Preview

Heart of Darkness Logs

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
672 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Heart of Darkness Logs
Readers Logs

All throughout the book, Conrad uses images of light and dark. In the beginning, he describes the Thames as the day mixes with night as the tide is turning. Whilst in the Congo, he describes the natives as dark figures moving about. Initially, cleanly and lightly colored (both in skin and physical apparel) are considered good- as a general statement. Sometimes Conrad follows the stereotypical meanings of light and dark as good and bad, but he also strays from the stereotypes as well. The French (as ordered by Kurtz), whom are lightly colored, lay fire on Marlow’s boat without a truly reasonable explanation. The accountant (also lightly colored) simply dismisses the deaths that surround him as nuisances- even the deaths of his own race. This lack of concern he displays is what one would stereotypically define as bad.
Even though it is slightly confusing at first, the way that Conrad alters his narration by making Marlow jump back and forth in time makes the reader fully appreciate the plot and meaning while also complimenting Conrad’s romantic style. Marlow frequently mentions Kurtz before we are officially introduced to him. An upside of doing so, Conrad is allowing the reader to be tossed around Kurtz’s rumor-mill and to draw their own opinions on the infamous man of great abilities before actually meeting him. A downside to constantly switching time via narration is that it makes time hard to pin-point in the novella.
Essentially, the novel had three narrators: Conrad, Marlow, and the nameless “I.” My problem with thrice narrators is that the trio never really seems to be 100% in-sync due to the multiple personalities. In the beginning “I”’s tone seems to be that of admiration when speaking of Marlow as he notes Marlow’s manner and self-knowledge f not wanting to talk just to hear the sound of his own voce. Conrad always seems to know what’s going on because he had the underlying omniscient voice. The problem, for me, lies between Marlow and

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Better Essays

    In the West, black represents the color of death, mourning, and the underworld. It also has associations with evil (Mitford 106). Black can also simply represent “bad” as well as death of purity and sincerity (Ferber). Wharton uses the color black in instances that describe the character’s surroundings or attributes. For example, “clumps of…

    • 2476 Words
    • 10 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Heart Of Darkness Analysis

    • 1457 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Kurtz represents the id, or the need to satisfy one’s instinct, while Marlow represents the ego, or one’s unconscious. Freud’s theory of repression as well as his ideas of dreams accurately analyze the purpose of Marlow and Kurtz’s psychological changes. This novel revolves around the idea that our subconscious has a more than important role in the actions that we take everyday, and if one’s psyche is thrown off balance it can have a permanent and potentially dangerous effect. This effect can be seen through the way in which Marlow and Kurtz had progressed as characters. Conrad is demonstrating the idea that all of us have an inner desire that we would like to succumb to and that the smallest change in environment or mindset can lead us to turn to our ‘hearts of…

    • 1457 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    He outwardly castigates Conrad’s novel as being racist and demeaning to non-white cultures. Chinua Achebe criticizes Conrad’s depiction of Africa as being stereotypical in the views of Western culture. One of Achebe’s fundamental arguments is that Conrad is advertising a false version of the African continent and its people. He portrays them as being hostile and uncivilized through the accounts of the main character, Marlow. Achebe is infuriated at this notion because Conrad’s style of writing covers up the true nature of its meaning. He believes that this form of writing emanates from Conrad’s own racist beliefs and upbringings as a child. Specific citations from the story indicate that Conrad put the Europeans on a higher pedestal as he characterizes them as being “illuminating”, and “twinkling” with brilliant ideas (Achebe 3). Conrad’s racism is delineated perfectly when there is an encounter with a black man and he describes his feelings as being “blind, furious, and unreasoning rage” when he encountered this man (Conrad 11). This vast disparity of descriptions of the two races show his inner thoughts and his hatred towards non-whites. According to Achebe "Conrad appears to go to considerable pains to set up layers of insulation between himself and the moral universe of his story”(Conrad 14). This is exactly how Conrad uses his stylistic form of writing to cover up these feelings of hatred and detest towards the African continent and its population. Achebe also points out that Conrad’s depiction of the rivers is a symbolic sign of his inherent racism. He states in his story that "going up that river was like traveling back to the earliest beginnings of the world” (Conrad 9). This is referencing the Congo River that led to Africa and Conrad uses a negative connotation in describing…

    • 997 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    The contexts of the extracts are very different to each other. In ‘Heart of Darkness’, Conrad expresses to the reader that when the novel was published in 1899, life in the Congo was quite dangerous, so when Marlow is attacked by the natives, while on the…

    • 1206 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Heart of Darkness

    • 1950 Words
    • 8 Pages

    What effect is created by Marlow's interruption by the first narrator? The narrative technique in the novel is like a series of Chinese boxes-Conrad the author, an unnamed narrator who tells us about Marlow, Marlow who tells about his journey and about Kurtz, the voice of Kurtz who is the innermost voice. Think about what thematic and narrative purposes might be served by this layer on layer narrative voices.…

    • 1950 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Heart of Darkness

    • 1062 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Some critics believe that in Heart of Darkness Conrad illustrates how ‘’the darkness of the landscape can lead to the darkness of the social corruption.” This statement means that if the environment is dark, then the people in that environment will match the surrounding feeling, which is dark and depressing. For example, if it is a gloomy rainy day, most people feel tired and not as happy. If it is a bright sunny day, the most people feel motivated to get things done and joyful. Yes, this statement is believable because I have noticed that the weather, my surroundings, and even other people’s behaviors around me affect my mood. Today, for instance, it rained all day and the sky was dark, as a result I slept throughout the whole day. So my environment changed my mood negatively. – “It made you feel very small, very lost, and yet it was not altogether depressing, that feeling.” When riding along the river.…

    • 1062 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In many literary works the author uses contrast to display the difference between good and evil. Most often this contrast is between light and dark images. Dark representing evil and light representing good. In Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness, the author uses many different medians to display the contrast between good and evil. The different settings display the changing developments of the novel. From the civilized and what appears to be good Thames River to the uncivilized and seemingly evil Belgian Congo. Many different images in the novel elaborate on the author's view on the dark evils of imperialism and colonialism.…

    • 1050 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    My view on “The Heart of Darkness” automatically came to me as a racial story, which encourages racism. The wording used in the story such as, light and dark made it seem like Joseph Conrad was referring to people of darker skin color as “monstrous” and “inhuman”. “The earth seemed unearthly. We are accustomed to look upon the shackled form of a conquered monster, but there – there you could look at a thing monstrous and free. It was unearthly, and the men were – No, they were not inhuman. Well, you know, that was the worst of it – this suspicion of their not being inhuman.” (Pg.13). Throughout the reading the main character Marlow says how they would go to places where Africans were fee and it seemed “unearthly” to them. This quote shows how people of a darker skin color were discriminated against and were considered a lower class of people. Usually an author will incorporate certain things into their writing to make a point that people are constantly overlooking the racism, power, femininity, identity, madness, and even fate. This does in fact alter the way a person thinks and views the world.…

    • 650 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Raymond Chandler Research

    • 2329 Words
    • 10 Pages

    On first inspection of the novel the reader notices a few things rather quickly. First the story unravels at a tepid pace; secondly the writer has made the main character and “hero” of the novel as the voice of the story and the narrator. Chandler helps the reader develop a mental picture of Phillip Marlowe by giving him a voice and giving the reader a window into his thoughts. By doing this Chandler opens the character up to the reader and gives Marlowe individuality which gives readers the feeling that they are being told the story directly. By using the first person narration the reader sees Marlowe’s inner feelings throughout the book and as a result Marlowe is revealed as a witty and sarcastic identity that the reader gets to know almost personally. Marlowe’s personal thoughts are a highlight for the reader throughout the book but are absent in the film. His highly amusing thoughts…

    • 2329 Words
    • 10 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Better Essays

    Theme: "A haze rested on the low shores that ran out to seanin vanishing flatness. The air was dark above Gravesend." (pg.45)…

    • 4534 Words
    • 19 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Heart of Darkness

    • 1375 Words
    • 6 Pages

    In “Heart of Darkness” Conrad introduces his protagonist Marlow, his journey through the African Congo and the “enlightenment” of his soul. With the skilled use of symbols and Marlow’s experience he depicts the European colonialism in Africa, practice Conrad witnessed himself. Through Marlow’s observations he explicates the naiveness of the Europeans and the hypocritical purpose of their travelling into the “dark” continent.…

    • 1375 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Heart of Darkness

    • 1020 Words
    • 5 Pages

    In Heart of Darkness, the images of black and white have the usual connotations of evil and good. These pigments are found throughout the entire book. Ironically, although black, the native Africans seem to represent a sort of good by doing what they feel is right. On the other hand, the white foreigners carry themselves with some kind of evil as they exploit the great kindness of the blacks. I guess you could say that the white men were filled with a black hatred inside. Another example is found when Marlow enters the Belgian company's office. Sitting in the office are two women dressed almost completely in black. Marlow is no beginning to understand the seriousness of the journey he is going to make. Even his predecessor dies because of a quarrel over two black hens. The usage of black is almost too much to handle. Another example that I also…

    • 1020 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Heart of Darkness

    • 2406 Words
    • 10 Pages

    Marlow is a complicated, round, dynamic character in Heart of Darkness. He travels into the Congo to find a man, Kurtz, that he doesn't know, but begins to admire him nonetheless. Marlow comments to his listeners on The Nellie that "The point was in [Kurtz] being a gifted creature, and that of all his gifts the one that stood out…

    • 2406 Words
    • 10 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    First, notice that the book is divided into three chapters. It might be profitable to ask what happens in each of those chapters, and why Conrad chooses to make the breaks where he does. It is also worth noting that Marlow breaks off his story exactly three times--three times the outside narrator comes back to say something--once in chapter one, twice in chapter two, and not at all until the end in chapter three. I would like to suggest that it will be worth your while to see what Marlow is talking about in the page or so before each break, and how it relates to what the outside narrator says is happening on the Nelly, and to what Marlow says when he starts speaking again.…

    • 541 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    2. What does Atwood do to demonstrate that time is very consequential to the events? How far into the future do you think this story is taking place?…

    • 876 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays