Language is undoubtably one of mankind’s greatest inventions — a series of sounds and symbols that are capable of transferring thoughts from one mind to another. However, even language falters in the face of comprehensively communicating the human experience. Chronicling the journey of Charles Marlow, Heart of Darkness, authored by Joseph Conrad, explores both demonstratively and implicitly the inadequacy of language. The ambiguous nature of the novel has led many readers to try fruitlessly to bring its arguments into focus. His points really lie in the peripherals of the text, as part of the vagueness and misrepresentation of reality itself. By purposely being ambiguous, deceptive, and sometimes meaningless, Heart of Darkness ironically demonstrates language’s inability to convey truth and meaning and consequently its tendency to deceive.
Most noted for use of language in Heart of Darkness is Kurtz, whom Marlow regards as remarkable purely for his ability to speak eloquently. At one point in his journey, realizing Kurtz is likely to be dead, Marlow states: “I didn't say to myself, 'Now I will never see him,' or 'Now I will never shake him by the hand,' but, 'Now I will never hear him’” (Conrad 123). Yet when one consciously examines what Kurtz actually says in the novel, it becomes apparent that although his words sound artistic and profound, they are in reality incredibly ambiguous and devoid of meaning. It can be concluded that eloquence and delivery, rather than intrinsic value, fuelled the false grandiosity of Kurtz’s ideas. Nonetheless, those who do hear Kurtz speak overlook the emptiness of Kurtz’s words and are deceived by his eloquence — most notably the Russian trader, who claims Kurtz has “enlarged his mind” (123). Inca...
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...to remind us that the story at hand is understood through multiple levels, and given its medium, destined to be questionable in its integrity.
". . . No, it is impossible; it is impossible to convey the life-sensation of any given epoch of one's existence,—that which makes its truth, its meaning—its subtle and penetrating essence. It is impossible. We live, as we dream—alone. . .” (97) The novel’s ambiguous eloquence, meaningless words and deceptive realities reflect this impossibility that Conrad presents. Language, falling short of successfully conveying a truthful “life-sensation”, results in the realization that language is inherently unreal, and that true representation is an impossible paradox in itself — we can imagine it, but never bring it to life.
Works Cited
Conrad, Joseph. Heart of Darkness and The Secret Sharer. New York: Signet Classic, 1997. Print.
Watts, Cedric. 'Heart of Darkness.' The Cambridge Companion to Joseph Conrad. Ed. J.H. Stape. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1996. 45-62.
Heart of Darkness is a kind of little world unto itself. The reader of Conrad’s Heart of Darkness should take the time to consider this work from a psychological point of view. There are, after all, an awful lot of heads and skulls in the book, and Conrad goes out of his way to suggest that in some sense Marlow's journey is like a dream or a return to our primitive past--an exploration of the dark recesses of the human mind.
Conrad, Joseph. Heart of darkness and other tales. New York: Oxford University Press, 1998. Print.
In Heart of Darkness, Joseph Conrad presents the character of Kurtz as a man who is seen differently by all who know him depending on their individual experiences with him. His cousin knew him as a man with great musical talent, others knew him as a great leader, and his “Intended” fiance knew him as an admirable humanitarian; but all of these knew him to be a remarkable genius. When the narrator, Marlow, first hears of him, he is told that Kurtz is known as a great leader destined to hold high positions and fame. However, as he travels the river, he also learns that Kurtz has become insane during his time in the African jungle. After Marlow finally comes into contact with him, he discovers that Kurtz has become a god among the natives and has been brutally collecting the coveted ivory. Marlow finally convinces the deathly ill man to return to the ship where he finally dies. Upon his death, Kurtz’s facial expression causes Marlow to feel as though he may be seeing his entire life passing just before it ends; and finally, he murmurs his final words “The horror! The horror!” (Conrad, p. 64).
Many times, words by themselves do not convey an idea wholly or conceal it altogether. Instead, the voice carrying the words conveys the idea, lending shape and new meaning to the familiar syllables. Words resonate with prescribed meanings, whereas voice creates its own meaning and identity. In Conrad’s Heart of Darkness, voice comprises the primitive component of language, with words existing only as a secondary function of voice. Glimpsing a “primitive truth,” Kurtz’s voice and soul unite so that his knowledge speaks through his voice, rather than through his words. Alternately draining words of their meaning and filling them with new meaning, Kurtz’s voice contains the power to define his own words. Strip Kurtz of his common syllables, and what remains is a terse note in a margin of seventeen eloquent pages, a frightening voice shaped by unfamiliar words. Marlow first hears of Kurtz as a word repeatedly spoken by others. As Marlow navigates down the river, traveling farther from civilization, Kurtz’s voice amplifies, ultimately consuming the name and the man himself.
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.
In Joseph Conrad’s short story, “Heart of Darkness,” the narrator, Marlow language, and point of view to convey the conflicting emotions he has about Kurtz due to the image he fabricated Kurtz to be, and the reality of Kurtz. Marlow’s language throughout the piece reveals to the reader how he feels about Kurtz and how he perceives Kurtz’s actions. Marlow’s point of view also allows him to support both of his perceptions of Kurtz because he doesn’t see only bad or only good in
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.
His words are a trap that carries readers into the perception of the most complete darkness in a phonological cradle. The frame narration used by Conrad provides Marlow the chance to exit from the story and speak directly to his audience, and he often uses this occasion to remark, “No, it is impossible to convey the life-sensation of any given epoch of one’s existence,—that which makes its truth, its meaning—its subtle and penetrating essence. It is not possible to do that. We live, as we dream—alone” (Conrad, 130).
Without personal access to authors, readers are left to themselves to interpret literature. This can become challenging with more difficult texts, such as Joseph Conrad’s novella Heart of Darkness. Fortunately, literary audiences are not abandoned to flounder in pieces such as this; active readers may look through many different lenses to see possible meanings in a work. For example, Conrad’s Heart of Darkness may be deciphered with a post-colonial, feminist, or archetypal mindset, or analyzed with Freudian psycho-analytic theory. The latter two would effectively reveal the greater roles of Kurtz and Marlow as the id and the ego, respectively, and offer the opportunity to draw a conclusion about the work as a whole.
The book features many poetic passages such as the description of the Thames, the description of the city Marlow visits, and the description of Kurtz’s mistress as well as his wife. To give an example, Marlow says “the fact dazzling, to be seen, like foam on the depths of the sea, like a ripple on an unfathomable enigma” (Conrad, 23), describing his confusion on why the Africans did not mutiny his steamer. Conrad’s verbose use of language is shown by using two similes to describe Marlow’s confusion. High schoolers can learn from this verbosity as it gives them plenty of examples of literary techniques to observe. However, racism lurks in this poetic writing. Achebe believes that the writing helps delay the reader from seeing Conrad’s racism. As Achebe describes it, “their impact in reality engaged in inducing hypnotic stupor in his readers through a bombardment of emotive words and other forms of trickery” (Achebe, 1785). If high schoolers approach the book equipped with the assumption of its racism, they can see the whited sepulchre of Conrad’s poetic writing. It may be beautiful but in substance but also holds racist beliefs. Thus, high schoolers can learn the division between form and substance. Heart of Darkness should be taught to high schoolers as its language can improve their reading skills and it also can, as long as they are aware of its
Throughout Heart of Darkness, Joseph Conrad points to the hypocrisy and horrors associated with colonialism. The half-English, half-French Kurtz is the main vehicle used to convey his theme of European colonialism, as “all [of] Europe contributed to the making of Kurtz” (Conrad 164). It was Kurtz who goes to Africa for the "sake of loot, and thus becomes a great literary symbol for the decadence of colonialism" (Zins 63). With his help, Marlow dissects the reasoning behind colonialism, eventually seeing its evil nature.
From the very beginning of Heart of Darkness, Joseph Conrad traps us in a complex play of language, where eloquence is little more than a tool to obscure horrific moral shortcomings. Hazy, absurd descriptions, frame narratives, and a surreal sense of Saussurean structural linguistics create distance from an ever-elusive center, to show that language is incapable of adequately or directly revealing truth. Understanding instead occurs in the margins and along the edges of the narrative; the meaning of a story “is not inside like a kernel but outside, enveloping the tale which brought it out only as a glow brings out a haze” (105).
Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness is a great example of a Modernist novel because of its general obscurity. The language is thick and opaque. The novel is littered with words such as: inconceivable, inscrutable, gloom. Rather than defining characters in black and white terms, like good and bad, they entire novel is in different shades of gray. The unfolding of events takes the reader between many a foggy bank; the action in the book and not just the language echoes tones of gray.
Conrad, Joseph. Heart of Darkness 3rd ed. Ed. Robert Kimbrough. New York: Norton Critical, 1988.