The heart of darkness

The question of colonialism:
Colonisation vs. Conquest- Colonisation “idea” of peace, without violence- truth is different; Conquest is very violent from the beginning; notion of colonization as a destructive, rather than constructive, force;

Journey:

• the journey into the heart of Africa= darkness

• symbolic journey into the past of European culture

• thanks to the journey Marlows finds out that there are differences between him and the Africans, as well as simmilarities.

• when Marlow survives, his journey to Heart of Darkness has to be resumed

SYMBOLISM:

Light and Dark

Contrary to popular usage, light does not necessarily symbolize pure goodness or enlightenment here. Conrad's vision is so dark that he does not even trust light. Marlow makes the comment that "sunlight can be made to lie, too." In fact, light often gives way to darkness in the novel. There are numerous instances of the sun setting and plunging the world into night. Darkness, of course, represents the unknown, that which is feared, evil, silence, madness, and death. Then you've got the white sepulcher city in London, the white ivory in the jungle, and the creepy women dressed in black. Everything gets complicated further when you consider the fact that Marlow compares white men to black men, and that Marlow concludes (potentially) that these men are all the same. If this is true, lightness is darkness, darkness is lightness, and it's all a big hairy mess. Conrad uses light and darkness in all the possible connotations good and evil, civilized and savage, truth and lies, innocence and experience, idea and practice, philanthropy and exploitation.

The Congo River

Literally, the Congo River is the means by which the Europeans enter the region. It is also their main method of transportation. Marlow equates (porównuje) the river with a coiled (wijącym się) snake. Thus, it is a symbol of danger; it lies in wait, ready to strike. It should be noted that Marlow's journey upriver, into the heart of the Congo, is a very time-consuming and arduous. This suggests that the journey into oneself is both a slow and difficult task.

Darkness

Darkness is an important symbol in the novel. Marlow's tale opens and closes in darkness, and many of the novel's significant events happen in darkness as well. As a symbol darkness represents the core of our being. It is what's left after we throw off the illusions and comforts of civilization, a tremendous emptiness. It is the symbolic equivalent of Kurt's message "The horror! The horror!"

Decapitated(ścięte) Heads

When Marlow first arrives at Kurtz's station, he thinks he sees a line of ornamented posts surrounding the main house. Upon closer inspection he realizes that the posts are topped by human heads. These heads provide the most direct evidence of Kurtz's "unsound" methods or, to some, his insanity. They also symbolize the savage and brutal nature that lies within each of us.

Ivory(kość słoniowa)

Ivory is the main reason the Europeans come to the Congo. It is a symbol of lust and greed. As an object, ivory is something pure and beautiful, but the means of acquiring it are very ugly. Ivory also operates as a symbol of whiteness or European culture.

The Intended

Literally, the Intended is Kurtz's fiancée. As a symbol she represents all of the values and morals that Europeans "intended" to bring to the Congo. Of course, their lust for ivory makes any altruistic actions impossible.

Kurtz's painting

Kurtz's painting, an image of a blindfolded (zawiÄ…zane oczy) woman carrying a torch (pochodnia), is a significant symbol in the story. Readers may be reminded of the blindfolded symbol of justice. In this way, the painting can allude to the tremendous injustices that take place at the hands of the Europeans. But the figure also represents European colonization. The torch is the "light" of culture that Europeans are supposedly bringing to the region, while the blindfold represents the "blind" eye they must turn to accomplish their activities.

MAP

white spots; wild places that haven't been discovered yet;

yellow= disease

wilderness= darkness

Marlow vs. Kurtz:

Similarities:

• they are both storytellers

• Marlow " the voice coming from the darkness"

• Kurtz - the powerful voice

• both well-educated, civilized

Differences:

• they have different knowledge about themselves

• different sense of superiority

• Marlow notices only slight differences between him and the natives

• he realizes he's not the superior and he survives

• Marlow as Budda ( a teacher) - he teaches but he hasn't been taught enought

• Kurtz feels superior, wants to opresssavage customs:

• behaves as a deity

• a guide who teaches the savage but it;s an oficial version

• he doesn't notices but he himself become even more savage than the natives

• he thinks he's godlike and not capable of fall -> that's why he falls

The narrative technique:

The narrative technique used in "Heart of Darkness", is one of a story within a story. Although the primary narrator is Marlow, there is a second narrator, unnamed, who tells us about Marlow telling his story. There is also a third voice added to this narration which can be considered the author himself, who is really telling the whole story. This "story within a story" technique is called a "frame story".

Colonization as Destruction

Major theme in the novel is the notion of colonization as a destructive, rather than constructive, force.

Kurtz's initial approach to colonization is very altruistic; he believes that each company station "'should be like a beacon on the road toward better things,

a center for trade of course but also for humanising, improving, instructing.'"

Kurtz is not alone in this philosophy. The International Society for the Suppression of Savage Customs, which commissions Kurtz to write a report, is likely an organization that believes in "civilizing" the inhabitants of Congo. Even Marlow's aunt, who helps to secure his position, is pleased that her nephew will help in "weaning those ignorant millions from their horrid ways."

Of course, the reality of colonization is very bleak. As Marlow comments: "The conquest of the earth, which mostly means the taking it away from those who have a different complexion or slightly flatter noses than ourselves, is not a pretty thing when you look into it too much." Marlow sees firsthand the cold truth of colonization: physically wasted workers operating in deplorable conditions, backstabbing co-workers jockeying for the most profit and recognition, and a colonized people literally being shackled. It's as if the company is a steamroller plowing through the jungle, flattening anything and anyone that happens to be in the way, all, of course, in the name of profit.

The Manager condemns Kurtz for his "unsound" methods, yet in one sense Kurtz has achieved the ultimate form of colonization: the natives actually worship him. As a result, he brings in the most ivory. Of course, it is at Kurtz's station where Marlow sees the greatest act of savagery, the placement of the decapitated heads of "rebels" atop poles. By the time Marlow encounters Kurtz, Kurtz no longer has any noble intentions; instead he feels the need to "exterminate all the brutes!'"

Colonization may help to maintain the surface luster of the home country, but

There are no benefits for those being colonized, only hardship, suffering, and death.

The narrative technique

The structure of Heart of Darkness is much like that of the Russian nesting dolls, where you open each doll up, and there is another doll inside. Much of the meaning in Heart of Darkness is found not in the center of the book, the heart of Africa, but on the periphery of the book. In what happens to Marlow in Brussels, what is happening on the Nellie as Marlow tells the story, and what happens to the reader as they read the book.

In Heart of Darkness, we have an outside narrator telling us a story he has heard from Marlow. The story Marlow tells seems to center around a man named Kurtz. However, most of what Marlow knows about Kurtz, he has learned from other people, many of whom have good reason for not being truthful to Marlow. Therefore Marlow has to piece together much of Kurtz's story. We gradually get to know very little more about Kurtz. What we do learn, is only through interpreting his actions by what we think we already know. Part of the meaning in Heart of Darkness is that we learn about "reality" through other people's accounts of it, many of which are, themselves, twice-told tales. Part of the meaning of the novel, too, is the possibly unreliable nature of our teachers; Marlow is the source of our story, but he is also a character within the story we read, and a flawed one at that. Marlow's macho comments about women and his insensitive reaction to the "dead negro" with a "bullet hole in his forehead" cause us to refocus our critical attention, to shift it from the story being retold, to the storyteller whose supposedly autobiographical yarn is being repeated.

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