Conrad represents phenomena being filtered through the consciousness of his characters, such that subject alters object, object alters subject, and both are influenced by the context in which they appear. Conrad’s Heart of Darkness is a rich, vivid, layered, paradoxical, and problematic novella or long tale; a mixture of oblique autobiography, traveller’s yarn, adventure story, psychological odyssey, political satire, symbolic prosepoem, black comedy, spiritual melodrama, and sceptical meditation. It has proved to be ‘ahead of its times’: an exceptionally proleptic text. First published in 1899 as a serial in Blackwood’s Edinburgh Magazine, it became extensively influential during subsequent decades, and reached a zenith of critical acclaim in the period 1950–75. During the final quarter …show more content…
Kurtz, who had been ill for some time, dies during the return voyage, his last words being “The horror! The horror!” , Marlow also falls ill and barely escapes with his life, after which he is sent back to Europe. Before Kurtz died, a subtle bond had developed between Marlow and Kurtz, and Kurtz entrusted Marlow with some letters and papers. After recovering from his illness, Marlow decides to return a thin packet of letters from Kurtz’s fiancé’s (his Intended). While visiting her, it becomes clear that she knows only the idealistic Kurtz who set out for Africa, not the one who was worshiped like a god. At one point, Marlow lets slip that he had heard Kurtz’s last words. Upon learning this, the still grieving woman demands that Marlow tell them to her. After some hesitation, he tells her that Kurtz’s last words were her name and then leaves. Marlow concludes by telling his listeners that he could not bring himself to tell her the
Watts, Cedric. 'Heart of Darkness.' The Cambridge Companion to Joseph Conrad. Ed. J.H. Stape. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1996. 45-62.
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.
The novel ends with Kurtz "gradually engulfing" the atrocities of the other agents in his own immense horror"(Dorall 303). At his dying moment, Kurtz utters "Horror! The Horror of the World! which for the. novel are words reflecting the tragedy of Kurtz, and his transformation.
Works Cited:.. Conrad, Joseph. A. The Heart of Darkness. New York and London: Norton. 1988.
Throughout its entirety, Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness utilizes many contrasts and paradoxes in an attempt to teach readers about the complexities of both human nature and the world. Some are more easily distinguishable, such as the comparison between civilized and uncivilized people, and some are more difficult to identify, like the usage of vagueness and clarity to contrast each other. One of the most prominent inversions contradicts the typical views of light and dark. While typically light is imagined to expose the truth and darkness to conceal it, Conrad creates a paradox in which darkness displays the truth and light blinds us from it.
Conrad, Joseph. "Heart of Darkness." The Norton Anthology of English Literature. Ed. M.H. Abrams et al. 6th ed. vol. 2. New York: Norton, 1993. 1759-1817.
Conrad, Joseph, and Paul B. Armstrong. Heart of Darkness: Authoritative Text, Backgrounds and Contexts, Criticism. New York: W.W. Norton &, 2006.
London: Methuen, 1980. http://www. Bergenholtz, Rita. “Conrad’s ‘Heart of Darkness’.” The Explicator. 53.2 (1995): 102.
Works Cited Conrad, Joseph. A. The Heart of Darkness. Middlesex, England: Penguin Publishers, 1983. Gillon, Adam.
Conrad, Joseph. “Heart of Darkness.” Norton Anthology of British Literature. 7th Edition. Vol. B. Ed. M. H. Abrams, et. al. New York: W. W. Norton, 2001.
Marlow "would have as soon expected restraint from a hyena prowling amongst the corpses of a battlefield." The cannibals action is "one of those human secrets that baffle probability." This helps Marlow keep his restraint, for if the natives can possess this quality Marlow feels he certainly can. Kurtz is the essence of the lack of restraint Marlow sees everywhere. Kurtz has "kicked himself loose from the earth."
Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad may be a narrative about colonisation, revealing its drawbacks and corruption, but it may also be understood as a journey into the depths of one’s psyche, if taken at a symbolic level.
Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness is a novella that truly deserves to be remembered for its break from traditional literature along with its historical significance. Heart of Darkness is a prime example of early modernism which sprouted in the late 19th century. Around the start of modernism, many Western writers began questioning the progress of their nations which was primarily due to imperialism. In Heart of Darkness, Joseph Conrad does quite an effective job of exposing the reality of Imperialism which makes it one of the first significant pieces of modernist literature. While exposing the reality of European Imperialism, Joseph Conrad uses several literary elements such as frame story, foreshadowing, and theme which makes it a novella
* Conrad, Joseph. “Heart of Darkness” in The Norton Anthology of English Literature, M.H. Abrams, general editor. (London: W.W. Norton, 1962, 2000)
"How Does Marlow (in Heart of Darkness) Try to Find Himself? - Yahoo! Answers." Yahoo! Answers - Home. Web. 23 Mar. 2011. .