Similarities in Conrad's The Secret Sharer and Heart of Darkness
Joseph Conrad's books, The Secret Sharer and Heart of Darkness, both
deal with each of our "dark selves". These books also have similarities
which are overwhelming. In describing the true inner self of humans,
Conrad used many symbols which have become apparent in many of his novels.
Conrad uses the same or very similar objects in many of his works.
Joseph Conrad wrote Heart of Darkness in 1899 to recount his
voyages in the Congo. Conrad hid most of his meaning in his words using a
form of writing known as "stream of consciousness". This made it difficult
for people to find the true meaning of his work. After about ten years,
Conrad realized that he would have to get his point across in an easier to
understand book. This book was The Secret Sharer.
Both of these books include the hero wanting to meet or developing
a fascination for a truly evil character. In Heart of Darkness, Marlow is
very eager to meet Kurtz. Marlow is so eager, in fact, that he eventually
starts to panic when he thinks he will never meet him. Marlow realizes
that Kurtz is a very evil person, but this does not stop him from wanting
to meet this incredibly remarkable person. In The Secret Sharer the
Captain saves a murderer from almost certain death without knowing what the
man has done. Later, The Captain has a discussion with the man and finds
out his name is Leggatt. Leggatt tells his story and the Captain becomes
more enthralled with Leggatt ever so more. When Leggatt tells the Captain
he has committed a murder, the Captain does not throw him overboard.
Instead, the Captain harbors this criminal because he feels a connection
with Leggatt that he has never felt before. In both stories the hero
identifies with his evil counterpart to the point that they actually become
one in their own minds. Conrad wanted to show the evil that exists within
all of us.
The bulk of Conrad's stories deal with sea voyages because of his
extensive sailing as a young man. The ship in his writing can be thought
of as symbolizing the journey through life, a vessel of sorts.
In the book “Heart of Darkness”, Joseph Conrad wrote about the horrors that were committed by Leopold’s regime. As one of the first insider to witness these horrors, he wrote “Heart of Darkness”, with this book, he was able to spread the word about the atrocities he had seen in Leopold’s greedy pursuit of rubber and ivory in the congo. This book details closely how Leopold made his humongous profit. Leopold issued decrees on the Congo such as that the native people may only trade with his state agents or with his concessions. Leopold’s concessions were private companies that would sell the ivory and rubber, they would give Leopold 50% of their profits. The Abir Congo Company was one of these concessions that harvest the natural rubber of the Congo.They were granted a large portion of the land in the north and had the right to impose a rubber tax on its inhabitants. It was through concessions like these but also from his personal company (the Congo Free State) that Leopold created his personal wealth. This book brings us one step closer to answering our question since it tells us how Leopold got ahold of all of his profits. But this brings us to another question of, exactly how much money did the Congo bring to Leopold II?
Zins, Henryk S. "Joseph Conrad and the Early British Critics of Colonialism in the Congo." Lubelskie Materiały Neofilologiczne 22.(1998): 155-169. MLA International Bibliography. EBSCO. Sun. 08 May 2011.
Due to the good establishment of the business, it has huge market national. The company has therefore opened many retail shops and stores all over the country to ensure that their products are accessible to the customers. The entity provides a favorable environment, and many clients view the place as a fun shopping place to be. The retailer has targeted a big pool of customer because of the variety of products it sells. The stores products vary from kitchen goods, jewelry, and electronics clothes to hardware
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Joseph Conrad’s own experiences during his trip through the Congo helped him provide a foundation for the writing of Heart of Darkness. In 1890, Conrad took a job as a captain on the river steamer Kinshasa. Before Conrad took this job, he had worked for the French merchant navy as a way to escape Russian military service and also to escape the emotional troubles that had plagued him. Conrad had been in a financial crisis that was resolved with help from his uncle. After this series of events, Conrad joined the British merchant navy at the beckoning of his uncle and took the job as the captain of a steamboat in the Congo River. An important fact to remember is that Conrad was a young and inexperienced man when he was exposed to the harsh and dangerous life of a sailor. His experiences in the West Indies and especially in the Belgium Congo were eye opening and facilitated his strong outlooks that are reflected in the book Heart of Darkness. Conrad’s journey through the Belgian Congo gave him the experiences and knowledge to write about a place that most Europeans would never see in their lives.
Friedrich Nietzsche once provided one of the truest opinions on power that the world has ever heard when he said, “All things are subject to interpretation whichever interpretation prevails at a given time is a function of power and not truth”. The promises and truths that those who gain power spread to their people are not always for the greater good. The worst leaders of people are the ones that put more effort and thought into jerking off their own ego rather than putting any real heartfelt effort into helping their people. These sociopathic evil dictators use their power to try and brainwash the minds of people who have to live under them with their own beliefs and hidden agendas, foolishly believing that they are a “savior”. There has yet to be a situation with a leader of a community who has this type of unchecked power and influence with a happy ending. Perhaps the greatest story ever written about good vs. evil, madness, abuse of power along with influence, and nature just might be Heart of Darkness. Heart of Darkness, written by Joseph Conrad tells the story of an agent named Marlow, who experiences hellish conditions and behaviors whilst trying to rescue a man named Kurtz, who turns out to be quite a handful. Throughout this journey the moral ramifications of both Kurtz and Marlow’s actions are left to be interpreted by the audience after Kurtz goes mad and becomes the catalyst of the events that transpire throughout the plot. Conrad uses his real life events along with themes of greed, power, and obsession to show what causes Kurtz who acts a symbol for the leaders of the real world to go mad and abuse power.
When writing books, many authors like to research their topic rather than writing blindly about it. Joseph Conrad was, most likely, no different, though he did his research traveling through the Congo on a steamship before writing his book. We say, quite often, that Conrad's work is representative of his travels in the Congo. I do not disagree with this statement, but I stress the wording: Conrad's work is representative of his travels through the Congo; it is not a journal of his travels through the Congo. This point needs no backing; it is fact: Conrad never traveled to places called the "Outer Station", "Central Station", or "Inner Station", though these places may represent true places where Conrad did travel; similarly, Conrad never met a man named Mr. Kurtz, though Kurtz may represent a real person who Conrad did meet. Those who are currently distraught from their entire thesis being discredited from this point should refer to The Congo Diary, excerpts from Conrad's true journal of his travels through the Congo, for solace or more disappointment, depending on the thesis.
In Cry, the beloved country, Alan Paton tells the story of his journey across Africa, his experiences with the colonized Africa, and the destruction of the beautiful, pre-colonialism native land of Africa. Heart of Darkness also tells the story of a man and his experiences with colonialism, but a man who comes from a different time period and a very different background than Alan Paton’s Stephen Kumalo. Although, both Joseph Conrad and Alan Paton portray the colonized areas as very negative, death filled, and sinful places, it is when one analyzes the descriptions of the native lands of Africa that the authors reasons for their disapproval of colonialism are truly revealed. When comparing the writing styles of Alan Paton and Joseph Conrad, their descriptions of the land and the people in both works reveal their different attitudes and views towards colonialism. While Paton and Conrad ultimately oppose colonialism, Paton is concerned with the disappearance of African tribal tradition, whereas Conrad is concerned with the perceived corruption of the white colonists.
Heart of Darkness describes a voyage to Africa, common for the British still, despite the horrific treatment which was apparent of colonization. The chaotic, stream-of-consciousness style Conrad took on helped to display the confusion, and made the reader have to interpret for themselves what they thought the writer meant. Conrad experiments with this style, leaving some sentences without ending: "not a sentimental pretense but an idea;…something you can set up…and offer a sacrifice to…." (Conrad, Longman p. 2195), a very choppy form of literature and causes the reader to fill in the holes and interpret themselves, alone. Conrad skips about from talking of the "two women knitted black wool feverishly" at the gate of the city (of hell), to his aunt which he feels women are "out of touch with truth," to how the British are as "weak-eyed devil(s) of a rapacious and pitiless folly" (Conrad, Longman pp. 2198, 2199, & 2202). Conrad's mind moves about as ours do along a large duration of literary monologue to convey to the reader the author's ideas, as interpreted by the reader.
The contrast between light and dark is very important when attempting to understand Conrad's thoughts and ideas about civilization and what it really is.
...ation of Central Africa.” [pg.6] Achebe states that Conrad’s image of Africa is not of his own, but of the Western imagination and that Conrad is simply showing the norm.
Literature is never interpreted in exactly the same way by two different readers. A prime example of a work of literature that is very ambiguous is Joseph Conrad's, "Heart of Darkness". The Ambiguities that exist in this book are Marlow's relationship to colonialism, Marlow's changing feelings toward Kurtz, and Marlow's lie to the Intended at the end of the story.
2. Organized Retail: The emergence of organized retail have lead to more variety with ease in browsing, opportunity to compare with different products in a category, one stop destination (entertainment, food and shopping) etc, which is playing an important role in bringing boom in the Indian FMCG market. Currently the modern trade is capturing 5% of the total retail space, which will increase to 10% and 25% in 2010 and 2025 respectively. Also, as the credit card and organized retail trend picks up, people won’t think much while buying and buy more.
Educated people reading Conrad's novel should understand the differences between the past and the present, and be forgiving of his language. The deeper the expedition progressed into the center of the continent, the more isolation was felt by the crew. In a sense, Central Africa IS the antithesis of Western Europe -- it lacks not only the hectic urban structures but also the Social Darwinist attitudes of the time. It is in this remote environment that man must face his true self without any illusions, and the darkness of the human soul is apparent. The uncivilized environment may mock western civilization's refinement, but this is not derogatory towards the jungle, but rather an eye-opener to the European audience.
Modernism began as a movement in that late 19th, early 20th centuries. Artists started to feel restricted by the styles and conventions of the Renaissance period. Thusly came the dawn of Modernism in many different forms, ranging from Impressionism to Cubism.