Category: Heart of Darkness

In Sven Lindqvist, “Exterminate All the Brutes”, he explores in depth the impression that European colonialism has on civilization, and argues that the ideas of “enlightenment” in the social and human evolutions had become the logical reasoning behind what he believes to be genocide. The title itself, spawns from the fictional and horrifying tale of…

Marlow is a very skeptical man of the individuals surrounding him, which leads him to having a very independent mind. He has the ability to draw images within a story an individual is telling. From the opening of the book, Conrad uses imagery of light and dark and discusses London. Marlow and Conrad work together…

Joseph Conrad’s, Heart of Darkness, displays the effects of imperialism and the invasive brutality on natives during the late nineteenth century. These effects are also displayed in Rudyard Kipling’s poem, “The White Man’s Burden.” These works showcase the themes of darkness and savagery among the colonization of natives. Heart of Darkness and “The White Man’s…

Marlow’s feelings towards Mr. Kurtz go through different phases. Let’s start, not to lose the habit, for the beginning. The first time Marlow mentions Kurtz he describes him apathetically; Marlow is not “too interested in him”. It is not until he hears Kurtz’s story when he returns to the jungle that Marlow becomes fascinated. This…

Pay close attention to how Francis Ford Coppola makes similar statements about US involvement in Southeast Asia during the 1960s as Joseph Conrad does in Heart of Darkness concerning Europe’s intervention in Africa during the 1880s and 1890s. Both artists also create works of art that on the human condition and the psychology of man.…

Since the beginning of the seventeenth century, Europeans began to explore and conquer creating the idea of imperialism. In Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness the main character, Marlow, an introspective sailor, is sent on a journey up the Congo River to meet Kurtz. Kurtz is a ivory trader in Africa and commander of a trading…

Heart of Darkness was one of the most challenging books I’ve ever read so I found that class discussions and focusing on specific passages were both super helpful in better understanding what was going on. Since the novel is pretty dense, it was sometimes hard to interpret everything going on, but after reading for homework…

“Marlow moves to the beginning of his story into the heart of darkness. In order to get a job at the trading company, Marlow betakes to his aunt. However, she manages to get him a job as a steamboat captain. Marlow goes to Brussels, the headquarters of the Company, to get his appointment. On his…

Heart of Darkness has long been considered a triumph of 20th century English-language literature and its exploration of the darkness inside man has long provoked analysis by critics. But renowned Nigerian author and preeminent scholar on African culture, Chinua Achebe, has a markedly different view. In a 1975 lecture, he denounced Heart of Darkness as…

In Heart of Darkness, both the content and the form of Marlow’s narration consistently draw attention to and undermine language. Through relating his journey into the Congo, Marlow considers the role of speech in creating the self, and alternates between rejecting language completely and acknowledging his own reliance on it. In Marlow’s tale, Africans embody…