Heart Of Darkness Figurative Language Essay

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Recommended: Thematic significance of imagery used in the Heart of Darkness

Close Reading Assignment 1 – Heart of Darkness
Prompt: Explore the variety of figurative language and imagery Conrad uses to discuss a single concept in Heart of Darkness (empire, Africa, rivers, etc.). How does Conrad’s choice of figurative language and imagery affect the portrayal of that concept?
In the novella, The Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad, the use of the Congo River symbolizes abstract concepts such as the difficulty of the main character - Marlow’s journey to heart of Congo and the representation of the experiences of taking on the journey itself. The Congo River is crucial for Europeans, in this case the Company to travel to Africa, which is also known as the “dark” continent in the novella because it provides a way of transportation. …show more content…

Conrad attempts to compare the Congo river to “uncoiled snake” – “But there was in it one river especially, a mighty big river, that you could see on the map, resembling an immense snake uncoiled” (Conrad 06). This symbolizes the darkness and the uncertainty of the journey that awaits him in the future. This imagery created by the “uncoiled snake: depicts a very slithery journey that confirms it will be dangerous as well. In addition to this journey being dark and dangerous, it is also difficult. The River is very difficult to travel up due to its currents forcing the travelers – Marlow the opposite way. It’s almost as if that the current is the preliminary struggle to keep him out of the inside (of the Africa). Because of the slow progress in Marlow’s travels, the exhaustion of this trip foreshadows the ongoing struggle that Marlow will experience within the Congo itself. From the voyage, it is almost like the uncoiled snake is constructed in a downward spiral in representation of Marlow’s experience in this

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