Similarities in Conrad's The Secret Sharer and Heart of Darkness
Joseph Conrad's books, The Secret Sharer and Heart of Darkness, both
deal with each of our "dark selves". These books also have similarities
which are overwhelming. In describing the true inner self of humans,
Conrad used many symbols which have become apparent in many of his novels.
Conrad uses the same or very similar objects in many of his works.
Joseph Conrad wrote Heart of Darkness in 1899 to recount his
voyages in the Congo. Conrad hid most of his meaning in his words using a
form of writing known as "stream of consciousness". This made it difficult
for people to find the true meaning of his work. After about ten years,
Conrad realized that he would have to get his point across in an easier to
understand book. This book was The Secret Sharer.
Both of these books include the hero wanting to meet or developing
a fascination for a truly evil character. In Heart of Darkness, Marlow is
very eager to meet Kurtz. Marlow is so eager, in fact, that he eventually
starts to panic when he thinks he will never meet him. Marlow realizes
that Kurtz is a very evil person, but this does not stop him from wanting
to meet this incredibly remarkable person. In The Secret Sharer the
Captain saves a murderer from almost certain death without knowing what the
man has done. Later, The Captain has a discussion with the man and finds
out his name is Leggatt. Leggatt tells his story and the Captain becomes
more enthralled with Leggatt ever so more. When Leggatt tells the Captain
he has committed a murder, the Captain does not throw him overboard.
Instead, the Captain harbors this criminal because he feels a connection
with Leggatt that he has never felt before. In both stories the hero
identifies with his evil counterpart to the point that they actually become
one in their own minds. Conrad wanted to show the evil that exists within
all of us.
The bulk of Conrad's stories deal with sea voyages because of his
extensive sailing as a young man. The ship in his writing can be thought
of as symbolizing the journey through life, a vessel of sorts.
Conrad’s interpretation of imperialism is an interesting view of the matter. He successfully portrays his perception of imperialism through his novella, Heart of Darkness. He developed his own impressionistic style within his novel and is coined as one of the most difficult authors to comprehend. His use of the tools within his area of expertise allows the novella to unfold before the readers’ eyes. His ability to manipulate the art of language into an intricately woven design made of simple words is an astounding capability and is a primary reason for the success of Heart of Darkness. In the final chapters of the novella, the protagonist Marlow is sailing away from the dark heart of the Congo with an ailing Kurtz. As the boat makes its decent from the depth of the jungle, symbolically, Kurtz is leaving the savagery in which he was engaged. With each passing mile, he becomes more civilized and ultimately comes to the realization of the error of his ways. Symbolically, as he leaves the darkness of the heart of the river, he becomes sane and civilized and comprehends th...
Jack Daniels Distillery has overcome several obstacles over the years. In the early 1900’s it was forced to shut down its distillery in Lynchburg and move to St.
Apocalypse Now is a very vivid and sometimes disturbing film centered on the Vietnam War. Because it was based on Joseph Conrad's novella Heart of Darkness, it is possible to draw some parallels between the two. Both can be interpreted as metaphors for a journey through the inner self, and each has its own singular message to convey. Apocalypse Now very perspicuously depicts the fact that men have hearts of darkness, and it explores the evils of war. At the same time, however, it seemingly glorifies some aspects. The anti-war sequences were often brutal and portrayed destruction as a result of the human condition. The film Apocalypse Now, directed by Francis Ford Coppola, can be interpreted both as pro-war and anti-war in its intent, although the latter is a more valid interpretation.
In the book “Heart of Darkness”, Joseph Conrad wrote about the horrors that were committed by Leopold’s regime. As one of the first insider to witness these horrors, he wrote “Heart of Darkness”, with this book, he was able to spread the word about the atrocities he had seen in Leopold’s greedy pursuit of rubber and ivory in the congo. This book details closely how Leopold made his humongous profit. Leopold issued decrees on the Congo such as that the native people may only trade with his state agents or with his concessions. Leopold’s concessions were private companies that would sell the ivory and rubber, they would give Leopold 50% of their profits. The Abir Congo Company was one of these concessions that harvest the natural rubber of the Congo.They were granted a large portion of the land in the north and had the right to impose a rubber tax on its inhabitants. It was through concessions like these but also from his personal company (the Congo Free State) that Leopold created his personal wealth. This book brings us one step closer to answering our question since it tells us how Leopold got ahold of all of his profits. But this brings us to another question of, exactly how much money did the Congo bring to Leopold II?
Using these ironic terms shows that Conrad wanted to exploit the Native people of Africa and the European people working in Africa through a postcolonial analysis. Whether or not this story has some truth to it as to when Conrad did travel to the Congo is not known. But there is not escaping the premeditated attempts by Conrad to illustrate these two separate cultures as ones whose qualities intersected and overlapped.
Friedrich Nietzsche once provided one of the truest opinions on power that the world has ever heard when he said, “All things are subject to interpretation whichever interpretation prevails at a given time is a function of power and not truth”. The promises and truths that those who gain power spread to their people are not always for the greater good. The worst leaders of people are the ones that put more effort and thought into jerking off their own ego rather than putting any real heartfelt effort into helping their people. These sociopathic evil dictators use their power to try and brainwash the minds of people who have to live under them with their own beliefs and hidden agendas, foolishly believing that they are a “savior”. There has yet to be a situation with a leader of a community who has this type of unchecked power and influence with a happy ending. Perhaps the greatest story ever written about good vs. evil, madness, abuse of power along with influence, and nature just might be Heart of Darkness. Heart of Darkness, written by Joseph Conrad tells the story of an agent named Marlow, who experiences hellish conditions and behaviors whilst trying to rescue a man named Kurtz, who turns out to be quite a handful. Throughout this journey the moral ramifications of both Kurtz and Marlow’s actions are left to be interpreted by the audience after Kurtz goes mad and becomes the catalyst of the events that transpire throughout the plot. Conrad uses his real life events along with themes of greed, power, and obsession to show what causes Kurtz who acts a symbol for the leaders of the real world to go mad and abuse power.
The aim of this work is a comparison between the novel "Heart of Darkness" and "Apocalypse Now," Francis F. Coppola film loosely adapted from the novel by Conrad. “Apocalypse Now” was performed as film based on the text of Conrad and placing it in the context of the Vietnam War. Although several elements were added, such as characters and situations that are not in the text, the film reflects in many ways “Heart of Darkness” in the history and development. Adapting the work of Conrad, many abstract things that are not in the text, jump to the screen. In other words, text transformation into visual representation vision adds a vision of evil in men, the fear of death, nostalgia for the home, etc. The film has
Zins, Henryk S. "Joseph Conrad and the Early British Critics of Colonialism in the Congo." Lubelskie Materiały Neofilologiczne 22.(1998): 155-169. MLA International Bibliography. EBSCO. Sun. 08 May 2011.
This essay consists of two separate parts but the intention is that both these parts will prove to be relevant from the point of view of what this essay sets out to study. The first part will present Joseph Conrad's life and some of his works and the latter part will consist of a comparison of two of Conrad's works, Heart of Darkness and The Secret Agent. In this essay I will begin from two assumptions, namely, that both the works mentioned above include clearly identifiable similarities in their narration, theme and method, and, that Conrad's own experiences and views have had great effect on both works.
Due to the good establishment of the business, it has huge market national. The company has therefore opened many retail shops and stores all over the country to ensure that their products are accessible to the customers. The entity provides a favorable environment, and many clients view the place as a fun shopping place to be. The retailer has targeted a big pool of customer because of the variety of products it sells. The stores products vary from kitchen goods, jewelry, and electronics clothes to hardware
The Indian retail industry has emerged as one of the most dynamic and fast-paced industries due to the entry of several new players. It accounts for over 10 per cent of the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and around 8 per cent of the employment. India is the world’s fifth-largest global destination in the retail space.
In Joseph Conrad’s unforgettable novel, Heart of Darkness, the profound words of Mr. Kurtz are a judgement of his malevolent life and of humanity in general. “The horror! The horror!” are the uttered words of Kurtz as he returned with Marlow from his civilization in Africa. Conrad left the words open for interpretation, leaving many readers feeling indifferent. As Kurtz encountered death, he reflected on his past and was fond of leaving the diabolical world that he inhabited. He was pleased to be dying due to his own evil, greedy actions as well as the inequality within humanity.
2. Organized Retail: The emergence of organized retail have lead to more variety with ease in browsing, opportunity to compare with different products in a category, one stop destination (entertainment, food and shopping) etc, which is playing an important role in bringing boom in the Indian FMCG market. Currently the modern trade is capturing 5% of the total retail space, which will increase to 10% and 25% in 2010 and 2025 respectively. Also, as the credit card and organized retail trend picks up, people won’t think much while buying and buy more.
...he also tries to tell us that like Kurtz, some men can stray so far that it becomes impossible to come back.
Joseph Conrad's novel, "Heart of Darkness", depicts events in his personal life and how he came to believe that the European invasion of the African Congo needed to end. Joseph Conrad had a boyhood fascination of maps and the blank spaces on the African continent. Therefore, when the opportunity was given to him to become the captain of a small steamship on the Congo River, he jumped at the chance. In addition to Conrad's sense of adventure, he also had a curiosity of King Leopold's actions in the Belgium Congo and had a strong desire to witness firsthand the action taking place. After learning his assigned ship was undergoing repairs, he accompanied another crew on passenger ship assigned to bring back an ailing company agent, George Klein, who later died on the return trip. These events provided the backdrop so to speak of Conrad's novel, Heart of Darkness. The character of "Kurtz" was modeled after the company agent, George Klein. Although, Conrad never names the Congo or other significant landmarks, he later admits the book a "snapshot' of his trip in the African Congo. (Longman p2189).