In Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad, a sailor named Marlow explains a voyage he took up the Congo river and his fateful encounter with an ivory trader named Mr. Kurtz to four others. The story itself takes place in the late 1890s during a period of great turmoil between white people and those of color in both London and the Congo river; however, it also shows the turmoil and struggles that Marlow himself faces as well. As he explains his journey to find and meet Mr. Kurtz objects always pop up, hindering his expedition and making an already tiring experience even more troublesome. Although Marlow’s trip incessantly slows down due to various elements of setting, he continues to press onward towards the future that he desires; human beings also experience such difficulties and roadblocks that they must choose to either face …show more content…
The “blind whiteness of the fog” caused many doubts for both Marlow and those around him on his steamship (Conrad 63). It added another element of uncertainty and danger as to their exact direction and whether they would hit the rocky bank and sink or not. Some even began to lose hope, claiming that they would “all be butchered in [the] fog” (Conrad 59). Marlow, on the other hand, did not lose faith. Although he could not see in front of him, that did not mean nothing existed. Just like he would be unable to see his hand if he held it before his face, he could not see Kurtz, but he knew that both his hand and Mr. Kurtz were there. The idea of “getting lost in [fog]” frightens many, but rather than senseless worrying, Marlow had faith that they would prevail (Conrad 64). The setting of fog enveloping him did not cause him to waver, and he ventured onwards towards Mr. Kurtz. Human beings must also not blind themselves with such things and continue onward rather than worry about meaninglessness that will not
Marlow tells of a vision that he has on his way into seeing the intended. He says that he saw Kurtz on the stretcher opening his mouth voraciously as if to devour all of the earth with all its mankind2 and that he had seen. Kurtz as 3a shadow insatiable of splendid appearances, of frightful. realities, a shadow darker than the shadow of night,(72). This is a a real and vivid description of his feelings for Kurtz.
Marlow’s journey into the Congo River is treacherous and unpredictable. Therefore, in a desperate need for civilization and escape from savagery, the boat serves as a sanctum from the natives, and becomes the link to moral civility. Throughout Marlow's voyage, he and his crew encounter mass amounts of fog. The fog symbolizes ambiguity in its most primal form, not only obscuring but it also distorts. The fog impares not just physical visibility, but which often ends up being wrong, which suggests that the fog has both literally and figuratively clouded Kurtz’s judgement. Marlow’s need to be on the boat, reflects the boat as a safe haven, a place where he can examine his own moral conscious more clearly. When his is not on the boat, he is less decisive and his judgement and moral compass are
Often in human history, suppression of a deemed inferior group leads to a convoluted struggle with perspective playing a central part. In Ralph Ellison’s novel Invisible Man, the unnamed character is a black man living in Jim Crow South. He has graduated from high school, but events transpire more and more chaotically as he is ignored and treated unfairly on his journey. Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad incorporates a European narrator called Marlow who ventures deeper into the Congo River in Africa with a Belgian ivory-trading firm at the peak of imperialism. Marlow searches for a venerable man named Kurtz who is the face of the company, and discovers more and more about the nature of European colonialism along his way. Both Invisible Man
A short novel centering around a multitude of esoteric themes and motifs, Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad details how an exploration and colonization expedition is the climactic turning point in a young sailor’s life. The protagonist Charlie Marlow takes an introspective journey as he remembers the horrors he witnessed while working for an English trading company. Though all the themes in the book are relevant in their own ways, the most prevalent is the presence of an intense darkness within the world. There are many types of darkness the main character describes, such as the physical blackness of the jungle, the helplessness of Kurtz in his final moments, and the darkness that Marlow sees everywhere he looks.
Conrad's racism is portrayed in the actions and perceptions of Marlow along his trip up the Congo. Marlow's views of the area during the beginning of the trip are given as inhumane, and uncivilized. The Heart of Darkness for Marlow is the ignorance and brutality that he witnesses from natives as well as Whites that are met upon his trip.
In Chinua Achebe’s novel Things Fall Apart the life of a man named Okonkwo and the tribe of Umuofia is depicted in three chapters which each represent a significant era in the tribe. In the first chapter, Achebe describes the life of the native African tribe before the coming of the white man. This chapter enables the reader to understand and respect the life of the Igbo. The second chapter describes the beginnings of colonialism and introduction of the white man. Suddenly, the Igbo way is questioned. The natives lives are turned upside down as they search for a way to understand the new religion and laws of the Europeans. The third chapter describes the effect of colonialism on the Igbo tribe. This section explores the many ways which the Igbo people try to adapt to the new society. From the suicide of Okonkwo to the abandonment by other tribe members, it becomes apparent how difficult it was for the African’s to adjust to the change. Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness tells of an English man named Marlow and his journey into the Congo and interest in a colonist named Kurtz. Marlow is the narrator of the novel. He describes the natives and the Europeans from a somewhat objective view. He finds colonialism questionable, but also cannot relate to the Africans. Kurtz is the antagonist who exploits the Africans to make money by selling ivory and subsequently goes insane. Both novels depict the colonization of Africa, but each has a markedly different perspective on the African’s lives which were irreparably altered when Europeans came to conquer their land and convert them to Christianity.
Heart of Darkness is Joseph Conrad's tale of one man's journey, both mental and physical, into the depths of the wild African jungle and the human soul. The seaman, Marlow, tells his crew a startling tale of a man named Kurtz and his expedition that culminates in his encounter with the "voice" of Kurtz and ultimately, Kurtz's demise. The passage from Part I of the novel consists of Marlow's initial encounter with the natives of this place of immense darkness, directly relating to Conrad's use of imagery and metaphor to illustrate to the reader the contrast between light and dark. The passage, although occurring earlier on in the novel, is interspersed with Marlow's two opposing points of view: one of naïveté, which comes before Marlow's eventual epiphany after having met Kurtz, and the matured perspective he takes on after all of the events leading up to his and Kurtz's encounter.
Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad is a novel about a man named Marlow and his journey into the depths of the African Congo. Marlow is in search of a man named Kurtz, an ivory trader. Though Marlow?s physical journey seems rather simple, it takes him further into his own heart and soul than into the Congo. The setting, symbols and characters each contain light and dark images, these images shape the central theme of the novel.
Marlow’s thoughts are so consumed by Kurtz, that he is built up to be much more of a man than he truly is. In turn, Marlow is setting himself up for a let down. He says at one point, “I seemed to see Kurtz for the first time...the lone white man turning his back suddenly on the headquarters, on relief, on thoughts of home...towards his empty and desolate station”(P.32). When Marlow reaches Kurtz’s station, he begins to become disillusioned. He begins to hear about, and even see, the acts that Kurtz is committing, and becomes afraid of him. He sees in Kurtz, what he could become, and wants nothing to do with it. He does not want people to know he has any type of relationship with him, and says in response to the Russian, “I suppose that it had not occurred to him that Mr. Kurtz was no idol of mine.” (P.59). It is at this point that he begins to discover the darkness in his heart.
The use of fog and other weather is significant in the novel Heart of Darkness, because it allowed author Joseph Conrad to use the impressionistic way of writing to cover up details and allow more imagination to the reader to discover what is happening. When Marlow is journeying through the jungle, he either seems distracted, which prohibits him from seeing the full view, or the weather is blocking the details of his surroundings. Marlow describes one moment as, The sun rising is supposed to help clear things up, but in this situation it only makes the fog even more prominent. He compares the fog to something solid that he can’t see past and can’t hear anything past either, also blinding the reader from everything outside of the trees. Another
Marlow is the raconteur of Heart of Darkness, and therefore is one of the more crucial characters within the plot. He embodies the willingness to be valiant, resilient, and gallant, while similarly seeming to be cautiously revolutionary. He is, seemingly the epitome of bravery, going into the jungle. Marlow’s voyage is, in essence, a “night journey into the unconscious, the confrontation with an entity within the self” (Guerard 38). The ominous coast is an allegory for the idea of the unconscious mind. “Watching a coast as it slips by the ship […] there it is before you—smiling, frowning, inviting, grand, mean, insipid, or savage, and always mute with an air of whispering” (1...
Heart of Darkness is told by Marlow, a contemplative sailor. Marlow begins his journey up the Congo River to meet Kurtz, a presumed prestigious leader. He is offered a job by the European government to work as a riverboat captain along the Congo River, watching over the waterways trade. Along the way, Marlow comes across many run down stations with hundreds of native slaves. The native people of the region have been forced to work, against their will, in the government bases. “The cruelty and squalor of imperial enterprise contrasts sharply with the impassive and majestic jungle that surrounds the white man’s settlements, making them appear to be tiny islands amidst a vast darkness.” (Spark, 2014) Marlow eventually arrives at the Central Station, where he meets many contemptible characters. He experiences many suspicious incidences including the sinking of his ship and hearing rumors of the infamous Kurtz. Kurtz is rumored to ...
In the 1900s novella Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad, the protagonist often encounters women at landmarks of his life. Charlie Marlow is a sailor and imperialist who sets out along the Congo River to “civilize” the “savages.” The novella begins with a crew on the Thames waiting for the tides to change. During their wait, a character named Marlow tells of his exploits on the African continent. In his recounted travels, Marlow meets other imperialists such as Mr. Kurtz, a man who is obsessed with the pursuit of ivory and riches. Like Mr. Kurtz, Marlow embarks across the African continent in hopes of earning both money and respect. One early critic of the novel, Edward Garnett, wrote in his review that “[Heart of Darkness] is simply a piece of art…the artist is intent on presenting his sensations in that sequence and arrangements whereby the meaning or meaninglessness of the white man in uncivilized Africa can be felt in its really significant aspects,” (Garnett). What Garnett fails to observe is that Heart of Darkness is not only an observation of “the white man,” but the white woman as well.
The imagery, like that of Marlow being able to “see the cage of [the native’s] ribs all astir; the bones of his arm waving”, does not reveal how Marlow reacts to such a traumatic sight and leaves readers to form their own opinions on both what Marlow thinks and their initial impressions (Conrad). Marlow’s actions are also questionable and lack the moral consequence assumed when pursuing an action, which demonstrates that for much of the novel, Marlow is untrustworthy and even fictitious at times, like, when he falsifies Kurtz’s last words “I was on the point of crying at her, ‘Don’t you hear them?’ The dusk was repeating them in a persistent whisper all around us, in a whisper that seemed to swell menacingly like the first whisper of a rising wind. ‘The horror! The horror!’ ‘His last word—to live with,’ she insisted. ‘Don’t you understand I loved him—I loved him—I loved him!’ ‘I pulled myself together and spoke slowly. ‘The last word he pronounced was—your name,’” (Conrad). By having an unreliable narrator, Conrad demonstrates that by using someone else’s impressions, we are not fully given a chance to understand for ourselves and can only do so when we are in complete isolation from Marlow’s own
This sight angers Marlow, and when he gets to Kurtz, it’s too late. Even he has been pulled in by the darkness. Conrad makes an effective distinction between Marlow and Kurtz.