Comparison Heart of Darkness to Road Not Taken
“Journeys, planned and unplanned, are an inevitable part of life. Their consequences, foreseen or unforeseen, play an important part in a person’s growth.”
Life is the journey, the inevitable journey, and the experiences thoughout life, the journeys within the journey, are the planned and unplanned experiences that change people and are a huge part of a person’s moral and personal growth. In the novella “Heart of Darkness” by Joseph Conrad, the physical journey through the Congo is parallel to the inner journey of the main character Marlow. Similarly, the poem “The Road Not Taken” by Robert Frost, relates on both a literal and metaphoric level to the concept of a journey. The individuals’ creation of their own direction on a journey is what leads to the most startling growth. Furthermore, a true journey must always have the unpredictable, because it is through the individual’s response to the unknown that growth occurs.
In Joseph Conrad’s “Heart of Darkness”, Marlow takes a similar physical journey as hundreds of travellers before him, and the exact physical journey of his companions on board the ship, but it is his inner journey and inner reactions to the physical journey that lead to his physical growth and change of perspective. On his way to the Outer station Marlow senses an anxiety within his soul: “…my isolation amongst all these men with whom I had no point of contact, the oily and languid sea, the uniform sombreness of the coast, seemed to keep me away from the truth of things, within the toil of a mournful and senseless delusion.” The strong use of imagery and high modality language reveal that Marlow, when arriving at the Outer station, will see the “truth of things” symbolising the world outside of England, such as cruel treatment of the natives. It also symbolises that he is beginning a journey into his own mind and will eventually discover “truth of things” in him self. When he experiences this reality, he reconsiders his impression of the
Life is the journey, the inevitable journey, and the experiences thoughout life, the journeys within the journey, are the planned and unplanned experiences that change people and are a huge part of a person’s moral and personal growth. In the novella “Heart of Darkness” by Joseph Conrad, the physical journey through the Congo is parallel to the inner journey of the main character Marlow. Similarly, the poem “The Road Not Taken” by Robert Frost, relates on both a literal and metaphoric level to the concept of a journey. The individuals’ creation of their own direction on a journey is what leads to the most startling growth. Furthermore, a true journey must always have the unpredictable, because it is through the individual’s response to the unknown that growth occurs.
In Joseph Conrad’s “Heart of Darkness”, Marlow takes a similar physical journey as hundreds of travellers before him, and the exact physical journey of his companions on board the ship, but it is his inner journey and inner reactions to the physical journey that lead to his physical growth and change of perspective. On his way to the Outer station Marlow senses an anxiety within his soul: “…my isolation amongst all these men with whom I had no point of contact, the oily and languid sea, the uniform sombreness of the coast, seemed to keep me away from the truth of things, within the toil of a mournful and senseless delusion.” The strong use of imagery and high modality language reveal that Marlow, when arriving at the Outer station, will see the “truth of things” symbolising the world outside of England, such as cruel treatment of the natives. It also symbolises that he is beginning a journey into his own mind and will eventually discover “truth of things” in him self. When he experiences this reality, he reconsiders his impression of the