Joseph Conrad's The Heart of Darkness is a dark and haunting tale about the search for a substantial and mysteriously powerful man named Mr. Kurtz. Heart of Darkness centers around Marlow, a sailor and also narrator of the novella. Throughout the work, Conrad uses an array of literary devices to suggest his style of writing.
The title of the work itself, The Heart of Darkness, is an example of the use of metaphor. Darkness is a significant part of the book's title conceptually. However, it is difficult to discern exactly what it might mean, given that absolutely everything in the book takes place in darkness. Africa, England, and Brussels are all described as gloomy and somehow dark, even if the sun is shining brightly. Darkness thus seems to operate metaphorically. In relation to the work, darkness is the inability to see, therefore describing human conditions as profound implications. Faiure to see another human being, means failure to understand.
Through the use of imagery, Conrad illustrates what he feels and leaves the reader in suspense. "In the offing the sea and the sky were welded together without a joint, and in the luminous space the tanned sails of the barges drifting up with the tide seemed to stand still in red clusters of canvas sharply peaked, with gleams of varnished sprits" (65). His choice of words paints a perfect picture in which it engages the reader into the work.
The use of simile, "It came at the end of his speeches like a seal applied on the words to make the meaning of the commonest phrase appear absolutely inscrutable," (89) is an example of how Conrad literally compares entities within the work to generate a general correlation of understanding .
As a way of placing emphasis on thos...
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...specifically. Darkness suggests the inability to see, but as a description of the human condition it has an intensified significance.
Examples of the motif of light and darkness creates an illusion for what is identified as darkness. An example of the contrast of light and darkness occurred at the river in the Congo. The "blind whiteness of the fog" metaphorically overshadows the vision of the men that were on the steamboat. The darkness in this connotation seems to disguise the darkness. The light doesn't seem to suggest that things are becoming more visual, but it discerns the impression of making a way for the dark to get darker.
The elements used in contrast of light and darkness mirrors the title of the novella, The Heart of Darkness. This only employs the understanding that what appears to be bright on the outside may have a heart of darkness interiorly.
imagery of darkness. It is interesting to note how the speaker distinguishes these details, yet in
the recurring theme of night and darkness is used to symbolize guilt and conscience such
In the novella Heart of Darkness, Joseph Conrad uses many literary devices to create, for his readers, a vivid picture of what his definition of light and darkness really is.
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.
Light and dark are two of the most common symbols used in literature. Darkness often references negative ideas such as evil or death, while light is used for more positive concepts like kindness or life. In “The Tragedy of Macbeth”, William Shakespeare uses the imagery of light and dark to help convey the themes of good and evil throughout the play. Ultimately revealing the nature of the actions of the characters and the intentions of the author.
...ists within every human soul. Conrad used the contrasting images of white and black to illustrate his view that evil exists within us all. Light, which relates to civilization and its practices, helps to control and hide the dark truth within us, but that black truth of human nature will always remain.
This story has a very dark mood and atmosphere in which it takes place. Hence, the title Heart of Darkness. This is shown in relation to how the story takes place during a dark time, when England was taking over places by force. In addition to this, the story mainly takes place in the dark jungle. It is said in the beginning of the book that many people’s adventures into the jungle don’t always work out for the better. The setting of this story in relation to where and when it takes place helps enhance the overall mood of being a dark story.
...o, while the novella’s archetypal structure glorifies Marlow’s domination of Kurtz. These two analyses taken together provide a much fuller and more comprehensive interpretation of the work. Conrad presents the idea that there is some darkness within each person. The darkness is is inherited and instinctual, but because it is natural does not make it right. He celebrates – and thereby almost advises – the turn from instinct. By telling Marlow’s tale, Joseph Conrad stresses to his audience the importance of self-knowledge and the unnecessity of instinct in civilization.
The novel, Heart of Darkness, by Joseph Conrad, is literally about Marlow’s journey into the Belgian Congo, but symbolically about the discovery of his heart and soul during his journey, only to find that it is consumed by darkness. He realizes that the man he admired and respected most, is really demonic and that he may be just like him. He is able to come to this realization however, before it takes the best of him.
Since symbolism first began to be used in the English language, Light has always represented a theme of hope and optimism. The phrase “Light at the end of the tunnel” best encompasses this, implying an opportunity or relief after difficulty or chaos. In the same way, Darkness has represented confusion or despair. James Joyce expands on the traditional connotations of Light and Darkness in his short story “Araby”. The narrative follows a young boy on his futile quest to find love with a girl much older than himself whom he hardly knows. Joyce uses Light to represent not only hope, but unrealistic idealism and illusion. In the same way, Darkness, in addition to despair, represents the reality and truth in the narrator's predicament. Joyce uses Light and Darkness as a symbol for the clash between fantasy and reality that takes place within the narrator.
A stylistic device utilized by Conrad throughout the novel is the highlighting of themes by setting certain symbolic elements in opposition to contrasting symbolic elements. In order to accomplish this, he relied heavily on metaphors. Metaphors only gain meaning, as they are associated in the reader's mind with images or ideas that are beyond the intrinsic meanings of the words themselves (Searl 1979). In reference to the title Heart of Darkness, Ian Watt said " . . . Both of Conrad's nouns are densely charged with physical and moral suggestions; freed from the restrictions of the article, they combine to generate a sense of puzzlement which prepares us for something beyond our usual expectations: if the words do not name what we know, they must be asking us to know what has, as yet, no name" (Watt 1963). Resonating throughout Heart of Darkness was the contrast between elements, which may be represented as being light, and elements, which may be characterized as being dark. Light carries with it the metaphorical meanings ...
Comparisons and contrasts are important devices which an author may use to help convey his thoughts and feelings about a situation or an event. Joseph Conrad makes use of these devices in his novel Heart of Darkness. Throughout the novel when he was trying to convey a deeper meaning about a situation or a place, he would us a comparison or contrast. The comparative and contrasting themes in the story help to develop Conrad's ideas and feelings in the Heart of Darkness. Light verses dark, the Thames verses the Congo, the Savages compared to the civilized people, and the darkness of both worlds are all contrasts and comparisons that are important to the meaning as well as the understanding of this novel.
Conrad's narrative frame also continues his experimentation with literary form in Modernist style. Two separate monologues are present throughout Heart of Darkness. The first part starts out with an unnamed narrator aboard the ship Nelly, describing to himself, as well as to the reader, those aboard the ship, particularly Marlow. At first, the narrator is not known for sure to be a character aboard the ship until a few paragraphs later identify him as a person observing the others-"Between us there was, as I have already said," (Conrad, Longman p.
As Marlow assists the reader in understanding the story he tells, many inversions and contrasts are utilized in order to increase apperception of the true meaning it holds. One of the most commonly occurring divergences is the un orthodox implications that light and dark embody. Conrad’s Heart of Darkness brims with paradoxes and symbolism throughout its entirety, with the intent of assisting the reader in comprehending the truth of not only human nature, but of the world.
Darkness can be thought of in a myriad of ways. One way to interpret is as a source of blindness. With darkness, there is no light, consequently providing the lack of sight. Another way to interpret darkness is that something that is hidden in the dark is mysterious, dangerous, and evil. The first reference to darkness can imply how one 's environment can blind them which causes them to lose their senses, be thrown into a state of confusion. In that state, they can be influenced or even just desire corrupt actions.