Although Joseph Conrad’s famous novella, Heart of Darkness, focuses frequently on the corruption of Imperialism and Imperialist colonies, Conrad also heavily voices truths about the desire for personal gain—the heart of darkness—and how this yearning often stems from another person’s ideas, one who also seeks to gain. Similarly, T.S. Eliot’s, “The Hollow Men,” highlights the spiritual and emotional bankruptcy present in the aftermath of World War II, the fear of having accomplished nothing, and the almost certain submission to what can be called “Conrad’s heart of darkness.” In light of their similarities, both the book and the poem exemplify a universal concept: Many people will fail to think for themselves, which leads to the struggle between peoples’ thoughts, desires, and hopes, and their “stuff[ing]” themselves with the ideas implanted by others., which in turn causes them to be nothing but empty shells—absent of thought and emotion.
When Marlow’s comes to the end of his story on the Nellie, after Kurtz’s death, he recounts the reasons why Kurtz ventured into Africa into the first place. In his visits with Kurtz’s “Intended”, he realizes that her elegance, her “guileless, profound, confident, and trustful” face, and her desire for Kurtz to make a name for himself had forced him into going to Africa to discover riches. As Marlow retells it, Kurtz never had a desire to journey to Africa in search of a job in the ivory trading business, but because his engagement with the “Intended” “had been disapproved by her people” because “he wasn’t rich enough or something” (70) demonstrates the fact that he had no direction of his own—he simply followed what the world led him to believe. In this case, society highlighted his weakness thr...
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...and the novella point out a universal concept: The problem with the people is that they listen to the world, especially when society tells them that they are not good enough or are lacking in certain facets of both character and appearance. Heart of Darkness demonstrates this through the society’s view of Kurtz’s engagement with his “Intended” and how they judged him severely because he was not rich enough. “The Hollow Men” exemplifies this concept through its constant repetition of the couplet “we are the hollow men” “we are the stuffed men.” Ultimately, both of these pieces teach us that in order to completely truly be satisfied—unlike Kurtz, and unlike the men Eliot describes who in the end die “not with a bang but a whimper”—people must follow their own reasons rather than listening to the continuously rising standards of a society that is impossible to please.
What is the important message, or theme, in this book? Why do you think the author felt this message was important? Support your answer with three specific quotes or pieces of evidence from the text.
Kurtz was the chief of the Inner Station, where he was in charge of a very important ivory-trading post. Marlow learns that because of Kurtz’s ability to obtain more ivory than anybody else, he is of “greatest importance to the Company” and is to become a “somebody in the Administration” (Conrad 143). However, a critical aspect is the way in which he went about his business, as it was ruthless and selfish, characteristics that go hand-in-hand with European colonization.
“The Hollow Men” by T.S. Eliot is a poem of struggle for meaning amongst the meaningless. T.S. Eliot shows the reader how in this day and age society is becoming less and less active and beginning to become more careless in the way in which we live and behave, as represented throughout the poem. It brings out all of our worlds weaknesses and flaws. Eliot brings out the fact that the human race is disintegrating. We are compared to as hollow men with no emotions, cares, and nothing inside. Hollow men all look different in some way, but inside we are all the same. We shift in whatever direction we are being blown in. In The Hollow Men, by T.S. Eliot examines the absence of spiritual guidance, lack of communication between individuals, and absence of direction of outstanding and pro founding leadership.
Kurtz is introduced as a respectable and powerful man because he is known for his wisdom and his nobility. His mission in the Congo is to save the natives from their barbaric way of life and make it more similar to the European, through colonization. He believes that in order for his plan to work he must present himself as a confident god-like leader “…must necessarily appear to them [savages] in the nature of supernatural beings – we approach them with the might as of a deity.” 1 In order to control the situation, the natives must relate to them, and trust them. However, as Kurtz gains more power over the natives he gets blinded by it, instead of civilizing the natives by stripping away their primitive ways, he dehumanizes them, and himself too. Kurtz does not understand how the natives live, and does not try to, therefore making him seem ignorant, which is ironic to the character he is known to be. He trusts in colonization, where the natives should mimic the European culture. His renowned success in the company; consequently convinces others that his actions are moral, however it creates a shadow that prevents...
Without personal access to authors, readers are left to themselves to interpret literature. This can become challenging with more difficult texts, such as Joseph Conrad’s novella Heart of Darkness. Fortunately, literary audiences are not abandoned to flounder in pieces such as this; active readers may look through many different lenses to see possible meanings in a work. For example, Conrad’s Heart of Darkness may be deciphered with a post-colonial, feminist, or archetypal mindset, or analyzed with Freudian psycho-analytic theory. The latter two would effectively reveal the greater roles of Kurtz and Marlow as the id and the ego, respectively, and offer the opportunity to draw a conclusion about the work as a whole.
Throughout its entirety, Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness utilizes many contrasts and paradoxes in an attempt to teach readers about the complexities of both human nature and the world. Some are more easily distinguishable, such as the comparison between civilized and uncivilized people, and some are more difficult to identify, like the usage of vagueness and clarity to contrast each other. One of the most prominent inversions contradicts the typical views of light and dark. While typically light is imagined to expose the truth and darkness to conceal it, Conrad creates a paradox in which darkness displays the truth and light blinds us from it.
The mind is a wonderful thing. It allows us to think on three very different levels. One we choose to express, one we don’t choose to express, and one we do not even know exists. All these stages of thinking are clouded over in Joseph Conrad’s The Heart of Darkness. Three menacing forces occur that completely take over the white man to act inappropriately. They accuse others of acting savage, when they violently act against people of other cultures. They conform to specific beliefs, and push aside their subconscious thoughts. These men also have an abundance of ignorance that makes them feel false superiority. The Heart of Darkness reaches into the minds of readers, to prove that all of civilization is surrounded by an abundance of forces that can fog our mind, and darken our hearts.
Marlow reinforces that Kurtz represents “ ‘all [of] Europe’ ” and that his immense wealth in ivory and including his role as a figurehead upon the natives serves as a representation of the European society as well. This representation of Kurtz by Marlow helps unravel his mystery by describing Kurtz as an emissary for Europe that will hopefully also unravel the problematic nuances of Europe in the future. Marlow arrives in the inner station and meets the Russian before Kurtz, the narrator on the Nellie with Marlow claims that the Russian “nodded with a nod full of mystery and wisdom” when he had told Marlow about his experiences with Kurtz (52). The Russian supports the mystery behind Kurtz as well by explaining impact he leaves upon him. This claim by the narrator elucidates that some of Kurtz’s “charm” rubs off on those who are fortunate enough to meet him, therefore describing Kurtz as a some kind of enrichment to life
Conrad, Joseph. “Heart of Darkness.” Norton Anthology of British Literature. 7th Edition. Vol. B. Ed. M. H. Abrams, et. al. New York: W. W. Norton, 2001.
Beyond the shield of civilization and into the depths of a primitive, untamed frontier lies the true face of the human soul. It is in the midst of this savagery and unrelenting danger that mankind confronts the brooding nature of his inner self. Joseph Conrad’s novel, Heart of Darkness, is the story of one man's insight into life as he embarks on a voyage to the edges of the world. Here, he meets the bitter, yet enlightening forces that eventually shape his outlook on life and his own individuality. Conrad’s portrayal of the characters, setting, and symbols, allow the reader to reflect on the true nature of man.
Joseph Conrad: Heart of Darkness, A Case Study in Contemporary Criticism , ed. Ross C. Murfin. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1989.
Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad may be a narrative about colonisation, revealing its drawbacks and corruption, but it may also be understood as a journey into the depths of one’s psyche, if taken at a symbolic level.
It is evident that Marlow is one of the few white men on the journey that questions the belief at the time that the natives of Africa are "inhu...
* Conrad, Joseph. “Heart of Darkness” in The Norton Anthology of English Literature, M.H. Abrams, general editor. (London: W.W. Norton, 1962, 2000)
The "Heart of Darkness," written by Joseph Conrad in 1899 as a short story, is about two men who face their own identities as what they consider to be civilized Europeans and the struggle to not to abandon their themselves and their morality once they venture into the "darkness." The use of "darkness" is in the book's title and in throughout the story and takes on a number of meanings that are not easily understood until the story progresses. As you read the story you realize that the meaning of "darkness" is not something that is constant but changes depending on the context it used.