Post 2

 Throughout Part 2 of Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness, we see the development of a twisted sense of Morality that parallels the title “Heart of Darkness” through the cruelty within this story. As the manager and his uncle discuss late a night, they come to the subject of a local trader who is in their way. Their response: “Get him hanged! Why not? Anything- anything can be done in this country” (72) while they both still retain a sense of basic law, their emotions control their personalities in a way that suggests corruption (or darkness) has taken over their hearts. For them, the law of Europe has been discarded because “the danger is in Europe” (72) and they have nothing truly to fear in Africa, or so they think. This type of mindset remains reflected from the very beginning of the story and Marlow’s doctor appointment where the doctor says “the changes take place inside, you know,” (47) suggesting a corruption of a person through jealousy and greed. This nature of greed, which we see through the manager and his uncle, is strengthened through their constant references to ivory. So what does this add to the story? Why is this nature of any importance and why did Conrad choose to have his title mirror this idea? The revealing of these individuals corrupt nature creates a contrast between the nobility of England, which they are supposed to represent, and the savage greed that they exemplify throughout the story. Marlow’s aunt claims that they should be “something like an emissary of light, something like a lower sort of apostle” (48). However the Europeans seem to become more barbaric in nature than the people they call barbarians. Through this development, Conrad suggests that the mind, body, and nature are all connected. The European’s minds are influenced by the nature and wealth around them and as a result change. Yet Conrad also makes an odd connection to the body through “I saw him extend his short flipper of an arm for a gesture… that seemed to beckon with a dishonoring flourish before the sunlit face of the land a treacherous appeal to the lurking death, to the hidden evil, to the profound darkness of its heart” (73). So what this all shows and what Conrad brings into perspective is that the land is an entity that affects humans and has the power to create evil or to merge human beings with nature (hang with me here). We see the development of how nature changes individuals through greed and physically as well, with the fin, but Marlow’s descriptions paint an image of nature that suggests something almost living. “In a few days, the Eldorado Expedition went into the patient wilderness, that closed upon it as the sea closes upon a diver” (73) and “the reaches opened before us and closed behind, as if the forest had stepped leisurely across the water to bar the way for our return” (75)… Does anybody else see living nature in the way Marlow describes the forest? What does this all mean? Why is it important for Conrad? Perhaps he has brought all of this together to demonstrate how nature and the forest are merely the catalyst to bringing humanity back to its original and barbaric nature. We see the effects it has on the Europeans as they travel and Conrad seems to personify the forest in a lifelike way in order to demonstrate that this may be intentional. What is your take? Please comment below.