Heart of Darkness: Human or Humane?
Upon reading Heart of Darkness we are immediately struck with the issue of the “nature of man”, and what it means to be human or humane. To be human means to have a mind, to be living, and function as a primate. To be humane on the other hand means to be tender, compassionate, affectionate, kindhearted, and empathetic. It is often assumed that to be human means to be humane, but as Marlow learned on his excursion through the dark jungle of the Congo, one has nothing to do with the other.
Marlow’s first taste of man’s true self as he saw it, began when he saw the six man chain gang, as was referred to in the book, six black men chained together obviously being treated as inferiors, almost as slaves. “I could see every rib, the joints of their limbs were like knots in a rope;each had an iron collar on his neck, and all were connected together with a chain whose bights swung between them, rhythmically clinking.” (Conrad, pg. 81)
Upon seeing this atrocious sight of men being treated as savages, Marlow compares the white men who are leading these chained up men, to devils, by remarking that he had seen devils, but never devils who drove other men like cattle. Men who were no different then themselves, except in the color of their skin.
As Marlow continues down the Congo, he begins to reflect upon the river, as the river of truth and reality, because as he transcends down it, his ability to find the truth in any situation grows. With every turn, he learns that mans inhumanity to his own kind is man’s greatest sin.
On page 106 Conrad talks about how Marlow felt when he was proceeding towards Kurtz’s station, and he explains that he{Marlow} can feel the past, among the overwhelming realities brought upon by the river, the trees, and the silence.
“There were moments when ones past came back to one, as it will sometimes when you have not a moment to spare to yourself;but it came in the shape of an unrestful and noisy dream,remembered with wonder amongst the overwhelming realities of the strange world of plants,and water, and silence....When you have to attend to things of that sort, to the mere incidents of the surface, the reality- the reality, I tell you-fades.
What is scoliosis? Scoliosis is a musculoskeletal disorder that causes the back to curve sideways like and “S” or a “C” and cause the body to lean to one side. Scoliosis can eventually if not looked into and not treated colid with your bodily organs like your heart, lungs, and kidneys. This can cause you to slump down into a hump and cause it hard to breath and do physical activity.
For centuries, the ideal masculinity has been seen as the provider, the macho man, the cowboy and the emotional rock, but new representations of manliness in the media have been challenging this idea (Watson 2015, p. 270). Within these new depictions, there lies a hierarchy where one form of masculinity is more accepted than the rest (Kluch 2015). Macho masculinity has been seen as being dominant in the hierarchy for generations, however, in recent years, there have been an influx of new representations of masculinity that disrupt traditional hierarchal ideas. The masculinity of the twenty first century includes emotions, sensitivity, discipline, and intelligence. These new aspects of the hierarchy have been introduced by movies such as Brokeback Mountain, 22 Jump Street, The
Conrad's racism is portrayed in the actions and perceptions of Marlow along his trip up the Congo. Marlow's views of the area during the beginning of the trip are given as inhumane, and uncivilized. The Heart of Darkness for Marlow is the ignorance and brutality that he witnesses from natives as well as Whites that are met upon his trip.
The story Marlow shares with the other men, is a story of reflection. It is a mirror, like most experiences are. Experiences in our lives that teach us and reveal something in our lives that had to be fixed. In this case Marlow (or Conrad) uses Africa as the mirror into the hearts of early Europeans that wished to colonize and only help profit the "less unfortunate". What was it exactly that this unchartered land had in store for Marlow?
Jensen provides evidence throughout the text for three assumptions on why masculinity must be terminated from pertaining to just males. It is proposed that masculinity is harmful for both men and women, that men are surrendering their humanity by conforming with masculinity, and
Conrad’s main character Marlow is the narrator for most of the story in Heart of Darkness. He is presented as a well-intentioned person, and along his travels he is shocked by the cruelties that he sees inflicted on the native people. Though he is seemingly benevolent and kindly, Marlow shows the racism and ignorance of Conrad and in fact of the majority of white people in his era, in a more subtle way. Marlow uses words to describe the blacks that, though generally accepted in his time, were slanderous and crude. He recalls that some of the first natives he saw in the Congo looked at him “with that complete, deathlike indifference of unhappy savages” (80; part 1). Marlow casually refers to the Africans with the most offensive of language: “Strings of dusty niggers arrived and departed…” (83; part 1). To Marlow, and thus to Conrad, the Africans are savages, dogs, devils, and criminals. Even the stories that Conrad creates for Marlow to narrate are twisted and false. The natives that Marlow deals with in the book are described as cannibals, and they are even given dialogue that affirms th...
Marlow’s story begins with him telling the story of Fresleven, a European who lost restraint and could not control himself. Fresleven, being born into civilization, never learned proper restraint. Fresleven, known as, “the gentlest, quietest creature that ever walked on two legs” (Conrad 6) shows how easy restraint can be lost. Freselven went mad because civilization never forced him to be restrained. Fresleven lost restraint because he went from the sophisticated society of Europe to the uncivilized, jungle of Africa. The people who grow up in the chaos and uncivilized jungle adapt to restraining themselves to survive.
MASCULINITY. In this article Watzlawik (2009) examines what elements go into gender constructs and what factors cause masculinity and femininity within ourselves. Thought the article three definitions are explored and examined for pros and cons. The first definition implies “A feminine woman is one who is, and strives to be, attractive to men, and a masculine man is one who is attractive
Looking at the book from a psychological viewpoint, there are apparent similarities to the psychological theories of Sigmund Freud in its suggestion that dreams are a clue to hidden areas of the mind, and that at the heart of things--which Freud called the Id--we are all primitive brutes and savages, capable of the most appalling wishes and the most horrifying impulses. Through Freud, or other systems of thought that resemble Freud's, we can make sense of “the urge Marlow feels to leave his boat and join the natives for a savage whoop and hollar” (Tessitore, 42). We might even, in this light, notice that Marlow keeps insisting that Kurtz is a voice--a voice who seems to speak to him out of the heart of the immense darkness--and so perhaps he can be thought of, in a sense, as the voice of Marlow's own deepest, psychological self. Of course, we must remember that it is doubtful Conrad had ever heard Sigmund Freud when he set out to write the book. Although a psychological viewpoint is very useful, it does not speak to the whole of our experience of the book.
The genre of analyzation in this paper is masculinity. More in depth, the societal perpetuation of the concept of masculinity and its effects on individuals. Masculinity is a concept defined as a category of attributes, social behaviors and roles generally associated only with individuals of the male sex. It is rarely associated with females unless they are butch lesbian, and even if they are not, society will portray them as so. The concept of masculinity is a social construct – most often seen in patriarchal cultures and societies and identified mainly with gender roles. Gender roles are the acceptable or appropriate societal norms dictating
This Universal Human Condition is a very broad topic which can be analyzed from many perspectives. The human condition composes the essentials of human existence, such as birth, growth, emotionality, aspiration, conflict, and mortality. In the Heart of Darkness, “darkness” displays the inability to see any description of the human condition and its has profound implications. The racism in the Heart of Darkness is the result of the failure to see others. Failing to see another human being, failing to understand different religions, philosophy, history, art, literature, sociology, psychology, and biology, means failing to understand that individual and failing to establish any sort of sympathetic communion with him or her. Joseph Conrad illustrates
Upon meeting Kurtz’s wife, Marlow decides to lie to her, attempting to protect her from the darkness. As Kurtz’s fiancé begs for Marlow to repeat Kurtz’s last words, Marlow lies: “The heavens do not fall for such a trifle. Would they have fallen, I wonder, if I had rendered Kurtz that justice which was his due…but I couldn’t. I could not tell her. It would have been too dark—too dark altogether…” (Conrad 72). Marlow lies to Kurtz’s fiancé in an attempt to protect her from the darkness. After witnessing the darkness of imperialism, Marlow realizes heaven does not fall for the darkness of mankind, so it will not fall for a lie. Upon this realization, Marlow becomes aware of the darkness not only in the jungle, but also back home. As Marlow completes his story, his lie to Kurtz’s fiancé causes Marlow to realize the unavoidable darkness for humanity. After completing his story, Marlow looks up, only to understand how unavoidable darkness really is: “The offing was barred by a black bank of clouds, and the tranquil waterway leading to the uttermost ends of the earth flowed somber under an overcast sky—seemed to lead into the heart of an immense darkness” (Conrad 72). As a result of telling his story, Marlow realizes the darkness of mankind is not only a result of imperialism, but also a result of existence. Lying to Kurtz’s fiancé completes Marlow’s realization of
There have been many scholars who have pondered the question of what masculinity really is and how do we define it as a society. Often the question is gender something we really do, do we each shape the course for ourselves or are we molded into a predominate shape? To even begin the long debate to answer questions such as these, one needs to look at the individual role and at the role that institutions have on us.
Conrad uses the character of Marlow to make use of his own thoughts and views about the people in the Congo. He feels pity for them as he sees them falling down carrying heavy packages and Kurtz commanding them like a batallion of troups. This sight angers Marlow and when he gets to Kurtz, it’s too late. Even he has been pulled in by the darkness. Conrad makes an effective distinction between Marlow and Kurtz.
behaviors, and social conditions that we call masculinities are “hard-wired” into males through biology (see Thorhill & Palmer, 2000) and/or the heritability of human psyche (see Jung, 1959/1989; Bly, 1990). They view masculinity as static, transhistorical, cross-cultural, and cross-situational. From this perspective, gender change is either impossible, or it involves the use of powerful force to constrain what is seen as “naturally” male. (Masculine Self pg. 19)