The horror!” (69) illustrate his realization of his own sins and the evilness of everything happening around him. While Marlow just observes many heinous things without reacting, Kurtz experiences similar crimes and made the choice to actively partake in committing such acts. As Marlow travels towards Kurtz, he also travels towards actually understanding the evil of the Congo instead of being ignorant. Kurtz is dehumanized and when he is about to die, Marlow describes the way he speaks. “A voice!
Often in literature, the physical journey the main character takes represents their psychological growth. In Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad, Marlow’s journey into the heart of the Congo represents his progression into the darkest parts of his mind. As he travels deeper into the foreign terrain, he begins to question the world around him and himself. As Marlow begins his journey into the heart of Africa, he holds onto his idealistic belief in imperialism. He believes that although imperialism “is not a pretty thing when you look into it too much... it is [redeemed by] the idea only,” showing that he thinks imperialism is rational if the belief in helping the ‘native’ people is sincere and unselfish (Conrad 7).
Again, when he meets Kurtz in Congo, he shows curiosity about the activities of Kurtz there. Despite the fact, “[a]ll Europe contributed to the making of Kurtz” (Conrad 83) Marlow gets to know that Kurtz is nothing short of a demon in his attitude towards the black natives. He holds him in contempt, though he doesn't become vocal. Besides, when he gets to the English woman betrothed to Kurtz, and hands over Kurtz's papers to her, he tells a lie, saying that Kurtz uttered her name when he was about
• The responsibility for that introduction, known as the "white man 's burden," gave rise to a fervor to bring Christianity and commerce to Africa. In return, the Europeans took huge quantities of ivory out of Africa. • During the 1890s, at the time Heart of Darkness takes place, ivory was in enormous demand in Europe, where it was used to make jewelry, piano keys, and billiard balls, among other items. • In 1892, Leopold II declared all natural resources in the Congo Free State to be his property. This meant the Belgians could stop dealing with African traders and simply take what they wanted themselves.
How can it be when our incarnation on earth is a punishment, and a test to prove the purity of our souls Now that I have explained the philosophical reason to write about the beast in the jungle. I will be also explaining the religious side of my choice, which is that in most religions, it is thought that we are put on this earth and tested with fear, hunger, loss in goods and lives, and that happiness only belongs to the ones who patiently wait for life after death. My personal reason revolves around the fact that most of us spend most of our lives seeking happiness, which we will never acquire, and realizing that we will never possess it, is our beast in the jungle. I will be analyzing the symbolic meaning in Henry James’ beast in the jungle, which is separated into three main metaphors. The first symbol is the hunt, followed by the seasons, and lastly the sphinx.
This kind of clinging to his own ideal can be viewed as a kind of selfishness. But this kind of negative ethical judgement is not only relieved by Marlow’s narration, which I will talk in next chapter, but also relieved by Jim’s own way of narration. I have mentioned that Jim’s interpretive judgement is overrun by his ethical judgment. There is another example besides Jim’s silence about Brown’s accusation. Before Jim goes to Patusan, when he explains the reason for his first mistake.
This method is embodied by Harlequin as he says about him " You can't judge Kurtz as an you would an ordinary man" (Conrad 132). Another method is the use of exaggerated power to maintain his position among the natives "He comes to them with thunder and lightning" (Conrad 51). This method is symbolized by "round curved balls" which turns out to be human heads. Kurtz punishes severely whoever disobeys him. By keeping these heads around the building, it serves as a remainder for those who might think of disobeying his orders.
Theodore claims that, while at the beginning he thought that “in the absence of the worst political deformations, widespread evil was impossible”, he soon found himself to be wrong. Dalrymple’s main claims are that “men commit evil within the scope available to them” and that perhaps the kind of evil he faces on a daily bases (he calls it a “low-level but endemic evil) is unforced and spontaneous. Is lesser words, he believes that evil is chosen freely. In stating his claims, the author finds the government and the intellectual elite to be one of the main cause of it asserting that, “ Intellectuals propounded the idea that man should be freed from the shackles of social convention and self-control and the government […] enacted laws to promote unrestrained behavior […] When the barriers of evil are brought downs, it flourishes.” The author brings his personal experience as an md in a prison and in a hospital ward as evidence of his claims. He admits that he is viewing this entire matter from the only
Joseph Conrad has received his inspiration to write Heart of Darkness after carrying out his journey to the Congo in 1890. The story of Heart of Darkness deals with a British man's expedition deep into the Congo of Africa, where he encounters the brutal and mysterious Kurtz, a European trader who has proved himself as a monarch of the native people there. This novel essentially contains vivid conflicts and clashes between human characters and the brutal forces of nature; and themes of selfishness, the violent part of human nature, racial prejudice and ultimately, social justice. Conrad was concerned in screening "psycho-political" states of affairs that drew parallels between the internal lives of single characters and the broader zoom of human
In Jonathan wild, Fielding had a double object to carry on his lifelong war against humbug, and to show how poorly vice rewarded its votaries. Both these aims underlie Tom Jones but both are subdued to a wider aim to show life as it is. The provision which we have here made is human nature. The implication is that, if we can see the whole of human nature we shall find that some of it is in itself ugly, and some in itself beautiful. That which is ugly, makes people unhappy; that which is beautiful makes them happy.