The Heart of Darkness in Joseph Conrad

1630 Words4 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Background information on joseph conrad

Joseph Conrad is the author of the novel, The Heart of Darkness, along with many other profound works. Compared on any scale, Conrad is nowhere near average. Joseph Conrad is a very interesting character who sees the world through wide eyes. By traveling the world and exploring the many walks of life he is able to discuss common global views and habits that include injustices which are explained in his renowned novel, The Heart of Darkness. As a child Conrad was born in Berdichev, Ukraine on the third day of December in 1857. although born in the Ukraine, he was of Polish ethnicity. Conrad’s full birth name was Józef Teodor Konrad Korzeniowski which explains why he went more simply by Joseph (Witkoski 2). He was born into a wealthy noble family and was not considered a commoner on the streets. Despite the fact that his family was of noble status, the parents of his mother, Ewa Bobrowski, thought Conrad’s father, Apollo Korzeniowski, was born with tainted blood (Witkoski 2). Conrad’s father was a political writer and translator of Alfred de Vigny, Charles Dickens and Shakespeare (Zacks). Logically, because of Korzeniowski’s passion for literature it inspired Conrad to begin exploring literature himself. Conrad’s literary exploration commenced in his native language, but by his mid teens he had expanded to other languages including French and English (Zacks). At the age of four Conrad’s father was exiled to the city of Vologda for organizing an uprising. Within four months of his father’s exultation his mother died from tuberculosis. Then four years later his father passed away leaving Conrad an orphan (Zacks). Conrad was adopted by his maternal uncle, Tadeusz Bobrowski. As his guardian Bobrowski was much more cautious than Con... ... middle of paper ... ...terary Reference Center. Print. 22 Jan. 2012. 8. Witkoski M. Almayer’s Folly. Masterplots, Fourth Edition [serial online]. November 2010;:1- 4. Available from: Literary Reference Center, Ipswich, MA. Critical Resource. Accessed January 22, 2012. 9. Witkoski M. The Nigger of the Narcissus. Masterplots, Fourth Edition. [serial online]. November 2010;:1-3. Available from: Literary Reference Center, Ipswich, MA. Critical Resource. Accessed January 22, 2012. 10. Zacks A. Conrad &the Performing Arts. English Literature In Transition, 1880-1920 [serial online]. January 2011; 54(1):118-121. Available from: Literary Reference Center, Ipswich, MA. Print. Accessed January 22, 2012. 11. Zlogar L. The Secret Agent. Masterplots, Fourth Edition [serial online]. November 2010;: 1- 4. Available from: Literary Reference Center, Ipswich, MA. Web. Accessed January 22, 2012.

Show More
Related

  • Free College Essays - Impact of Characters on Conrad in Ordinary People

    808 Words  | 2 Pages

    Throughout the novel one person who had an affect on Conrad was his father.  From the beginning of the novel, Con’s father had an understanding of him.  From talking to spending time with Con, his father was there most of the time.  When Conrad was confused or had a question, his father would try to help and answer him to the best of his ability.  Because his father was put into a home I think that he was able to understand Con a lot more.  Just as understanding he was also caring.  Whenever Con felt upset or happy, his father was there to share the experience. His father would always make sure that Con was all right.  His father cared so much that he gave Con a number of a psychiatrist.  Unlike the mother, the father would like to see Con back to normal.

    Read More

  • Ordinary Feelings in Judith Guest's Ordinary People

    564 Words  | 2 Pages

    There are many important themes and subjects addressed in the book. Most importantly is how Conrad deals with his emotions and comes to accept and forgive what has happened to him. And the author shows us that this can only be done by love, support, and trust. Conrad thinks by not expressing his emotions he is less vulnerable but instead he drifts farther apart from his family. The ordeal of attempted suicide and treatment has left him feeling insecure and vulnerable and he instinctively puts up shields. Trying to appear calm and determined on the outside, he is still very confused, angry and is afraid he slip away again only to kill himself. He still feels responsible for his brother's death due to the fact his mom doesn't want to forgive him and the only way to punish himself is to deny, suppress, and control his feelings lest they give him away. It is not until the very end when Conrad?s father, Calvin finally stops skirting around the subject but tells him that he loves him and that they finally develop a sense of trust and security in one another: -

    Read More

  • Striving for Emotional Perfection in Ordinary People

    1856 Words  | 4 Pages

    Conrad's psychological problems generated from the facts that he repressed his feelings and that he looked to others for approval.  He hid all his feeling and emotions and judged himself based on what others saw and thought.  When Miss Melon, Conrad's English teacher, asked him, "Do you want an extension?" Conrad's immediate response was "NO"(18).  He rejected her offer of assistance because he felt that help took away from his dignity and self pride.  Conrad internalized what everyone else said and did and judged himself based on this.  Conrad thought about himself: "All his fault.  All connections with him result in failure. Loss. Evil… Everywhere he looks, there is competence and good health… He does not want to contaminate, does not wish to find further evidence of his lack of worth"(116). Conrad looked at everyone else and concluded that everyone else was "ordinary" and that he was a problem.  He was afraid that since he was not "normal," ...

    Read More

  • Joseph Conrad: Influences and Early Life

    1088 Words  | 3 Pages

    Joseph Conrad was born in 1857 to Polish parents (Gorra 42). His classic novella Heart of Darkness is based largely on his personal journey to the Dark Continent in 1890. His naval adventures with the French Merchant Marines and British Merchant Service greatly influenced each of his works (Hampson 99).

    Read More

  • Comparing Conrad's The Secret Sharer and Heart of Darkness

    1326 Words  | 3 Pages

    voyages in the Congo.  Conrad hid most of his meaning in his words using a

    Read More

  • Foolish Pride in Judith Guest's Ordinary People

    582 Words  | 2 Pages

    Many characters in the book hid from their problems. By the end of the book most of them managed to get better, but some of them were gone for good. In the book, Conrad struggled with perfection. He tried to be the obedient son, the good student, and eventually everything got to him so much, he felt the only way to escape was to try and kill himself. "An obedient boy. Polite, well mannered. Even in the hospital, with his fingernails bitten to bloody half-moons, the dark circles, bloody bruises under his eyes; always always his behavior was proper" (13). Conrad was strung too tight, fortunately by the end of the book he learned to relax, and not to stress too much about everything. Unfortunately this wasn't true for all the characters.

    Read More

  • Conrad’s Congo Journey

    798 Words  | 2 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Adaptation of Heart of Darkness to the Movie, Apocalypse Now

    672 Words  | 2 Pages

    So why did he take what starts out looking like a fictionalized autobiographical account, and then half way through the story start being totally fictional? The important changes made seems to be that he is in charge of the boat, and thus is in control of his own journey to the heart of darkness. The other is the significance of the Kurtz character.   Prof Abel mentioned Kurtz was loosely based on someone named Klein, but presumably the significance of Kurtz is much more symbolic than biographical. Perhaps Conrad creates Kurtz to embody the issues that he thought about during his trip on the Congo, but which never actually personified themselves so concretely.

    Read More

  • Conrad’s Ordinary Life

    726 Words  | 2 Pages

    Conrad was a suicidal boy who didn’t know what to do with his life. Confused and hopeless someone needed to help, shape his life around and make everything better. Someone with experience, someone to help make him better, someone to help turn his whole life around. His brother died and he witnessed it. When Conrad witnessed a death of a close one his soul and heart were broken for ever and it needs someone to help heal and bandage it up. He also heard about the girl he was in the hospital with committed suicide at the end of the book. He was devastated and he didn't know what to do, so we would go to talk to one person he trusted which was Dr. Berger. Dr. Berger changed his whole life around and helped him be a man that he always wanted to be. Conrad looked up to his brother, that was his role model and he couldn't do anything to help him in the last moments of Buck’s life. Dr. Berger helped him in so many ways, get through obstacles he would of never got through alone. Not only was Dr. Berger his Doctor but he was his friend, his only friend he could really trust. Dr. Berger helped Conrad get his life more in “control”.

    Read More

  • The Internal Struggles in Heart of Darkness, by Joseph Conrad

    1189 Words  | 3 Pages

    The child’s game had ended. After I nearly ran Kurtz over, we stood facing each other. He was unsteady on his feet, swaying like the trees that surrounded us. What stood before me was a ghost. Each layer of him had been carved away by the jungle, until nothing remained. Despite this, his strength still exceeded that of my own. With the tribal fires burning so close, one shout from him would unleash his natives on me. But in that same realization, I felt my own strength kindle inside me. I could just as easily muffle his command and overtake him. The scene flashed past my eyes as though I was remembering not imagining. The stick that lay two feet from me was beating down on the ghost, as my bloodied hand strangled his cries. My mind abruptly reeled backwards as I realized what unspeakable dark thoughts I had let in. Kurtz seemed to understand where my mind had wandered; it was as though the jungle’s wind has whispered my internal struggles to him. His face twisted into a smile. He seemed to gloat and enjoy standing by to watch my soul begin to destroy itself.

    Read More

  • Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness Through a Freudian Lens

    1207 Words  | 3 Pages

    ...o, while the novella’s archetypal structure glorifies Marlow’s domination of Kurtz. These two analyses taken together provide a much fuller and more comprehensive interpretation of the work. Conrad presents the idea that there is some darkness within each person. The darkness is is inherited and instinctual, but because it is natural does not make it right. He celebrates – and thereby almost advises – the turn from instinct. By telling Marlow’s tale, Joseph Conrad stresses to his audience the importance of self-knowledge and the unnecessity of instinct in civilization.

    Read More

  • Heart of Darkness and Wide Sargasso Sea: Depiction and Effect Due to Colonization

    1988 Words  | 4 Pages

    Hay, Eloise Knapp. The Political Novels of Joseph Conrad: a Critical Study. Chicago: University of Chicago, 1972. 120. Print.

    Read More

  • Heart Of Darkness

    1519 Words  | 4 Pages

    Born and raised in an era of world revolution, Conrad certainly knew the effects any change could leave on a society or nation. He was influenced socially simply because he lived during this time. His influences were probably the strongest as a child when he moved to another country and suffered much from the lack of language, knowledge of societal and cultural norms, and class differences. Nevertheless, Conrad’s live in general played a tremendous role on influencing him in the writing of this novel.

    Read More

  • The Character of Leggatt in The Secret Sharer

    2323 Words  | 5 Pages

    Karl, Frederick Robert.  Joseph Conrad:  The Three Lives.  New York:  Farrar, Straus,            and Giroux, 1979.

    Read More

  • Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness - A Modernist Novel

    505 Words  | 2 Pages

    Modernism began as a movement in that late 19th, early 20th centuries. Artists started to feel restricted by the styles and conventions of the Renaissance period. Thusly came the dawn of Modernism in many different forms, ranging from Impressionism to Cubism.

    Read More

More about The Heart of Darkness in Joseph Conrad

Open Document