Written in the midst of British Colonialism, notions of journeying and travel dominate Conrad’s Heart of Darkness and Rhys’s Wide Sargasso Sea. Indeed, the authors undergo personal journeys of displacement in stepping out of the comfort zones of Late Victorian literary convention to produce texts that can be seen as early Modernist. Conrad and Rhys explore various literary functions of journeys with differing emphasis and with varying success. Whilst journeys in literature can provide intense visual description of unknown lands and sustain an engaging pace, both authors go further in their innovative use of the journey to direct and aid narrative technique; Rhys’s changes in narrative perspective and crucially Conrad’s use of the frame narrative. …show more content…
Paula Anderson pinpoints Rhys’ success in this, saying ‘Rhys’s juxtaposition of the ‘stream of consciousness’’ of Rochester and Antoinette provides dualistic insight into male and female sensibility’. This is further prevalent in use of skilfully crafted conversation catered to the journey setting to sustain interest through elongated interior monologues. This can be seen in the honeymoon exchange; ‘ ‘The earth is red here, do you notice?’/ ‘its red in parts of England too’. / ’Oh England, England’ she called back mockingly, and the sound went on and on like a warning I did not choose to hear.’ The brief snatches of trivial dialogue interspersed with interior thought perfectly encapsulates the couple’s ambling pace, a transient moment of marital bliss. Whilst Rhys uses dialogue to sustain the journey narrative, like Conrad, she also uses cyclic repetition of image patterns. These give structure, pace and purpose to potentially monotonous journeys. In Wide Sargasso Sea these are primarily of fire and heat, linking to the novel’s pivotal Coulibri blaze and intertextually to the Thornfield fire in Jane Eyre. Likewise, Conrad uses black and white imagery to link different stages of the journey. Brussels, the initial stage, is a ‘white sepulchre’ , linking to the promise of white ivory at journey’s end. Conrad conflates black and white images in a confusing vision; from the ivory deep in ‘the heart of darkness’ to the white Intended dressed ‘all in black’ and the aboriginal woman in white. Maria Calleja claims ‘In the growing darkness, Marlow is losing the thread of the story’ , but instead this imagery tethers Marlow, and readers, to the narrative. Thus both authors use dialogue and imagery to avoid potential trappings that affect journey
Watts, Cedric. 'Heart of Darkness.' The Cambridge Companion to Joseph Conrad. Ed. J.H. Stape. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1996. 45-62.
Joseph Conrad’s own experiences during his trip through the Congo helped him provide a foundation for the writing of Heart of Darkness. In 1890, Conrad took a job as a captain on the river steamer Kinshasa. Before Conrad took this job, he had worked for the French merchant navy as a way to escape Russian military service and also to escape the emotional troubles that had plagued him. Conrad had been in a financial crisis that was resolved with help from his uncle. After this series of events, Conrad joined the British merchant navy at the beckoning of his uncle and took the job as the captain of a steamboat in the Congo River. An important fact to remember is that Conrad was a young and inexperienced man when he was exposed to the harsh and dangerous life of a sailor. His experiences in the West Indies and especially in the Belgium Congo were eye opening and facilitated his strong outlooks that are reflected in the book Heart of Darkness. Conrad’s journey through the Belgian Congo gave him the experiences and knowledge to write about a place that most Europeans would never see in their lives.
Conrad’s shifting setting introduces new environments and attitudes for Marlow to cope with. Marlow begins the novel in “a narrow and deserted street in deep shadow, [with] high houses, innumerable windows with venetian blinds, a dead silence, grass sprouting right and left, [and] immense double doors standing ponderously ajar” (Conrad 45). Nearly all of the surroundings have intimidating connotations, which surprisingly fight Marlow into a comfortably safe and secure standing. Marlow notices the map in the office, and examines it to see just where his travels will take him. After observing the map, he points out that he was not going to the points of Africa that seem welcoming but he “was going into the yellow. Dead in the centre. And the river was there – fascinating – deadly – like a snake” (45). He already realizes he will have trouble transitioning into the new environment, being surrounded by what seems like death. Because Marlow grows accustomed to the urbanized streets of Brussels, the difficulty of the transition to the Congo develops exponentially. Before Marlow knows it, he travels to a land with “trees, tress, millions of trees, massive, immense, running up high” and they “made [him] feel very small, very lost” (75). Marlow, already apprehensive of the change to the Congo, shows his loss of confidence in his new environment.
Every aspect in Conrad?s book has a deep meaning, which can then be linked to the light and dark imagery. In the novel there are two rivers, the Thames and the Congo. The...
Throughout the entire novella, Joseph Conrad uses simple events to describe significant dark and light imagery. As the story begins, a man named Marlow describes his journey into the depths of the African Congo. He is in search of a man name Kurtz who is an ivory trader. His experiences throughout his journey are physically difficult to overcome. However, even more complex, was the journey that his heart and mind experienced throughout the long ride into the Congo. Marlow’s surroundings such as the setting, characters, and symbols each contain light and dark images that shape the central theme of the novel.
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.
Conrad, Joseph. “Heart of Darkness.” Norton Anthology of British Literature. 7th Edition. Vol. B. Ed. M. H. Abrams, et. al. New York: W. W. Norton, 2001.
Through the usage of individual characters, Conrad illustrates the differences between dark and light and black and white created by colonialism. Marlow and Kurtz can be as two halves of one soul. Throughout the tale, Marlow is disgusted with what he sees during his employment with the ivory company. He is shocked and angered at the horrible treatment of the black workers. By the end of his tale, Marlow has turned f...
First, one must beg the question, why does Rhys choose an allusion that nobody will understand? Rhys was fully aware that the title would not lend itself to easy interpretation. Why, then, did she stick with Wide Sargasso Sea instead of the more obvious ‘The First Mrs. Rochester’ or even ‘Creole’? Her seemingly unusual title choice is in actuality a carefully crafted selection that echoes her decision to write about the madwoman in the attic in Jane Eyre; it requires unpacking, just like Bronte’s Bertha. Like the lunatic in the attic, Rhys is asking the readers to not take her at surface value, but to question her reasons: “the reason why Mr. Rochester treats her so abominably and feels justified, the reason why he thinks she is mad and why of course s...
When Marlow is on the Themes, he talks about the ‘evils’ he experiences while there and how he worked to transport ivory down river. In the Victorian era, Africa was called the ‘dark continent’. Early in the book, Marlow explains that London–though it was at the time the most wealthy and populated city in the world–it too at one point was the ‘dark city’. This concept is similar to Conrad’s tale of the Belgians conquering the savage Africans. Darkness is everywhere including in the hearts of “civilized” persons. It appears often and is explored through the characters.
For example, it is Rochester who declares that Antoinette is "not English." or European either" and also he who takes her away from her home in. the West Indies and locks her up in the attic of his house in England.
Heart of Darkness describes a voyage to Africa, common for the British still, despite the horrific treatment which was apparent of colonization. The chaotic, stream-of-consciousness style Conrad took on helped to display the confusion, and made the reader have to interpret for themselves what they thought the writer meant. Conrad experiments with this style, leaving some sentences without ending: "not a sentimental pretense but an idea;…something you can set up…and offer a sacrifice to…." (Conrad, Longman p. 2195), a very choppy form of literature and causes the reader to fill in the holes and interpret themselves, alone. Conrad skips about from talking of the "two women knitted black wool feverishly" at the gate of the city (of hell), to his aunt which he feels women are "out of touch with truth," to how the British are as "weak-eyed devil(s) of a rapacious and pitiless folly" (Conrad, Longman pp. 2198, 2199, & 2202). Conrad's mind moves about as ours do along a large duration of literary monologue to convey to the reader the author's ideas, as interpreted by the reader.
Rhys divides the speaking voice between Rochester and Antoinette, thus avoiding the suppression of alternative voices which she recognises in Bronte's text. Rochester, who is never named in the novel, is not portrayed as an evil tyrant, but as a proud and bigoted younger brother betrayed by his family into a loveless marriage. His double standards with regards to the former slaves and Antoinette's family involvement with them are exposed when he chooses to sleep with the maid, Amelie, thus displaying the promiscuous behaviour and attraction to the ...
Jean Rhys’ writing style is no doubt one of the unique writing styles in the prose genre. Her book Wide Sargasso Sea epitomizes this writing style and is also regarded as one of her best works. One of the characteristics associated with her writing style is the mode of narration that the book takes on, being narrated by several persons throughout the story. The second part of the book, for example, is narrated by Rochester Antoinette’s husband. The use of Rochester as the narrator in this part allows the reader to view Antoinette and other characters in the book though the eyes of a non-familiar character. Rochester, despite being married to Antoinette, has only known
Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad may be a narrative about colonisation, revealing its drawbacks and corruption, but it may also be understood as a journey into the depths of one’s psyche, if taken at a symbolic level.