Two Themes in Heart Of Darkness
analytical Essay
798 words
Two Themes in Heart Of Darkness
There are many themes that run through the novel Heart of Darkness.
There are however two main and significant ones. These are the theme of
restraint and man's journey into self.
The importance of restraint is stressed throughout Heart of
Darkness. In the novel Marlow is saved by restraint, while Kurtz is doomed
by his lack of it.
Marlow felt different about Africa before he went, because the
colonization of the Congo had "an idea at the back of it." Despite an
uneasiness, he assumed that restraint would operate there. He soon reaches
the Company station and receives his first shock, everything there seems
meaningless. He sees no evidence here of that "devotion to efficiency"
that makes the idea work. In the middle of this, Marlow meets a "miracle".
The chief accountant has the restraint that it takes to get the job done.
He keeps up his apearance and his books are in "apple-pie order." Marlow
respects this fellow because he has a backbone.
"The cannibals some of those ignorant millions, are almost totally
characterized by restraint." They outnumber the whites "thirty to five"
and could easily fill their starving bellies. 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." "He owes no
allegiance to anything except those animal powers, those various lusts,
those unpermitted aspirations lurking in the darkness of his inner station.
Marlow also responds to these dark callings, and he almost becomes their
captive. He confuses the beat of the drum (the call to man's primitive
side) with his own heartbeat, and is pleased. Yet he does not slip over
the edge as Kurtz does. Marlow keeps to the track. When he is confronted
with the ultimate evil where a man "must fall back on (his) own innate
strength, upon (his) own capacity for faithfulness," he is able to do so,
In this essay, the author
- Analyzes the themes of restraint and man's journey into self in the novel heart of darkness.
- Analyzes how marlow felt different about africa before he went, because thecolonization of the congo had "an idea at the back of it."
- Analyzes how marlow meets a "miracle". the chief accountant has the restraint that it takes to get the job done.
- Analyzes how kurtz is the essence of the lack of restraint marlow sees.
- Analyzes how kurtz has "kicked himself loose from the earth." marlow responds to these dark callings, and he almost becomes theircaptive.
- Analyzes how marlow shows restraint when confronted with the ultimate evil where a man must fall back on his innate strength, upon his own capacity for faithfulness.
- Analyzes how conrad tries to show us that marlow is what kurtz had been. every human has a little of both. they discover their trueselves through contact with savage natives.
- Analyzes how marlow feels he is travelling back through time. he sees the unsettled wilderness and can feel the darkness of it's solitude.
- Analyzes how marlow discovered the evil side and became corrupted by his power and isolation. only near the time of death, does a person grasp the big picture.
- Analyzes how kurtz's last "supreme moment of completeknowledge," showed him how horrible the human soul really can be.
- Concludes that the themes of restraint and man's journey into selfrun through heart of darkness become intertwined.
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- Analyzes how heart of darkness is based on conrad's personal experience in the congo in 1890, during which king leopold of belgium colonizes central africa.
- Analyzes how marlow's exaggeration in detailing black people like an animal and at the same time acting surprised that their body the description of a human being is overtly racist.
- Analyzes how oblivious the critics are to racialism by ignoring the stereotypes and ruthless language that are used to depict the congolese people.
- Analyzes how the novel is an important document because it shows africa based on conrad’s experience, and especially since it was considerate to be a piece of art by critics.
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- Analyzes how the profound words of mr. kurtz are a judgement of his malevolent life and of humanity in general.
- Analyzes how kurtz judged his selfish, greedy, and heartless past which caused his words, "the horror!" to be voiced. he violated many african villages while attempting to steal their ivory.
- Analyzes how kurtz believed everything belonged to him both physically and mentally. his employment was unknown, which symbolized that he was important to people and held a position of many occupations.
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- Analyzes how thomas hendriks explains that in africa's interior white men and women are considered supernatural and godly.
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- Analyzes how joseph conrad uses the two paradigms liberally in his interpretation of european colonialism in heart of darkness.
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- Explains that kurtz is consumed by the savagery in the jungle so he is now known to be taken over by darkness. he reaches a level of lowliness where no amount of light can help him recover.
- Analyzes how marlow's innocence is shown when she praises kurtz for being a remarkable man, but she doesn't know the truth about his crimes in the congo.
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In this essay, the author
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