A Voyage into Wickedness
The Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad, gives an inside view of malevolent violence and corruption of men and empire during the age of imperialism. The phrase “the empire in which the sun never sets” can be directly applied to the Belgian empire during this time period. With colonies in Africa along with the rest of the world, part of the Belgian empire still sees light no matter the time. This is statement ironically reflects the title The Heart of Darkness both symbolically and literally where the progressively further Marlow and his crew get down the river towards the inner station the more malicious and dark some become. There are many interpretations into which the title The Heart of Darkness may mean with this
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This being that Kurtz has lost all of his human capital, all his reputation that he had earned in Europe which has been replaced with this empty evil that consumes him in Africa which he does not realize until his death. “I saw on that ivory face the expression of sombre pride, of ruthless power, of craven terror -- of an intense and hopeless despair. Did he live his life again in every detail of desire, temptation, and surrender during that supreme moment of complete knowledge? He cried in a whisper at some image, at some vision -- he cried out twice, a cry that was no more than a breath: “The horror! The horror!” (Conrad 69). Kurtz’s death can also be shown both symbolically and literally through his leave from Africa. As the Steamer carries Kurtz farther and farther away from the central station where he built his tyranny the more ill he becomes. As the evilness and darkness leaves him the more it kills him until it is gone and Kurtz finally comes to consciousness and realize what he has created and what has become of himself. Another interpretation of the Heart of Darkness is the inner station itself. Africa itself during the time was referred to as the “Dark Continent”. Majority of people did not know what resided in the “heart” of Africa. All the information was gathered by second hand reports, giving it a dark, eerie vibe. As the men traveled upriver the source which therefore, the inner station, could be perceived as the heart of the
Joseph Conrad's novel Heart of Darkness uses character development and character analysis to really tell the story of European colonization. Within Conrad's characters one can find both racist and colonialist views, and it is the opinion, and the interpretation of the reader which decides what Conrad is really trying to say in his work.
Authors, Coppola and Conrad, bring to the attention of their readers and viewers that imperialism brought out the savage and rebellious acts of one of their main characters. They developed the idea that the character Kurtz was not the great man he claimed to be in the upcoming of his accomplishments. His wealth and power over the natives led him into a hole of misery. Readers and the audience can interpret that he needed to escape, even though he was not mentally ready, and the only way out was death. The creation of this idea is seen in the plot of Heart of Darkness and the intense scenes of Apocalypse Now.
In both Heart of Darkness and Apocalypse Now, both authors develop the scene in order to highlight the evolution of Kurtz’s character. Each scene reflects similar themes of the animalistic nature brought out of man. Kurtz manifestation reflects the effects that temptations have upon us. In Heart of Darkness, the hunger for material wealth and the sacrifice of blood displays society’s imperial ideology. Conrad uses this scene to show the hidden evil within man, and creates a physical representation of the mental distortion caused by malicious acts. While Conrad indirectly voices the absurdity of war, Coppola uses Kurtz as an example of a soldier driven into insanity by war. Though Coppola fails to show the physical effect of insanity, the scene of darkness that engulfs him displays a similar effect.
Mr. Kurtz is a character in Konrad Korzenioski’s, a river captain in the Congo, scathing novel Heart of Darkness. Writing under his pen name Joseph Conrad, the main character Marlow journeys to a Congo post where he meeting Mr. Kurtz, a man who bears many similarities to agents of King Leopold’s II crimes. In the novel, the narrator encounters a fence displayed with shrunken African heads in front of the house of Mr. Kurtz. Horchschild states that this “Inner Station” that Marlow sees is based on Korzenioski’s encounter at the Congo port Stanley Falls. This is corroborated by the fact that George Washington Williams, a journalist who experienced Stanley Falls around the same time Korzenioski was said to be there. Both writers detail the atrocities
In dealing with Kurtz many questions became visible for an example towards the end of the book what did he mean by “the horror, the horror!” was he referring to what he witnessed and experienced while he was in command of his ivory station or was he talking about the civilization of Europe and how he did not wish to return? Perhaps he saw Europe as being his darkness and the Congo being his light or vice versa.
In Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness, Kurtz and the Council demonstrates natural human needs in order to survive and achieve personal desires. His dissolution and corruption take place as he travels deep within the Congo. His behaviour that lacks moral ethics is accepted by everyone in the Congo due to the severity of the area. Kurtz’ imperialistic actions of obsession with power and wealth, and his view of colonialism lead to his ultimate dissolution. He believes that his way of darkness is good, although it is the sole reason to his corruption.
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.
Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness has a symbolic meaning behind its title like many other great works of literature. The title can actually be interpreted in many different ways. One way the title can be looked at is that it portrays how Conrad viewed the continent of Africa. It might also represent entering into a more primitive society, witnessing humans transforming from civilized to savage. Perhaps the Heart of Darkness refers to the colonialism and imperialism that the Europeans were practicing at the turn of the 20th century.
Conrad introduces Kurtz as the archetypal European. French mother, English father, educated all over the continent- he’s strikingly average. By making him so normal Kurtz can serve as a model for all mankind- if it happened to this guy, who’s to say it couldn’t happen to anyone? At first Kurtz runs the inner station with common sense and justice (or what was considered justice during colonization), but before too long his character begins to spiral inward.
Civilization is not as advanced as first assumed. Joseph Conrad asserts this disheartening message in his novel, Heart of Darkness. The novel follows a European man reliving his journey to the Congo through story telling to his shipmates. Through Marlow’s journey, Conrad reveals the stark contrasts between European civilization and African savagery. Heart of Darkness explores the struggles of different societies with an intention to expose the weaknesses of a complicated imperialistic ideal.
Kurtz, a character to whom all of the rising action is dedicated in Heart of Darkness, has reason to have despair in the novella because of all he had done to the natives and because of his deceptive lifestyle. Kurtz stole from the natives often. He would find their hidden ivory and take it for the company. Kurtz stole not only their ivory, but also their worship and admiration. Kurtz was carried around on an improvised stretcher by the natives like a king, and when streams of natives surrounded the station, the Russian trader remarks that, “If he [Kurtz] does not say the right thing to them we are all done for” (III, p. 166). The Russian had apparently been at the mercy of a native tribe in a similar situation before, and has confidence in Kurtz
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.
In Joseph Conrad’s novel, Heart of Darkness, Mr. Kurtz’s true colors are exposed during his expedition to Africa. During the expedition, Mr. Kurtz was one of many men that fell victim to their own savage nature. Surprisingly, all that it took for him to go insane was a change in scenery and a different culture. Mr. Kurtz’s savage nature was hiding behind European society because he went crazy without the presence of European society. Mr. Kurtz eccentric behavior in Africa can be explained by the lack of pressure from society, in Africa, to behave appropriately.
An example of savagery is seen in Kurt. This can be observed when Marlow meets him for the first time and sees that Kurtz has become uncivilized and has been drawn into savagery by a dark, alienated jungle. Kurtz represents what every man will become if they are left alone without a protective or civilized environment. Finally, one of the last scenes from the book shows that Kurtz’s fate is absolute; Marlow says that “The wilderness…has taken him, loved him, embraced him, got into his veins, consumed his flesh, and sealed his soul to its own. ”(Conrad, 28).
In the book the heart of darkness by Joseph Conrad Mr. Kurtz last words were “ the horror, the horror”. There are many ways to look at what might have been going through his head or what would have been the vision he was experiencing as the book describes it. One way to look at it is that he is recollecting on the way he tried to bring civilization to Africa. Another opinion that is expressed is that he was looking back on what he did as to unintentionally becoming a savage. In all reality I think it was his looking back on what he set out to do and how he did it and where it got him and what he became. And the fact that the lack of society helped morph him into what he was trying to change.