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Analysis of the book "heart of darkness
Analysis of the book "heart of darkness
Analysis of the book "heart of darkness
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Conrad also employs the literary device of symbolism to further display the theme, the duality of human nature in his novella Heart of Darkness. Three major examples of symbolism are evident in this novella. These examples include, light and dark, the Congo River, and ivory. Similar to Stevenson, Conrad uses light and dark symbolism throughout his novella. Yet curiously in Heart of Darkness, light does not symbolize genuine goodness nor does dark symbolize pure calamity. Marlow proves this when he says as a comment to the Nellie’s sailors that, “I know that the sunlight can be made to lie, too” (Conrad 1944). The true essence of the light and dark symbolism is portrayed when Marlow compares the white men to the black men, concluding that these men are all the same. In Heart of Darkness, the symbolizing of light and dark actually represents the duality of human nature, a universal condition, which affects all men despite their skin color. In Heart of Darkness, Marlow’s voyage up the Congo River represents Marlow’s own inward journey. As Marlow advances up the river in search for Kurtz, he begins to learn more and more about himself. Nearing the end of his voyage up the Congo River, Marlow realizes he has more in common with the natives than with the European imperialists. At the end of his journey, when Marlow finally reaches Kurtz, he has learned that everybody has a dark side, but some people learned how to conceal it better than others. The third example of symbolism is ivory. In Heart of Darkness, ivory symbolizes greed and the calamitous nature of man, or the evil side. All throughout the novella the agents and managers of the Company are consumed by obtaining ivory. So much so, that they abandon all their moral principles and...
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...hout the strains of one’s divided nature. Both authors, despite their varying approaches, use the literary devices of symbolism and personification to preserve this controversial yet crucial theme of duality. This is to be found prominently in late and modern Victorian works such as the intriguing novellas by Robert Louis Stevenson and Joseph Conrad.
Works Cited
Conrad, Joseph. "Heart of Darkness." The Norton Anthology of English Literature. By Stephen Greenblatt and M. H. Abrams. 8th ed. Vol. 2. New York: W.W. Norton, 2006. 1891 1947. Print.
Klin, Candyce. “Darwinism as A Cultural Issue” Cedar Crest College, 2 June 2001. Web. 17 Apr. 2014.
Stevenson, Robert L. "The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde." The Norton Anthology of English Literature. By Stephen Greenblatt and M. H. Abrams. 8th ed. Vol. 2. New York: W.W. Norton, 2006. 1643-1685. Print.
Meyer, Michael, ed. The Bedford Introduction to Literature: Reading, Thinking, Writing. 5th ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 1999.
Stevenson, Robert Louis. The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. First Vintage Classics Edition. New York: Vintage Books, 1991.
Stevenson focuses on two different characters Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, but in reality these are not separate men, they are two different aspects of one man’s reality. In the story, Dr. Je...
Robert, Stevenson L. The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. New York: Dover Publications, 2013. Print.
“The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll And Mr Hyde” is a novella written in the Victorian era, more specifically in 1886 by Scottish author Robert Louis Stevenson. When the novella was first published it had caused a lot of public outrage as it clashed with many of the views regarding the duality of the soul and science itself. The audience can relate many of the themes of the story with Stevenson’s personal life. Due to the fact that Stevenson started out as a sick child, moving from hospital to hospital, and continued on that track as an adult, a lot of the medical influence of the story and the fact that Jekyll’s situation was described as an “fateful illness” is most likely due to Stevenson’s unfortunate and diseased-riddled life. Furthermore the author had been known to dabble in various drugs, this again can be linked to Jekyll’s desperate need and desire to give in to his darker side by changing into Mr Hyde.
Probst, Robert, et al. "Elements of Literature sixth course literature of Britain." Austin: Holt, Rinehart, and Winston, 1997. 640-644.
Stevenson, Robert Louis. The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and Other Stories.
The late eighteen hundreds was a time of abundant scientific discoveries, medical advances, and drug outbreaks (Wolf). Scottish author Robert Louis Stevenson united all three happenings into a single novel. Stevenson grasped the fear of the Victorian people and the unfamiliar concepts and findings of scientific advances to create the novel as a horror (Wolf). Robert Louis Stevenson was one of the first authors to truly explore and inquire in the concept of the duality of man and how it affects us and our society Wolf. Stevenson’s mystery evolving into science fiction novel, The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, fully elaborated on the deep dark side a person could conceal: “Poor old Harry Jekyll, if ever I read Satan’s signature upon a face, it is that of [Mr. Hyde] your new friend” (Stevenson 30). Wishing to rid the world of evil is a complex concept which in the end has shown to miscarry (Wolf).
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is a riveting tale of how one man uncovers, through scientific experiments, the dual nature within himself. Robert Louis Stevenson uses the story to suggest that this human duality is housed inside everyone. The story reveals “that man is not truly one, but two” (Robert Louis Stevenson 125). He uses the characters of Henry Jekyll, Edward Hyde, Dr. Lanyon, and Mr. Utterson to portray this concept. He also utilizes important events, such as the death of Dr. Jekyll and the death of Mr. Lanyon in his exploration of the topic.
Lennox, James. "Darwinism." Stanford University. The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Fall 2010 Edition). , 13 Aug. 2004. Web. 12 May 2014.
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.
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.
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.
Heart of Darkness is a story full of irony and deception. At one point, Conrad made a very interesting point. He suggested that the light is used to indicate deceit in Heart of Darkness. Conrad uses the character of Marlow to make use of his own thoughts and views about the people in the Congo. He feels pity for them as he sees them falling down carrying heavy packages and Kurtz commanding them like a battalion of troops.
Schwarz, Danie Reference Guide to English Literature, 2nd ed., edited by D. L. Kirkpatrick, St. James Press, 1991