Metaamorphosis And Heart Of Darkness

Midterm 2 Essays
Heart of darkness and Metamorphosis
Both the novel Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad and the short story Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka signify and are about going beneath the surface. Although these books were written by different authors and published several years apart, they share numerous similarities in the overall message of the story. The heart of darkness is about imperialism and takes a step into telling a tale of individuals that embarked on the imperialistic journey from Europe to Africa. The brief story metamorphosis is about a man named Gregor who transforms into an insect. The fact that both stories are so different regarding the plot yet so similar in their overall meaning proves that both these novels advance
This novel is about imperialism, but progresses beneath the surface of those involved in the act of imperialism that is so highly criticized. Marlow goes to Africa, where European companies are building and trading and in doing so he hears of a man named Kurtz. Kurtz is well known and respected and he believed he was above the “savages” which were the African workers. After a certain amount of time there Kurtz turns into one of the “savages” himself. By reaching beneath the surface of his status, race and profession Kurtz allowed himself to witness humans as humans regardless of all the labels that have been created and used to separate us. Marlow, a European, says that while traveling, he is in fact astonished by the humanity he shared with the Africans. Although this novel portrays the Africans in a negative manner the protagonist Marlow and Kurtz tend to understand and progress beneath the surface of their imperial mission and truly learn and believe that they are in fact the same as their workers and the natives. As the novel progresses and Kurtz, Marlow and the Europeans are heading back Kurtz turns ill. Marlow is the last person to visit Kurtz and Kurtz's last words are truly horrifying as he says “the horror, the horror” as he breathes his last breath. This seems to be due to his unwillingness to ignore the hypocritical rule of the Europeans. Reaching deep beneath the words it is evident that Kurtz recalled his time as an “invader” in Africa and those tormenting memories of the injustice caused resulted in his last words being “the horror, the horror”. Marlow is left speechless. He returns to Europe and soon after this a representative from the company visit Marlow and ask for the papers and correspondents that Kurtz had given Marlow before his death. Marlow does not give them what they want. A man saying, he is Kurtz's cousin visits Marlow and he speaks about who Kurtz was beneath