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Heart of Darkness as a historical and philosophical novel
Heart of Darkness as a historical and philosophical novel
Heart of Darkness as a historical and philosophical novel
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Heart of Darkness and Facts Concerning the Late Arthur Jermyn and His Family
Knowledge Leading to Insanity in H.P. Lovecraft's "Facts Concerning the Late Arthur Jermyn and His Family" and the influence of Joseph Conrad's "Heart of Darkness"
"Science, alrady oppressive with its schocking revelations, will perhaps be the ultimate exterminator of our human species-if separate species we be-for its reserve of unguessed horrors could never be borne by mortal brains if loosed upon the world."
--H.P. Lovecraft, "Facts Concerning the Late Arthur Jermyn and His Family"
Both texts, "Heart of Darkness", and "Facts Concerning the Late Arthur Jermyn and His Family" are about the limits of the human mind. Some are able to contain powerful universal truths and some are not. Lovecraft, twenty-one years after the publication of "Heart of Darkness", uses it as a partial basis for the exploration of the dangers of Darwin on the human psyche. Therefore, I explore Conrad's imagery and ultimate purpose in order to show how it is repeated in Lovecraft's story.
European progression into Africa can be summarized as attempting to draw a straight line to the center. In "Heart of Darkness", Conrad gives two important descriptions of European exploration to support seeing it as a linear, penetrating movement. One is the importance of rivers in exploration, which I will discuss in more detail. The other is one of the European managers description of the ideal goal of the stations on the river: to each link up in a line and ferry civilization and goodness into Africa.
Turning to rivers, they appear first when Marlow is discussing the blank spots on the map. He says that these yellow spaces are filled...
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...s lineage back to its origin led Arthur Jermyn straight into death, just as extending the line of stations into the Congo led Kurtz into death. Twenty-one years after the publishing of "Heart of Darkness", its effect on the perception of Africa can be clearly seen. Lovecraft is an American commercial author, without the colonial perspective of a 19th century English author, so his appropriation of Conrad is based solely on the power of the text. Together, both stories make a very powerful statement on the true state of the average human being and what his or her mind might be capable of understanding.
Works Cited
Conrad, Joseph. Heart of Darkness. 1899
Lovecraft, Howard Phillip. "Facts Concerning the Late Arthur Jermyn and His Family." Dagon and Other Macabre Tales. Arkham House: Sauk City, WI. 1965. orig. pub. 1920. pp 73-83
Watts, Cedric. 'Heart of Darkness.' The Cambridge Companion to Joseph Conrad. Ed. J.H. Stape. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1996. 45-62.
Lovecraft, H.P.. “The Beast in the Cave.” The Transition of H.P. Lovecraft: The Road to
Heart of darkness is a book composed by Joseph Conrad This novel is about a journey in Congo is based on Conrad's experience of the Congo region of West Africa. Conrad was sent to Congo to rescue a company. The story is spoken in the words of Charlie Marlow in the time of imperialism the work itself as one criticizer puts it might most functionally be believed hyper-canonized. Countless forms of criticism have seized on the subject matter inside the book. Feminism, psycho-analytic, Marxism have all had things to say concerning the novel. It debates things such as imperialism, the psychology of Marlow and Kurtz, the act of women in the novel both factually and symbolically, all these subjects are vital cases in the novel. In this essay I am
Joseph Conrad: Heart of Darkness, A Case Study in Contemporary Criticism , ed. Ross C. Murfin. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1989.
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.
Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad is one of the most widely recognized and acclaimed novellas written. But with fame and recognition comes controversy, which is clearly demonstrated by the broad interpretations of the book. Many people believe Heart of Darkness is racist, while others believe the book is perfectly civil. Chinua Achebe, one of Africa's most renowned novelists, strongly believes that the book is dehumanizing and racist; I agree with him, to a certain extent. Three of the most prominent ways that Achebe discusses Conrad’s racism is by the way the African people are portrayed, the African culture, and the comparison of Europe to Africa.
* Conrad, Joseph. “Heart of Darkness” in The Norton Anthology of English Literature, M.H. Abrams, general editor. (London: W.W. Norton, 1962, 2000)
When read at face value, Joseph Conrad’s novella, Heart of Darkness, is a portrayal of white, imperial, oppression of the African natives of the Congo. However, when we view the writing through the lenses of psychoanalysis and feminism, a story focused on one character, Marlow, emerges. Each theory presents a new way of interpreting and understanding the character development and imagery within the story. Psychoanalysis provides a look into the mind and dreamlike setting of Marlow. Feminism examines the binary gender roles of the characters, Marlow and Kurtz. Both theories examine how these two characters are in some way the same person.
Where do dreams come from? What actually are dreams? Do they mean something that is related in our real lives? All these questions can be answered by learning about the history of dreams in various cultures throughout time.
The concepts of light and darkness have become synonymous with good and bad, especially in the realm of literature. Light is associated with Heaven, happiness and hope, while darkness symbolizes Hell, hatred and harm. In Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness however, these general conventions are broken in that light symbolizes a far more menacing evil than any form of darkness. While readers seek to view light in a positive way, Conrad’s progressive use of darker examples of light reflects the inner conflict and confusion of the novel’s protagonist, Marlow, and his continued search for light in the world.
Fielding discusses the work of the library with the work of M.R. James. Fielding highlights the manner in which the runes is passed from Karswell to his potential victims ‘establishes even more clearly the circulation of books as something to be afraid of, and in this tale the principle of the returning of texts acts as a kind of Gothic horror in itself’ (765). The circulation of books and, by association, knowledge invokes an explicit fear. In James’ work the runes used to attract the creature which kills the possessor, is circulated only through the victim accepting willingly (). Thus, the circulation, as Fielding notes, becomes something to fear as it passes not only knowledge but also the hidden danger of a monster that takes back the circulated knowledge.
Nearly a century after Conrad, psychologist Carl Jung toured Africa and expressed equally racist and eloquent ideas about it: “the journey from the heart of Africa became for me a kind of drama of the rebirth of light” (274). Likewise, Marlow experiences the dark continent and finds the darkness of the jungle to have a maddening effect on white Europeans, notably Fresleven and Kurtz. In this way, Heart of Darkness features the author’s own experiences: “he [Conrad] suffered psychological, spiritual, even metaphysical shock in the Congo, and his physical health was also damaged…” (Joseph Conrad). Still, the dark jungle burns bright with vitality “all that mysterious life of the wilderness that
The journey reveals the true evils of imperialism. Instead of bringing imperialization to Africa, the Europeans
Joseph Conrad’s novel Heart of Darkness, written in 1897, is one of the most renowned texts in the English canon of literature. With over a century’s worth of criticism, the novel is still praised in today’s society through its ability to capture and engage the reader’s minds and emotions. Many believe that what makes the novel so successful, and indeed where one should begin to attempt to understand Conrad’s novel, is the way it is written and the narrative itself. Through the rather modern technique of the frame narrator, the character of Charlie Marlow, and the impressionistic style of ambiguity in the novel, Conrad attempts to convey his experience of the colonisation of the Congo in a way that will most relate to, and most shock, his audience.
For thousands of years humans have experienced a phenomenon which we describe today as dreaming. It has puzzled and sparked interest to all whom experience it. For as long as people have been dreaming, there have been people trying to understand and interpret them. This research paper examines the causation and deeper meaning of dreams. It will compare and contrast the differentiating ideas on the subject by famous psychologists and also examine first-hand accounts from real individuals. The objective of paper is to shed some light on this complex and bizarre behavior.