The Dark Heart of England Exposed in Heart of Darkness
Joseph Conrad's novel, "Heart of Darkness", depicts events in his personal life and how he came to believe that the European invasion of the African Congo needed to end. Joseph Conrad had a boyhood fascination of maps and the blank spaces on the African continent. Therefore, when the opportunity was given to him to become the captain of a small steamship on the Congo River, he jumped at the chance. In addition to Conrad's sense of adventure, he also had a curiosity of King Leopold's actions in the Belgium Congo and had a strong desire to witness firsthand the action taking place. After learning his assigned ship was undergoing repairs, he accompanied another crew on passenger ship assigned to bring back an ailing company agent, George Klein, who later died on the return trip. These events provided the backdrop so to speak of Conrad's novel, Heart of Darkness. The character of "Kurtz" was modeled after the company agent, George Klein. Although, Conrad never names the Congo or other significant landmarks, he later admits the book a "snapshot' of his trip in the African Congo. (Longman p2189).
Heart of Darkness is written in the narrative frame and Conrad uses the character of Marlow to narrate his story of the "darkness" of the European colonialization. Marlow narrates his tell aboard a yawl to an anonymous crew. Joseph Conrad became more aware of King Leopold's policy within the Congo, causing millions of deaths of African natives because inhumane practices. He felt he could impact readers through depicting these horrors in his novel. From this viewpoint, Conrad goes on to build his novel of the around the theme of "darkness" compared to a man's natural wi...
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...ntiment of the time that the British were indeed helping these natives by civilizing them to British standards.
In conclusion, Joseph Conrad uses the theme of "heart of darkness" throughout his novel to portray the darkness within mankind. He describes how man has a natural aspiration for superiority and control. Conrad deliberately leaves the locations unnamed in an effort to show that the "heart of this darkness" can shift on its axis. (Longman p2189) As Marlow indicates, the journey up river has been a reverse journey as well, a journey back from Africa to the darkness that lies at the heart of an England that claims to be civilizing those whom it is merely conquering. (Longman p2189)
Works Cited
Damrosch, David, et al., ed. The Longman Anthology of British Literature: Vol. B. Compact ed. New York: Longman - Addison Wesley Longman, 2000.
The subject of Homer’s epic poem, the Iliad, is very clearly stated--it is “the rage of Peleus’ son Achilles.” The reader remains continually aware of the extent of Achilles’ rage, yet is never told the reason why Achilles remains angry and unreconciled. There is no definitive answer to this question. Achilles is not a static character. He is constantly changing; thus the question of why he remains angry solicits different answers at various stages throughout the poem. To find an answer, the reader must carefully examine Achilles’ ever-changing dilemma involving the concepts of mortality and honor. At its simplest, Achilles’ dilemma is that if he goes to war, he will die. But he will die with glory.
Honor is something men and women have fought for century after century. Even now, thousands of American and British men are fighting in Iraq, near to where the Trojan War was to have taken place. These men fight for the greater good. They fight for those in Iraq who are unable to fight for or otherwise defend themselves. They fight for honor. The characters in the Iliad are motivated by their own form of honor, or arete, known similarly as the Homeric Code. And it is because of this code that the Trojan War began. The characters in this story are shown to possess arete, but some have different ideas as to how vastly and to what rate it should be respected. And because of this, many a man’s honor is disturbed.
Basically, Achilles asks for victory and doesn’t care if his friends are slain in the process. Achilles no thinking this through all the way, doesn’t catch that he would lose his closest and dearest friend named Patroclus and would suffer greatly for it. Patroclus alongside Achilles wearing his armor is a strong fighter and is able to kill many Trojans, however it isn’t long before Patroclus kills Zeus’ son Surpedon and Zeus’s will allows Hector to kill Patroclus as a result. Even Zeus before Patroclus was slain spoke to Hera about Achilles being the hero of the Greeks and only he can lead the victory over the Trojans and the fate of the Trojans was already sealed. Multiple points throughout the story Achilles is reminded about the events to happen and Homer gives the details through foreshadowing those events. Later on in Book 18 of The Iliad, Achilles in grief is talking with his mother Thetis she tells him “You’re doomed to a short life, my son, from all you say! For hard on the heels of Hector’s death your death must come at once-” (Homer 470).
Heart of Darkness is Joseph Conrad's tale of one man's journey, both mental and physical, into the depths of the wild African jungle and the human soul. The seaman, Marlow, tells his crew a startling tale of a man named Kurtz and his expedition that culminates in his encounter with the "voice" of Kurtz and ultimately, Kurtz's demise. The passage from Part I of the novel consists of Marlow's initial encounter with the natives of this place of immense darkness, directly relating to Conrad's use of imagery and metaphor to illustrate to the reader the contrast between light and dark. The passage, although occurring earlier on in the novel, is interspersed with Marlow's two opposing points of view: one of naïveté, which comes before Marlow's eventual epiphany after having met Kurtz, and the matured perspective he takes on after all of the events leading up to his and Kurtz's encounter.
It was of extreme importance to a man during this time period to die in war and leave a memorable name in society. In the Spartan society even a mother was accustomed to the idea that her son had to die to be a “hero” or perhaps be remembered as one. In the Iliad and the Odyssey, Achilles mother...
Achilles rage overcomes him after the death of Patroklos. He attempts to revenge against all the Trojans for his companion’s death by punishing them. Denying them burial rites for Hector and dumping his body in a heap of garbage is among his several he plans to
At the beginning of The Iliad, Achilles is observed as being insulted by Agamemnon and getting caught within a web of anger; this state of rage distinguishes the ignorance of his character at the beginning of his "education." The pinnacle of t...
As the film goes on we see this give way to a growing love for Briseis, compassion for King Priam, and then even for Hector, as he weeps over his body calling him “brother”. During the final few books of the epic, Achilles becomes more aware of his own impending death. This idea of coming to terms with mortality reaches its height when Priam comes to Achilles requesting back the body of his son. Priam does this by appealing to Achilles memory of his own father Peleus. Achilles kindness toward Priam, recognizing his own kinship with the dead and defeated, makes him not only a tragic hero but also an existential one. Priam gets down on his knees, kisses Achilles hands and pleads for Hectors body, he says, “Pity me in my own right, remember your own father! I deserve more pity / I have endured what no man on earth has ever done before / I put to my lips the hands of the man who killed my son” (Homer, 1990, p. 605). It is now when we see Achilles being overcome with emotion, grieving not only for his father but for his friend Patroclus. The two men are overwhelmed with memory and sorrow over the losses they have endured, and they weep together. This scene in the film is very powerful, and is one of the biggest examples of the evolution of
The Iliad is not only a narrative of epic battles and armies, but also of the redemption of a man ruled by wrath. Achilles, whose wrath is the driving force of the whole tale, experiences redemptive changes in the following ways .Firstly by being able to experience empathy, secondly by being willing to forgive those who his wrath was kindled against ,and finally by being able to release the sinister emotions that ruled his life. Achilles does not experience a total redemption in a biblical sense, but instead experiences partial redemption of his character. The Iliad is a novel of a humanistic redemption that does not fully grasp the Christian sense of the word but is nevertheless still redemption.
Damrosch, David, et al., ed. The Longman Anthology of British Literature: Vol. B. Compact ed. New York: Longman - Addison Wesley Longman, 2000. p. 2256
“It was as unreal as everything else- as the philanthropic pretence of the whole concern…” (29) This quote shows the basis that is represented in this novel, Conrad’s idea of reality can be related with a person’s self exploration. This quote is found in part one of the novel where Marlow sees the plotting atmosphere of the station since all the good things that Marlow have heard about the company were fake. Heart of Darkness, written by Joseph Conrad, is a story that follows the adventure of an explorer named Marlow. His journey up the Congo River allows Marlow to meet new people and discover the reality of Africa and the corruptness within. Although some achieves the perception of what is reality, some characters’ perception of reality changes by factors that has affected them throughout their journey of
'Thetis wept and answered, Then my son, is your end near at hand—for your own death awaits you full soon after that of Hector.
...hought themselves the better man and considered themselves dishonored by each other. For this, they each sought vengeance. Agamemnon uses his power to take Achilles' prize from him. Achilles decides to not only stop fighting, but also to turn against the Grecians. He would rather them lose the war than be dishonored.
Longman. The Longman Anthology of British Literature, vol. B. Damrosch, D. (ed.). NY, LA: Addison Wesley Longman, Inc. 2000.
In the story Heart of Darkness, by Joseph Conrad, it follows a man, Marlow, who tells a story of himself going on a journey to retrieve the man he admires, Kurtz from a land. He talks about entering a foreign land and what he experienced and overheard on his way there. Kurtz was described as a man of eloquence. In his journey, Marlow experiences the man he admires lose restraint. Throughout the story, hints of imperialism and colonialism have been shown in the Heart of Darkness.