The White Collars in Heart of Darkness
In Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness, Charles Marlow relates to his listeners aboard the Nellie the story of his service with a European company operating in the African Congo. Arriving in this European country to interview for employment, Marlow recalls, "I arrived in a city that always makes me think of a white sepulchre. Prejudice no doubt" (73). But whose prejudice is he speaking of: his or that of the citizens of that commercial center? Either way, his image is prophetic. The white sepulchre contains the remains of the countless Africans slaughtered by these colonizers--not in the form of corpses, but in the wealth that has been stolen from the African continent. The significance of the sepulchre's whiteness (and that of the longed-for ivory) lies in the contrasting images of a piece of white worsted and the starched white collars that Marlow comes upon in the jungles of the Congo. While the collars represent the violence, oppression, and hatred that dominate the European's treatment of the African, the white worsted is an attempt by ...
Click here to unlock this and over one million essays
Show MoreIn her article, “The Case Against GRADES”, Alfie Kohn discusses the grading system and its faults. She opens her argument with information from an older psychological study that proves the negative impact of the current grading system, and she reinforces this with the proof that “no” research has contradicted this statement. Also, she gives many key reasons including: “Motivation”, “Achievement”, “Quantification”, and “Curriculum”. Kohn supports these topics with other reasearch for why the system is failing the students. She asserts that, “… the absence of grading is a necessary condition for promoting deep thinking and a desire to engage in it.” As support, she offers other solutions and then debunks them by proving that they would not solve
As a conclusion, the grading reform had changed the school for the better. With the average ACT scores, number of students participating in the AP programs and advanced placements exams, as well as comprehensive reading exams passing rate rising, there was a remarkable increase in students’ academic achievements. The school’s focus on making a grading reform had resulted in a culture of learning at all
Runner is a novel written by Robert Newton which describes life in Richmond in 1919. The novel follows the protagonist, Charlie and his family, struggling with the effects of poverty, corruption and sorrow. However, there is an emerging theme which overpowers all these and that is the values of friendship. There are a vast amount of ‘values’ of friendship but the ones that occur in the novel are loyalty, companionship and trust. He establishes friendships with three main people in the book which are Alice, Norman Heath and Mr Redmond. The novel Runner clearly demonstrates the values of friendship.
The article written by Michael Thomsen addresses the issue: should we as a society continue using a standardized grading system. Thomsen includes many reasons supporting his ultimate conclusion that we should not continue with any system of standardized grades. However, the reasons he uses to support his conclusion are affected by significant ambiguity which weakens the overall argument.
Graff, G., Birkenstein, C., & Durst, R. K. (2009). The Growing College Gap. "They say/I say": the moves that matter in academic writing : with readings (p. 379). New York: W.W. Norton & Co.
Wilson, Robin. “A Lifetime of Student Debt? Not Likely.” They Say/I Say: The Moves That Matter In Academic Writing. Ed. Gerald Graff. 2nd ed. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2012. 256-273. Print.
In book one of Heart of Darkness, Conrad describes a mass of black bodies clinging to life in order to show the “horror” of colonialism in Africa. Conrad describes a scene of “black shapes crouched . . clinging to the earth . . . in all the attitudes of pain, abandonment, and despair.” Conrad uses the language of “pain, abandonment, and despair” to show the unjustifiable acts committed by the Europeans against the native Africans. The bodies “cling” to life because of the lack of empathy exhibited by the colonists. In addition, Conrad describes a man with a thread around his neck: “it looked startling round his black neck, this bit of white thread from beyond the seas.” The white thread symbolizes the act of white colonialism strangling the resources and life out of Africa. Furthermore, Conrad depicts the body’s “black neck” to emphasize the injustice the natives receive from the Europeans. Additionally, Conrad uses the mass of abandoned bodies to argue against any sympathy for colonialism. Moreover, Conrad uses the criticism of colonialism to explain the European attitude towards native Africans. Conrad uses imagery to describe the natives as animals in order to demonstrate the European perception of Africa. Conrad compares Marlow’s companions as a “hyena.” The animal imagery is used to compare the physical and mental bodies of the native Africans as less than “white people.”
Though her argument of intersectionality’s effectiveness presents itself though various examples of individuals sharing collective ideals, she is quick to acknowledge the heterogeneous nature of those who attended the rally, despite their unifying connection of desired peace. Such an acknowledgement offers strength to her argument that a ‘reimagined humanity’ beyond simplified, stereotypic imagery and opinions, requires some application of understood differences. Or as she concludes, “…a recognition of another’s ‘difference’ without ‘Othering’.” (Brah 44). With this I easily agree, as ‘Othering’, as Brah offers, is a readily applied tactic to justify the demonization of those individuals and or societies, transgressing the laws of one’s own. Such was undeniably present in the decontextualized portrayals of the Taliban and Afghan culture during 9/11 media coverage, resulting in dehumanized subjects to fear. The power of these tactics is also present in Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness, as the actions of English “traders” throughout the novella capitalized on such ‘Othering’. This being most apparent in their physical brutality and raids of the Congo for ivory, as they were dependent upon a disassociation from the “Others”, or the non-European “natives”. Marlow himself utilized such narratives, using descriptors like, “The prehistoric man…” (Conrad 32) and “They howled and leaped, and spun, and made horrid faces…” (Conrad 32). Thus creating dehumanizing associations about those living in the Congo consistently, which seemed to ultimately relieve Marlow of moral responsibility. Perhaps not wholly, as he wrestles with such subjects as the story progresses, but surely to a degree which permits racist and imperialistic
The Heart of Darkness, a complex text was written by Joseph Conrad around the 19th century, when Europeans were colonizing Africa for wealth and power and were attempting to spread their culture and religion in Africa. It was also a period in which women were not allowed to participate in worldly affairs. Therefore, the text deals with issues such as racism, European imperialism, and misogyny. This essay will look at the different themes in the novel and argue whether or not The Heart of Darkness is a work of art.
In the present era of decolonization, Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness presents one of fictions strongest accounts of British imperialism. Conrad’s attitude towards imperialism and race has been the subject of much literary and historical debate. Many literary critics view Conrad as accepting blindly the arrogant attitude of the white male European and condemn Conrad to be a racist and imperialists. The other side vehemently defends Conrad, perceiving the novel to be an attack on imperialism and the colonial experience. Understanding the two viewpoints side by side provides a unique understanding that leads to a commonality that both share; the novel simply presents a criticism of colonialists in Africa. The novel merely portrays a fictional account of British imperialism in the African jungle, where fiction offers maximum entertainment it lacks in focus. The novel is not a critique of European colonialism and imperialism, but rather a presentation of colonialism and the theme of darkness throughout the novel sheds a negative light on the selfishness of humanity and the system that was taking advantage of the native peoples. In Joseph Conrad’s novel, Heart of Darkness, Conrad presents a criticism of British imperial colonization not for the purpose of taking sides, but with aims of bettering the system that was in place during Conrad’s experience in the African Congo. Conrad uses the character of Marlow and his original justification of imperialism so long as it was efficient and unselfish that was later transformed when the reality of colonialism displayed the selfishness of man, to show that colonialism throughout history displaces the needs of the mother country over the colonized peoples and is thus always selfish.
Thomas, C. (2011). Is the American Dream Over? They Say, I Say: The Moves That Matter in Academic Writing (2nd ed.). New York, NY: W. W. Norton & Company.
...ch AMATYC Algebra Curriculum Reform.” 24 Jan. 2010 < http://www.amatc.org/ publications/Electronic-proceedings/LongBeach22/Steinfort.pdf> Rimer, Sara. “First Woman Takes Reins at Harvard.” The New York Times. 13 Oct. 2007. 23 Jan. 2010 “Secretary of Education Richard Riley addresses Mathematicians.” American Mathematical Society. 8 Jan. 1998. 24 Jan. 2010 Williams, Mara Rose. “What’s A Degree Really Worth?” NorthJersery.com. 24 Jan. 2010. 24 Jan. 2010 Zernike, Kate. “Making College ‘Relevant’.” The New York Times. 29 Dec. 2009. 24 Jan. 2010 < http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/03/education/edlife/03careerism-t.html>
In Heart of Darkness, cultural identity and the dominance of the European, white male is constructed and asserted through the constructions of the "other", that is the African natives and females, largely through language and setting. Thus, while claims of Conrad's forwardness in producing a text that critiques colonialism may be valid, Heart of Darkness is ultimately a product of it's time and therefore confirms the contextual notions of difference.
A statement from the Huffington Post states, “From a very young age, we are told the importance of getting good grades. Especially in high school, we are told time and time again that our grades affect what college we will get into. While grades are extremely important, people often forget about the importance of learning, not just getting good grades. There is a difference between the grade received in a course and the amount of learning that took place in the course.” Parents and institutions should teach the importance of learning. The society around the upbringing of students emphasizes getting good grades as apposed to getting every detail and aspect mastered. School priorities should be reevaluated and changed for future students
Our world has been plagued by racism before biblical times. Two of the most inhumane outgrowths of racism are detribalization and slavery. During the nineteenth-century European Imperialism, racism led to many acts of inhumanity by Europeans, particularly in Africa. Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness presents us with a fictional account of these inhumane acts in Africa illustrating that racism and its outgrowths are the most cruel examples of man's inhumanity to man.