While reading Heart of Darkness by Joseph
Conrad I came to the conclusion that a major theme throughout the entirety of
the novella was the hypocrisy surrounding imperialism during this time. As
readers, we see this develop through Marlow’s travels. From Europe, to Africa,
to the Congo, to the Outer Station, to the Central Station, and finally to the
Inner Station what Marlow describes in these scenes about the treatment of
native Africans is cruel and near-slavery. Marlow says, “I could see
every rib, the joints of their limbs were like knots in a rope; each had an
iron collar on his neck, and all were connected together with a chain whose
bights [loops] swung between them” (51) Through their physical attributes and
near death like appearance, Conrad conveys a steadfast image about the cruelty
occurring under imperialism. “The black bones reclined at full length against
the tree [referencing a human]” (53) and “the black shadows of disease and
death lying confusedly in the gloom” (53) also represent the natives and their
situation in response to the European invasion. What Conrad offers through
these descriptions is a harsh picture of the colonial enterprise through the
lens of Marlow. Instead of aiding the people they met through imperialism and
bringing them into the modern world, these imperialistic explorers classified
the natives as savages and slaves and took advantage of them for labor. In this
way, the true imperialism swayed from the goals it was meant to bring about.
Adding to this theme of
hypocrisy within imperialism is the motif of darkness (discussed in post #1).
There, we see how Conrad implements the darkness as a tool to create
contrasting in order to demonstrate the lack of understanding which the
Europeans have about the land and other people and to show that they are
limited in their connections to the natives. I wrote that “The darkness that
clouds their vision, throughout the story, limits them from coming to terms
with what is right before their eyes; they cannot see the truth.” In regards to
this idea, it goes hand in hand with the hypocrisy of imperialism explained
during this expedition because of the flaws we see occurring with the
mistreatment of natives.
During my reading of Heart of
Darkness, I tried to remember Nabokov, Prose, and Foster. Each of these writers
claims that fondling the details is one of the key aspects of reading. For me,
that meant using the dictionary (Nabokov’s necessity) constantly in order to
maintain an understanding of the piece. I found that because of implementing
both of these strategies more often, I was able to come to terms with the piece
quickly and understand it much more efficiently than if I chose to ignore these
ideas. However as far as processing my understanding of the work goes, nothing
helped more than reading it a second time. Nabokov says that if you are a
master of 6 pieces of literature, you are doing well for yourself and I take
that to mean that you must truly understand what you read and that means
re-reading. Re-reading allowed me to pick up on some of the details which I had
missed (even though I looked for them you always miss something) and it helped
me create an even better picture of the story in my mind.
To individuals considering reading
this book, I would suggest reading Heart of Darkness. Although the language is
confusing at first, putting effort into understand the story will pay off and
the peace is a challenging but fun story to read. If you are an AP student
interested in preparing for your AP test, I strongly suggest reading this book.
Heart of Darkness has appeared around 15 times out of the last 40 years or so
on the AP test and as a result, would be well worth reading to help you prepare
for the exam. That was the initial reason why I chose to read this book however
my own experiences have been enjoyable and I found this an amazing read. While
I was reading this, I found it a little uncomfortable for me because of the
language and the lens, which Marlow views native Africans from. However, that
isn’t to say don’t read it. In order to become better readers, people must
expand their horizons and look at different types of work. You can’t claim that
you are an expert on painting if you only look at Landscapes… What about
portraits? What about Baroque art? What about the renaissance? The same goes
for reading. In order to become a better reader you need to expand your
horizons and this may prove the perfect book to allow somebody to challenge
their perceptions and look at the world in a different way.
ReplyDeleteHeart of Darkness sounds like an interesting read that covers controversial topics. The themes in my independent book, The Color Purple, also relate to the theme of hypocrisy that you mentioned in Heart of Darkness. In The Color Purple the main character, a black woman named Celie, and her family have to deal with the hypocrisy and prejudice of the south during the early 1900’s. In addition it is interesting that a motif in your book is darkness, while a motif in my book is bright colors. These motifs also serve opposite purposes in our stories. While you said that darkness represents the lack of understanding that the Europeans had for the people and land that they conquered, in The Color Purple bright colors represent the realization that the main character doesn’t need to give into oppression and societal norms. At any point in the Heart of Darkness did the hypocritical characters consider or realize that they were being hypocritical and doing wrong? You also reminded me of what Nobokov says about rereading to pick up details. I looked back over specific chapters and passages but was not able to read the entire book over a second time. You said that the language was uncomfortable but I’m curious what exactly made the reading confusing as well. Was it only the vocabulary or was it also the structure of the language of the time period that also made it difficult. I will probably take a look at this book because it sounds intriguing and it will also be beneficial for preparation for the AP test.