the subjugation of a people. Black, dark, and evil are synonymous attributing the traits of ignorance, death, negativity where as white, light, and good of course epitomize innocence, life, purity, or enlightenment.
Suppose these categories represented in essence the reverse – where innocence, good etc. was applied to black, etc. and evil and ignorance to white? Kurtz‘s Woman With the Torch, which hangs at the Central Station, paintings seems to infer this premise.
The painting depicts a blindfolded woman standing against a black background with a lighted torch. Women have always been idealized from the standpoint of purity and innocence with such attributes bringing solace to a gloomy world. Marlowe’s views support this premise.
“It’s queer how out of touch with truth women are. They live in a world of their own, and there had never been anything like it and never can be. It is too beautiful altogether, and if they were to set it up it would go to pieces before the first sunset. Some confounded fact we men have been living with consistently every since the day of creation would start up and knock the first thing over (Conrad).”
The woman in the painting personifies this image – to point of being unreal. Her flaw however, is that she is rendered blind via being blindfolded. What is she blind to? It has been suggested that the woman symbolizes a blind/uncivilized Europe coming to impose their domination/values/way of life (the torch) over the African Continent and its peoples.
History espouses that African and many other ancient countries (China, etc.) were in existence long before Europe. With these civilizations far more advanced how is it possible that they needed to be civilized? The painting depicts how arrogance and ignorance fuels imperialism and lays the foundation for a false sense of power.
Most importantly, as indicated by the blind fold, its blinds one from these ignoble traits and as well the perpetrated injustices. He seems to imply that it is not about color that deems one evil, good or bad, but rather what is in their hearts. In the end Marlowe finds truth in the darkness that had been covered up by white falsehood.
“True, by this time it was not a blank space any more…a place of darkness. But there was in it one river especially, a mighty big river… resembling an immense snake uncoiled, with its head in the sea, its body at rest curving afar over a vast country, and its tail lost in the depths of the land…the snake had charmed me (Conrad).”
Other significant images are the heads on sticks and the flies. The former represents barbaric nature of the so called civilized colonizer. By the time Marlowe comes in contact with this barbarianism, he has already seen a great deal. His only way to deal with the horror is via humor as he regards it as “no big deal (Conrad).” Death and decay has always been associated with flies as Satan who other name is Lord of the Flies
Via symbolism, the darkness as indicated by the title has a threefold nature with the colonization and the Congo wilderness representative of two. All of the negative connotations attributed to Africa as the Dark Continent and the people are vividly depicted. An intrinsic component of imperialism/colonization is culture clash – a clash between the colonized (Congolese) and the colonizer (British).
This clash is ubiquitous in The Heart of Darkness as well the role of individual conscience and duty/image. Marlow embodies the industrialized/ imperialistic West with its trappings of technological excellence, civic administration, and insatiable need to civilize the so called savages – the uncivilized.
The evilness of the colonizer spirit is embodied in Kurtz’s character, the enigmatic and rogue ivory collector. In this invincible clash – a mental quagmire throughout the novella – the reader witnesses Marlowe’s personal ethos at odds with his institutional persona as the novella progresses.
He becomes very sensitive to human suffering and savagery and learns the ultimate consequence of imperialism – destruction and evil. It subjugates all of humanity as Marlowe comes to realize. Following the expectations of others is not always good and being trapped to point that ones principles are compromised propels one into a hellish state. It is the worst kind of authoritative/imperialistic control.
The Heart of Darkness appears to be the vehicle Joseph Conrad uses to show disdain or utter contempt for imperialism. The acceptance/normalcy of inhumane acts and the manner in which they are carried out manifest how humans can be monsters. The Heart of Darkness is thought provocative and tragically relative today just as it was when published.
It serves as Joseph Conrad’s plea for the sanctity of humanity and the human experience on earth. Contributing to Conrad’s outstanding literary legacy, The Heart of Darkness transcends time and place as well as culture and will forever leave an indelible influence/impact on Western Literature.
Works Cited
Conrad, Joseph (1998-01-05). Heart of Darkness & Other Stories. Wordsworth Editions Ltd.
It is an embedded story of an adventurous Englishman who undertakes a journey into the primitive Cogan jungle to rescue a strangely successful Ivory merchant, Kurtz, from the dangers posed by the unknown African people, the greed of his Belgian colleagues, and his base instincts. Through the narrator, Charlie Marlow, Conrad challenges the rapacious Belgian imperialists, specifically King Leopold II’s company, who according to Conrad are destroying the Congo and its inhabitants in their desperate materialism and quest for ivory. Within the novel, Conrad presents the Belgium Company as destructive, greedy, and inept, and an ultimately immoral force.
In addition, he criticizes the leech-like nature of the Company employees who are essentially passive and do not contribute to the company. In the novel, however, it is possible to see, when reading through a Post-colonial lens, that Conrad presents the Africans as animalistic and inhuman as a means of garnering reader sympathy for their decay as a result of imperialism. Furthermore, the text-only exists within a masculine point of view; therefore the representation of the feminine is distorted. By assuming a feminist reading, it is apparent that women within the novel are presented as an inferior gender and are always defined in terms of their male counterparts. Each of the different reading practices produces its unique interpretations of the text, allowing different ideas to be extracted from the novel.
While adhering to the dominant reading of “Heart of Darkness”, the novel can be read as a criticism of the treatment of the natives by the Belgians. Through the narrator Marlow, Conrad reveals the plight of the Africans and their suffering due to the Belgian occupation of the Congo. Marlow remarks, “They were not enemies, they were not criminals”, highlighting the unjust way in which the Belgians enslaved the natives, exploiting them to drive their quest for ivory. In addition Conrad’s powerful description of the chain gang that Marlow witnesses engender a lot of sympathy towards the Africans:
“Black rags were wound round their loins, and short ends behind wagged to and fro like tails. I could see every rib, the joints of their limbs were like knots in a rope; each had an iron collar on his neck”
This potent imagery explicitly depicts the abuse of the natives and explores their degeneration and decay. The symbolism of the “tail” conjures animalistic ideas, suggesting that these people have been deprived of their humanity. Conrad also explores their decay as a result of the Belgians, “They were dying slowly… they were nothing earthly now”. Here Marlow discusses their slow decay as the imperialists destroy their culture and environment. The idea that they have an innate link with nature is also raised, suggesting that as the Belgians ravage the countryside, they are also ravaging the souls of the natives, who are “clinging to the earth”. Furthermore, Conrad discusses the way the Belgians impose their own culture upon the Africans. They are “fed on unfamiliar food”, which symbolizes the Belgians disregard for the native culture. Similarly, one of the natives has “a bit of white worsted round his neck”, which represents the European’s attempt to mold the Africans into their image, essentially denying their humanity. Marlow displays his sympathy by offering one of the Africans a biscuit, “I found nothing else to do but offer him one of my good Swede’s ship’s biscuits”. This signifies Marlow’s pity for the Africans, however, he is unable to do anything to change their situation, the most he can do is give them brief happiness. Within the novel, Marlow challenges imperialism which in his Victorian society was accepted as a necessary part of establishing an empire.
Although the dominant reading suggests Conrad is sympathetic towards the Africans, when reading Heart of Darkness through a post-colonial lens, and examining the representations of racial minorities Conrad can be viewed as a racist through his negative representations of the blacks. Post-colonial reading practice is grounded in colonial experiences outside of Europe and the consequences and impact of colonialism, revolving around the idea of “the other”, with a focus on racial representations. Throughout the novel Conrad’s representations of black are always incomplete and derogatory, compounded with his frequent use of synecdoche. Marlow refers to “black shadows”, “black shapes”, “moribund shapes” and “sunken eyes”.
These negatives images all dehumanize the Africans, as they are always described as something not completely human. Conrad’s constant use of synecdoche reinforces their subhuman status, as the act of reducing someone to a body part disembodies them and refuses their humanity. In addition, Conrad makes repeated references to their “blackness”, possibly revealing his internalization of Victorian racism. Conrad also makes several animalistic comparisons to the natives. He compares them to a “hyena prowling”, and “a dog in a parody of breeches”, which further reinforces Conrad’s adoption of his society’s inherent racism. While Conrad offers sympathy towards the Africans he never fully acknowledges their humanity, as they are always represented with shadowy or animalistic imagery.
“Heart of Darkness” presents Africa as the antithesis of Europe and therefore civilization, and therefore the Africans are subhuman, and the binary opposite of the European man. This idea of “the other” is very prominent in the novel, as seen through Conrad’s grotesque and animalist representations of the Africans and the image of the Congo as a dark, almost primordial landscape, “We were wanderers on a prehistoric earth… a whirl of black limbs, a mass of hands clapping, of feet stamping”. This intense imagery and use of synecdoche describe a very barbaric and primitive race of people. The idea of the black man being the binary opposite to the Europeans is highlighted, “We were… secretly appalled, as sane men would be before an enthusiastic outbreak in a madhouse”. This suggests that as insanity is the opposite of sanity, so are Europeans who are the opposite of Africans.
Therefore if the Africans are depicted as animalistic and barbarous, it follows that the Europeans must be civilized and cultured. Therefore when applying a resistant post-colonial criticism it can be concluded that Conrad is subscribing to the Victorian belief of the black man as “the other”, and thus “Heart of Darkness” can be interpreted as a racist text. This widely differs from the dominant reading in which Conrad can be seen as showing sympathy towards the Africans. Through Conrad’s characterization of the African woman, he portrays the darker, more sexual, and primitive aspect of femininity. Marlow describes her as a “wild and gorgeous apparition of a woman”, representing the feminine sexuality that invokes fear within Marlow. She is presented as the stereotypical evil and manipulating seductress, who exploits men’s desires leading them into corruption. She is also characterized as instinctual and ruled by her passions, “wild-eyed and magnificent… tenebrous and passionate soul”, which symbolizes the dark sexuality of the feminine. This idea of the feminine as evil is further established through the two secretaries who appear early in the novel. Marlow invokes very negative imagery to characterize these women, “One fat and the other slim”, “her dress was as plain as an umbrella-cover”, “had a wart on one cheek, and silver-rimmed spectacles hung on the tip of her nose”. The women are largely defined by their appearance and Marlow’s description invokes images of witches.
Similarly, the “black wool” symbolizes their alignment with the forces of evil. These, “witches” are the only women in the novel who do work, and thus they are the antithesis to the ideal image of “the Intended”. Therefore Conrad is subscribing to the traditional belief that women should remain domesticated and passive. Much like the Africans are demonized and presented as inferior to Europeans through their representations within Heart of Darkness so are women depicted as secondary to men. Both a post-colonialist and a feminist reading reveal the misrepresentation and discrimination of a social group. As a post-colonialist reading reveals inherent racism within the text, a feminist reading exposes the sexist nature of the novel, as Conrad has internalized the racist and sexist values of his Victorian society.
Although there is large evidence of sexism within the novel, it is possible to adopt a reading resisting the feminist reading. By examining the character of the African woman it is possible to interpret her as an empowerment of the feminine, a matriarchal leader. Marlow’s description suggests a raw and savage power, that she is almost an integral part of the jungle itself, “savage and superb”. Her abundance of extravagance jeweler supports this idea and suggests that she has a level of power and authority within her society, “She had brass leggings, brass wire gauntlets to the elbow, a crimson spot on her tawny cheek, innumerable necklaces of glass beads… charms, gifts of witch-men”. This fierce imagery suggests a warlike nature, the “leggings” and “gauntlets” suggest that she is outfitted for war, reinforcing her wild power. This idea counteracts the traditional feminist reading which maintains that the women in the novel are all disempowered. The apparent power of the African woman suggests that Conrad supported the empowerment of the feminine and recognized matriarchal power.
By its very nature Heart of Darkness is a largely ambiguous novel. Due to its fragmented narrative voice, it is possible to interpret it in many different ways. This can be achieved by adopting different reading practices or by subscribing to the dominant reading. When adhering to the dominant Heart of Darkness can be interpreted as a critique of Belgian imperialism while offering some sympathy towards the native Africans whose lives have been disrupted by the imperialists. However, if a reader was to adopt resistant reading practices, different interpretations of the novel are possible. For example, by adopting a post-colonialist reading and focusing on the representations of race, it is possible to interpret Heart of Darkness as an inherently racist text. Alternatively, by assuming a feminist reading lens and concentrating on the presentation of women, the derogatory and skewed representations of women are revealed.
Bloom in Ulysses
Close analysis of the role of women in Ulysses reveals something of a dichotomy. The aggressive, promiscuous Molly Bloom appears to represent Joyce’s delineation of a self-confident, uninhibited ‘new woman.’ In many respects, Joyce’s presentation of ‘woman’ is ahead of its time – Ulysses provoked outrage on its release for the frankness of Molly’s sexual thoughts in the final ‘Penelope’ episode. However, other readings draw attention to Joyce’s inability to truly understand the female psyche and criticize his depictions of women as flawed and unbalanced. This essay will outline and attempt to reconcile these conflicting observations, and examine the extent to which Joyce succeeds in celebrating females and femininity in Ulysses.
One of the most common criticisms leveled at Joyce is the two-dimensional nature of the women he writes about. Conrad’s female characters inevitably fit into the virgin/whore stereotypes originating in Catholicism, and this has become a widely accepted perspective. However, whilst the reader may notice such an inclination in Ulysses, Joyce neither condones ‘virgin’ as virtuous nor condemns ‘whore’ as shameful. If one compares how he mocks one must ask whether Joyce can be criticized for ‘classifying’ women in Ulysses. Indeed, such broad labels as ‘untouched virgin’ and ‘defiled prostitute’ may be unavoidable in a work in which the author attempts to uncover the deepest workings of the female psyche. Joyce wrote the Penelope episode not specifically to shock, but to illustrate his theory on the female thought process; based, on the theory of mind. However, it is hard to imagine today the disbelief with which many readers received Molly Bloom on the book’s publication. Indeed, the US Customs Office banned the book’s importation for fifteen years because it was obscene.
Joyce did aim to include a sense of dichotomy in Ulysses as far as its women are concerned, though it was that of ‘narcissistic virgin and phallic mother – between the untouchable and the experienced maternal female.’ Here we find two models into which the characters of Gerty and Molly fit far more readily. Indeed, after such consideration, labels such as ‘virgin’ and ‘whore’ become too blinkered and narrow-minded to encompass Joyce’s modernistic and radical notions of 20th-century sexuality and gender.
This virgin/mother contrast reveals the key difference in Joyce’s mind: sexual experience. As Joyce wrote, sexuality was considered an absolute taboo. Catholic Irish society at the turn of the century was based largely on the ‘cult of the virgin’ – women were permitted to be either the chaste virgin or the benevolent mother, society in both cases maintaining its sexually repressive stranglehold over women’s lives. It was Joyce’s Jesuit education that formed “the image of what he must leave behind.” The ‘benevolent mother’ can exist for Joyce, but only when imbued with Molly’s characteristics. The chaste virgin, however, is solely a source of ridicule for Joyce. His ‘new masculine woman’ is sexually liberated and socially independent.
Ulysses is certainly ahead of its time in its portrayal of male and female sexuality converging – Bloom as the ‘new womanly man’ and Molly as the insatiable ‘manly woman’ who ‘wouldn’t mind being a man and getting up on a lovely woman.’ Androgyny certainly has a strong foothold in Ulysses. Where Joyce may be deemed to have failed is in creating for the feminine Bloom a balanced foil in the masculine Molly. Whereas Bloom has been heralded as a model for the 20th-century man, Joyce is often criticized for his portrayal of Molly. Whereas Bloom appears as an ‘everyman’ figure, Robert Boyle points out those readers tend to ‘particularize Joyce’s male characters but to treat his females as universal figures of womanhood.’ Both Leopold and Molly can be viewed as simultaneously symbolic and convincingly realistic, but whilst Bloom’s character is written sympathetically and with something approaching compassion, Joyce’s tendency in writing his female characters is to generalize.
Despite this, there is much to suggest that Joyce intended as highly favorable an impression of Molly Bloom – and ‘woman’ in general – as could be conveyed by a male writer of his time. Indeed, basing Molly’s persona on Nora, whose mind and company he adored to the point of obsession, was perhaps the highest tribute he could do a character. Let us also remember that Ulysses’ narrative is set on the anniversary of James and Nora’s first promenade. There is little debate over Joyce’s actual intentions as far as ‘woman’ is concerned in Ulysses; he wrote Molly Bloom to rejoice in the differences between the sexes – not, as Florence Howe claims, as a means of “conceiving his power,” but rather to celebrate both male and female mentality and sexuality for their variety. However, in presenting a woman as an equal, Joyce appears to have undertaken a literary charge for which he was ill-equipped.
References
James Joyce, 1922; Ulysses, (Oxford: Oxford University Press).
Joseph Conrad (Author), 1990: Stanley Appelbaum (Editor) Heart of Darkness (Dover Thrift Editions)
The novel Heart of Darkness (1900) is one of the most unique and outstanding works based on philosophical and psychological interpretations, historical and sociological issues. Until the actual military conquest of most of Africa by Europeans, the continent’s populations, except in regions significantly influenced by intruders from Asia, were largely left free to shape their paths of development. Thesis The title of the novel reflects its main idea and perception of the African continent by Europeans, old prejudices, and bias against African populations.
The title Heart of Darkness has a symbolic meaning portraying history and rejection of African values and traditions. For most Europeans, the African continent was associated with slow economic growth and a low stage of social and cultural development. Because of the physical configuration of the continent, especially south of the extensive Sahara Desert, where good harbors were extremely rare, Africans remained for long periods isolated from the main centers of the evolution of modern world civilization. Conrad writes all that mysterious life of the wilderness that stirs in the forest, in the jungles, in the hearts of wild men” (Conrad).
Its inhabitants pioneered, again in eastern and southern Africa, the development and improvement of the increasingly complex implements that allowed early man to accomplish the initial mastery of his environment that was a necessary prelude to all later progress.
Culture and economic relations between tribes and African states were unknown for Europeans who perceive this land as underdeveloped and dangerous for a white man. With the appearance of a settled agricultural civilization, Africa began to lose its position at the forefront of the evolution of world civilization. The decline, however, was not immediate.
An integral part of the early progression was located along the narrow and fertile banks of the Nile River, where the early Egyptians, profiting from the annual deposits of fertile topsoil stemming from the Blue Nile’s course through the Ethiopian highlands, created one of the most highly developed of ancient civilizations. The symbolic meaning of the title can be explained as follow: “It was very quiet there. … Whether it meant war, peace, or prayer we could not tell. … We were wanderers on a prehistoric earth, on an earth that wore the aspect of an unknown planet” (Conrad).
The novel concentrates on one of the most unique African countries, Congo. Congo locates in the center of the continent and can be compared within the heart of Africa. “The vision seemed to enter the house with me – the stretcher, the phantom-bearers, the wild crowd of obedient worshippers, the gloom of the forests,… the beat of the drum, regular and muffled like the beating of a heart – the heart of a conquering darkness” (Conrad). Conrad underlines that most of Africa, therefore, underwent slow and measured evolution in isolation from the events occurring in the major centers of world civilization. Conrad is no nearer a central reality at the geographical heart of the darkness than he was when, proceeding down the coast, he was aware of a “general sense of vague and oppressive wonder” (Conrad).
Thus, Conrad states that Africans were never entirely cut off from many of the important steps in man’s progress taking place in areas outside the continent. Conrad underlines that there was a great difference between European countries and African states. The results of the Industrial Revolution made it almost inevitable that Europeans, growing in wealth and power from their increased store of knowledge and many technological innovations, would expand their presence into weaker regions. Conrad underlines that European man enters a world of danger and enticement, so he struggles to retain his morality. In Africa, these issues are more complicated, for here the possible moralities, the means of restraint, may be seen to be less available—as alternatives, unreal.
The title symbolizes another reality and the African world which differs greatly from European norms and cultural assumptions. Conrad says at one moment that it is in “work” that a man may “find” himself, his own “reality”; later, however, he appears to contradict himself and remarks, “When you have to attend to things of that sort, to the mere incidents of the surface, the reality—the reality, I tell you—fades. The inner truth is hidden—luckily, luckily. But I felt it all the same” (Conrad).
As these quotations indicate, Conrad uses the term “reality” in two ways: the primary reality is the suggested essence of the wilderness, the darkness that must remain hidden if a man is to survive morally, while the secondary reality is a figurative reality like work, an artificial reality by which the truly real is concealed or even replaced. And Marlow admits that this reality of the second sort is simply a deluding activity, a fictitious play over the surface of things.
Using the title Conrad shapes the story and underlines its unique meaning and interpretation. Conrad states that at certain moments men struggling with death and a wilderness can see any reality in a connection between moral “rights” and his experience; a man’s most severe challenges are necessarily encountered in an “atmosphere of tepid skepticism” (Conrad). Darkness means struggles with life and destiny. Darkness lies in “the amazing reality of its concealed life,” and although Conrad often asserts that he is penetrating “deeper and deeper into the heart of darkness,” in his insistence upon the vague and the paradoxical purpose of the wilderness remains always inscrutable. For Europeans, the African continent is perceived and understood as awesome, vague, and passive.
In sum, the title has a symbolic meaning reflecting European prejudices against the African continent, inability to understand and accept a black population. On the other hand, darkness is associated with the wildness of the land and the underdevelopment of the states. The title has both positive and negative meaning within the center of a man, of a wilderness and human experience itself. African populations are associated with “aloneness” or remoteness from the world there is revealed a general condition of human experience.
Works Cited
Conrad, J. Heart of Darkness. Prestwick House Inc, 2004.
Joseph Conrad, in his masterly novella The Heart of Darkness, uses all his potential in replicating the inner personal conflict between good and evil in every man transmitting this with existentialist issues of alienation, mystification, uncertainty, individual limit or surplus and ethics in general.
By reflecting the inner conflict of its main character that parallels the author in more than one way, Conrad achieves the captivating power of cautioning the individual against a life according to the basic impulses that would turn one mad and make face the existential crisis between good and evil. Similarly, the theme of darkness, as evident from the title of the work, in its spiritual sphere, underpins the merit of the novella. In effect, the work transforms our idea of good and evil or light and darkness – what seems to be good (light) is really evil (darkness) and vice versa.
The foremost theme of the novella, the existential conflict between good and evil is revealed to us through its major character Marlow who both complicated and philosophical. The physical journey that Marlow undertakes becomes a moral and spiritual journey of his life which confronts the questions of good and evil, light and dark, civilization and barbarism, and others which contradictory to each other.
All the narration of the story is directed towards the ultimate identification of these and Marlow’s character is vital in this effort. It is through Marlow’s character, actions, and dialogues that we, primarily, understand the major themes of the novel. However, the remarks by the other narrating voices and characters also direct towards the ultimate conclusion about the novella’s theme the character of Marlow.
The organization of the novella around the major event of Marlow’s journey is astonishing. All the events and the journey are directed towards the definitive realization of the nature of mind. The narrative style and the diction of the work confirm the theme of spiritual and moral darkness along of human mind.
The work is notable for its cyclical character in the geographical illustration, chronological arrangement, and narrative style. Beginning in the present time, i.e. the 1890s, the events take place through several years in the past, ultimately returning to the present. The arrangement geographical movements in the work also is in almost circle, beginning in Europe, moving through the African locality, and finally reaching back to the starting point. The narrative style, in different person, also has such a rounding structure.
Starting with an unnamed narrator the novel finds Marlow as its narrator who talks about his visits to a European city, later narrating the major part of the story and finally ends in a narration by the unnamed narrator. The major account of the work appear in the first person point of view which appeals to the reader. The account is that of an involved, all knowing first person which makes the work close to the heart of the readers.
The symbolic use of the title Heart of Darkness meaning the interiors of dark in human mind suggests the scope of the work in its deeper interpretations beyond the literal meaning. The fog referring to the darkness, literal journey through the jungle meaning the psychological journey through the interiors of mind and other such symbols enhances the beauty of Conrad’s craftsmanship.
Heart of Darkness is particularly appealing to the reader for its internal unities in time, action, and place. All the action of the story revolves round its major character and the action of the work centres mainly around his journey, life, and experience making it a complete whole. There is a fixed period in history as the time of action beyond which the work does not move and all these events happen centring the two main places of Europe and Africa. Therefore, the novella enjoys the classic unities of time, place, and action.
In a general appreciation of the work, one may find that Heart of Darkness portrays all the merits of a true craftsman creating his most loved piece of art with the clay of its plot, character, symbolism, point of view, tone, and structure all of which makes the masterly theme of darkness and its conflict with light. The theme of inner personal conflict between good and evil is reached at through the portrayal of different yet inter related events. No wonder, Conrad achieves the great fame of his literary career for this spectacular piece of art.
Heart of Darkness, a novel par excellence, was written by Joseph Conrad in 1902. It is a voyage through the murky essence of mankind. The story begins aboard a boat wedged on the river Thames due to an inundation, and is based on Charles Marlow’s (the main character) brief narration of his childhood and his stint as a river-boat captain in Africa. “Now when I was a little chap I had as passion for maps. I would look for hours at South America, or Africa, or Australia, and lose myself in all the glories of exploration…” said Marlow about his childhood. There were four other men on the boat but none was named by Conrad. As they waited for the tide to subside, the change in the skyline from bright to gloomy corresponds the storyline. Basically, Heart of Darkness explores the murky Congo wasteland, the brutal conduct of the Belgians towards the natives of Africa and the obscurity of human beings.
According to the story, Marlow was employed by a company to transport ivory and to stealthily sneak out Kurtz, another ivory trader. Kurtz, by virtue of his management tactics, was able to earn a reputation and had collected huge quantities of ivory. During his stay in Africa, Kurtz gradually got inclined towards corruption and made himself a demigod. The boss of the company felt threatened by Kurtz’s existence and wanted to collapse his reputation. So Marlow was entrusted the job of bringing back Kurtz.
Marlow was not happy with his fellow white workers because they considered him as being trivial and deceitful. In the course of his assignment, Marlow reached the Central Trading Station that was managed by a manager who has been depicted as nasty and malevolent. Marlow’s suspicion on the manager was augmented when one day he found that his ship had sunk. He was sure that the manager had something to do with it. Poor Marlow had to toil and wait for a couple of months to get his ship repaired. It seems Kurtz was ill and this was one of the reasons for the delay because Marlow had to take him along. This was the period when Marlow came to understand that the manager was deadly against Kurtz and wanted to get rid of him. But the show must go on. That’s what Marlow thought and he set out on a tedious voyage along with the manager, some white negotiators and a crew of black cannibal tribesmen. “Going up that river was like travelling back to the earliest beginnings of the world, when vegetation rioted on the earth and the big trees were kings…” While on their way up river, they fell into a trap. For the need of fire wood, they stopped to collect some that was laid on the river bank with a note, “When deciphered it said: ‘Wood for you. Hurry up. Approach cautiously’”. As soon as they resumed sail, the ship was surrounded by a thick fog and was trounced by a gang of concealed inhabitants, who shot arrows from the forest. Marlow was saddened by the death of one of the crew members (black) in the encounter. By now, he was sure that the same inhabitants might have killed Kurtz and his people as well. But his assumption was proved wrong when they reached Kurtz’s post, which seemed to be unscathed. A Russian greeted Marlow and his crew. He was a simple trader when he came in contact with Kurtz. Since then he became a sort of disciple. The Russian relieved Marlow by informing that everything was fine and under control. He, being honest and straightforward, acquainted Marlow with the fact that it was Kurtz who had ordered the attack on their ship. It was the Russian who had left the firewood near the river bank. As per the Russian’s statement, Kurtz stooped to this mean act because he was afraid of being taken back.
Since Kurtz was feeble and weak due to his illness, Marlow and his men helped him board the ship. Mission accomplished, Marlow and his men set sail. Although Marlow was not impressed by the way Kurtz dealt with people, yet keeping in mind his reputation, he lodged him in his pilot house. During their return voyage, Kurtz was doubtful about the manager’s intentions. So he handed over some important documents and a photograph to Marlow. “One morning he gave me a packet of papers and a photograph – the lot tied together with a shoe-string. ‘Keep this for me,’ he said. ‘This noxious fool’ (meaning the manager) ‘is capable of prying into my boxes when I am not looking’”. The photograph, as per Kurtz, was of “his intended”. Then the night of death (Kurtz’s) arrived. Marlow was with Kurtz when he spoke his last words, “The horror! The horror!” These words can be interpreted in different ways. But Marlow thought that these words were of Kurtz’s remorseful soul, repenting for his iniquitous deeds.
Marlow didn’t intend to break the news of Kurtz’s demise instantly but the manager’s child servant, who had been a veiled spectator, disdainfully told all the crew members about the incident. “Mistah Kurtz – he dead.”
After reaching Europe and after a year of confrontation with people in quest of Kurtz’s stuff and beliefs, Marlow went to meet Kurtz’s fiancée. When he saw her mournful state, instead of telling her the truth, he told her that Kurtz died uttering her name. “The last word he pronounced was – your name.”
The story concludes here and by now it was totally dark on the Thames which gave an impression that it was leading into a heart filled with enormous gloom.