Joseph Conrad uses the literary device of foreshadowing in his work, Heart of Darkness, to set the mood and set the stage for his ironic plot to unfold. The foretelling begins when Marlow, the novel’s main character, narrates a brief reflection “… of very old times, when Romans first came here” to carry out their conquest of England, suggesting that this Roman conquest was similar to the Belgian efforts to colonize Africa (p. 1635). Conrad, a sailor at the young age of seventeen, tells his story through the character of Marlow who recounts the adventures during his quest to retrieve the bones of a murdered sailor. Marlow’s experiences are much like the Roman’s conquest as they both faced the darkness of a treacherous path, overrun terrain, untamed natives, and personal self-doubt. Marlow must travel through threatening mazelike wastelands, and voyage down hundreds of miles of dark Thames River, as he moves from one decaying station to another during his mission that is quickly losing its original purpose. This is comparable to the Roman’s discovery of “[a] military camp lost in the wilderness [after venturing through] cold, fog, tempests, disease, exile and death” (p. 1636). Similarly, we learn that the infamous Kurtz travels the same such trails to gather ivory, navigating such dangers not for noble causes, but simply so that the Europeans can have finer piano keys or billiard balls. All three scenarios find their hero’s expedition ends without a glorious victory of honor or riches. Perhaps it is Kurtz, the influential chief of the inner station, who is depicted when Marlow’s account references a commander “[man] enough to face the darkness. And perhaps he was cheered by keeping his eye on a chance of promotion to the fl... ... middle of paper ... ... a great man, Kurtz, to observe and learn from his actions, and to revel in his perceived greatness, however, the great Kurtz had already succumbed to the jungle before Marlow even knew of the man’s existence. From the onset, each experience of Marlow’s quest was riddled with bewildering challenges and produced twisted, rather than expected, outcomes. Upon every twist, Marlow finds himself becoming disenchanted with his intended mission due to the cruel misfortunes he encountered along the way. Additionally, Marlow’s inability to control the situation led to both personal frustration and doubt. Marlow’s own emotional and philosophical journey is nearly as dark as the physical evil lurking in the native filled jungles of Africa. Marlow was trapped by his circumstances before his journey began, resulting in his own regret, disgust, desire to surrender and hatred.
3. Kurtz, who is not the protagonist or antagonist is a very significant character in the book as Marlow and Kurtz essentially form a team as the novel progresses. He is the chief of the Inner Station and Marlow basically follows him. Kurtz is a man of many talents (he is a talented musician and painter). His abilities are nothing without his charisma and his ability to lead. Kurtz is a man who understands the power of words, and his writings present a complexity that obscures their horrifying message (his writings are often hard to understand, as they are complex in structure, often hiding the morbid message behind them). Although he remains a “puzzle,” e...
The Novella Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad is about an Ivory agent, Marlow, who is also the narrator of his journey up the Congo River into the heart of Africa. Marlow witnesses many new things during his journey to find Mr. Kurtz. In Apocalypse Now, the narrator is Captain Willard, who is also on a journey to find Kurtz. The Kurtz in the movie however is an American colonel who broke away from the American army and decided to hide away in Cambodia, upon seeing the reality of the Vietnam War. The poem “The Hollow Men” talks about how humans’ “hollowness” affects their lives and often leads to the destruction of one’s life. These three works all deal with similar issues, and are related to one another in many ways, and also share somewhat similar themes.
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.
Marlow had a realization about the darkness within man's soul. His helmsman, whom Marlow viewed with a kind of partnership, was killed by the natives sent by Kurtz, and his body fell bleeding upon Marlow's feet. In that moment, Marlow begins thinking about the evil which is involved in the entire ivory trade operation, and which he later finds Kurtz is engulfed in. Marlow immediately removes his bloodied shoes and throws them overboard. This can be seen as an action showing how Marlow wanted to remove himself from all of the violence, bloodshed and evil of the ivory trade he was involved in. Marlow continues to grasp the essential nature of man's heart of darkness later on in the story when he is conversing with Kurtz in the woods. There, he "struggled with a soul." Marlow's mind set changes from seeing all of the glory and profit involved in the ivory trade, to also seeing the horribly evil involved, the death and destruction. Almost every other white in the ivory trade is in it for profit, as Kurtz was. When asked, one of the men who traveled into Congo said he was in it "just for the money, of course." Marlow realizes that, in Kurtz's operation especially, there is much evil involved. The darkness had "got into his veins, consumed his flesh, and sealed his soul to it own by the inconceivable ceremonies of some devilish initiation." Powers of darkness had "claimed him for their own." Kurtz was reported to "preside at certain midnight dances ending with unspeakable rites, which-as far as I reluctantly gathered from what I heard at various times -were offered up to him." All of theses show how Kurtz allowed himself to become engulfed in evil and darkness.
Kurtz once was considered an honorable man, but living in the Congo separated from his own culture he changed greatly. In the jungle he discovers his evil side, secluded from the rest of his own society he becomes corrupted by power. "My Ivory. My people, my ivory, my station, my river," everything was under Kurtz's reign. While at Kurtz's camp Marlow encounters the broken roof on Kurtz's house, the "black hole," this is a sign of the uncivilized. The black hole represents the unknown and unconquered, and therefore represents the uncivilized. Also, Marlow notices the "black heads" on Kurt...
Marlow is the raconteur of Heart of Darkness, and therefore is one of the more crucial characters within the plot. He embodies the willingness to be valiant, resilient, and gallant, while similarly seeming to be cautiously revolutionary. He is, seemingly the epitome of bravery, going into the jungle. Marlow’s voyage is, in essence, a “night journey into the unconscious, the confrontation with an entity within the self” (Guerard 38). The ominous coast is an allegory for the idea of the unconscious mind. “Watching a coast as it slips by the ship […] there it is before you—smiling, frowning, inviting, grand, mean, insipid, or savage, and always mute with an air of whispering” (1...
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.
This is true because of the unique values that Marlow possesses, which allow him to assert Mr. Kurtz as a remarkable individual. Through the actions and words of Mr. Kurtz, and other individuals Marlow encounters, Marlow is able to gain an overall perception of how characteristics of Mr. Kurtz deem him remarkable. Through the development of the narrative, Marlow establishes that Mr.
... to a man's soul. Marlow's journey was not only into the heart of Africa, but also into the heart of Kurtz where he realizes the truth of colonialism and the potential evil it entails.
Before Marlow became a seaman, as an adult, he knew that part of his identity involved travel and escapades to the unknown, “ Now when I was a little chap I had a passion for maps. I would look for hours at South America, or Africa, or Australia, and lose myself in all the glories of exploration,” (Conrad 255). This quotation may not reveal who Marlow right away, but by knowing he had a passion for maps, and looked at hours at different countries, we can analyze that Marlow had the sense of adventure as a child. As that young child Marlow found his identity by sense of travel, “ At that time there were many blank spaces on the earth, and when I saw one that looked particularly inviting on a map ( but they all look that) I would put my finger on it and say, When I grow up I will go there,” (Conrad 255). From this we are able to glimpse who Marlow will most likely become, an adventurer, set to travel the world. As time passed and Marlow grew, his identity changed for the better. Unlike Marlow’s identity Kurtz’s identity did not change for the better, but for the worse, “ I seemed to hear the whispered cry, ‘ The horror! The horror!’,” (Conrad 306). With this quotation we are able to catch a glimpse of Kurtz’s life, part of his identity. These are his last words, but with these words you can tell that Kurtz realizes that what he has done in life is not good, but awful. Conrad
...s to look at Kurtz as a hero for all that he had accomplished, no matter how evil. Marlow?s obstacles as the hero are not the overcoming of a dragon or evil villain. It is the eternal battle of the story of a Hero versus Antihero. Marlow?s blindness to Kurtz?s impurities are both his strength and weakness. His ignorance to the greatness of his own qualities can best be stated one way: ?The Horror.?
In conclusion, it is easy to understand how Kurtz came to his conclusions and how a person who is being viewed as “Godlike” might abuse that phenomenon in a questionable way. This is further supported by the fact that Marlow was swayed to believe that the Africans were savages as they attacked his ship. It wasn’t until later that he concluded the attack was prompted by the African’s fear that he would take Kurtz away.
Marlow has gone through three mental phases throughout his trip to Africa which have forever changed him. He has become wise. He has not just experienced new cultures but he has completed an extremely tough mental journey. After this journey had ended he experienced extreme changes to his psyche which had occured on his way to and from the Congo. He begins as a naive sailor who longs for adventure, which represents the superego. Then as he became isolated on the Congo, away from society’s restraints his id instincts came out. He has the courage to continue and when he returns to society, his ego balances his id and superego.
On one hand, Marlow is saved by his self-discipline while on the other hand Kurtz is doomed by his lack of it. Before Marlow embarked on his voyage to Africa, he had a different view. Due to propaganda, he believed that the colonization of the Congo was for the greater good. In his head, he judged that the people of Africa were savages and that colonization would bring them the elation and riches of civilization. Despite an apparent uneasiness, he assumed that restraint would function there.
The yarns of seamen have a direct simplicity, the whole meaning of which lies within the shell of a cracked nut. But Marlow was not typical (if his propensity to spin yarns be expected), and to him the meaning of an episode was not inside like a kernel but outside, enveloping the tale which brought it out only as a glow brings out a haze…. (Miller 68)