McCarthy represents the cannibals as bad people through the application of creating terror, climaxed by moments of horror throughout the novel. I will take into consideration two different varieties of cannibals as a social group: the desperate and the
HL Language & Literature Written Task 2 1. How and why is a social group represented in a particular way? In Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness, the natives of Africa – the Blacks – were represented in such a way that they seemed to have close to little or no value compared to the Whites. The constant use of animal imagery in the novel is both a comparison and a symbol that has been used in order to dehumanize any character that was not White. As such, it can be said that the novel seeks to represent the Blacks of Africa as lowlife beings, prehistoric barbarians and savage creatures that have no rights to say anything for themselves.
During the time of early colonization of Africa the invading white colonists would kill or destroy the male population and would rape and integrate the female population. Europeans did this because they wanted to eliminate the threat of the male population rebelling and then make the female population dependent on the male white
Not only does Iago contribute to the isolated Desdemona, her maid Emilia does as well. It can be argued that Emilia knew Desdemona so deeply in contrast to the other characters that the two shared a deeper bond past conversation, this is important to note as Emilia eventually proves the isolation of Desdemona, that even her most trusted friend befalls to the lies that are being told by Iago. Desdemona’s isolation slowly grows throughout the play due to the actions of others and the actions of Desdemona as well. Othello isolated himself from Desdemona, the act of this isolation had been thought out by Iago. This is seen when Iago and Othello discuss the relationship of Desdemona and Cassio, “Did Michael Cassio, when you wooed my lady, Know of your love?” (Shakespeare 3.3.103).
By Conrad’s time many parts of Africa has been explored but it was still known as the dark continent. The symbolic connotation of the title expresses that this darkness is of the body, the soul, the mind, and the sub-conscious. It is the moral and spiritual emptiness which pervades the centre of existence and is a mystery to mankind. The Horror ! : Colonialism in Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness In Heart of Darkness, the author, Joseph Conrad explores the nature of colonialism.
In Heart of Darkness, Joseph Conrad created the feeling of ‘other’ with the way the people Marlow encountered on the journey were described. Words are what leads a reader to form an opinion and Conrad leads his reader’s into believing the natives are wicked. In the novel, Joseph often times calls the African people savages or creatures, “...deathlike indifference of unhappy savages” (20) and “...one of these creatures rose to his hands and knees...” Savages and creatures give the connotation that they were evil and animalistic. His words impact on how we think of the African characters. In the description of the women with Mr. Kurtz, she was “savage and superb, Wild eyed and magnificent” (81).
As well he reflects the role of the imperialism of the colonials in the exploitation of Africans for their own interests rather than to enlighten the natives ' that they claimed for. It is worth noting to reveal the story of Heart of Darkness before proceeding to the responses of the critics of the novella. Heart of Darkness is a story of a white man travelled to Africa depth of Congo. He narrates what he has seen throughout his journey to the company station where Kurtz is working. Marlow accidently with the help of his aunt finds an opportunity to replace a captain killed as a result of fighting with the local tribes in Congo.
Heart of Darkness is a novella about colonialism, about darkness and light, and about the modifications that arise inside one person while being away from its traditional society. The colonizers were expected to treat the Africans as slaves, to live among them, to make from the massive, dark forest their home. It altered one’s way of being by treating the other with such contempt and even the darkness of forest strikes against the colonizer’s honorable intentions and personality traits by turning the white men into savages. This novella unlike the others of its time stresses about the altered ego instead of the changes happened in the colonized territory. As the novella is based on contrasts, the two characters are also desplayed on the one hand, having distinctions and on the other hand, being similar.
Marlow tells his shipmates on the boat (the Nelly) that the natives passed him “within six inches, without a glance, with that complete, deathlike indifference of unhappy savages” (16). Marlow’s story of his experience exhibits how the Europeans captured the natives and forced them to work; to strip their home land of its resources and natural beauty. When the Europeans colonize Africa, they do not want to help the African people, but exploit them and put them to work for their own desire of obtaining ivory, rubber, and other resources and goods. As the Europeans imperialize the area, they do not build culture or assist in development of the Congo region, but break down culture as they enslave the natives and take away their rights, along with stripping the area of resources and natural, earthly beauty, which is conveyed through the cruel physical treatment towards the natives. This treatment is also presented through the literary devices that Conrad decides to use to reveal the experiences of the natives to the
The Husband’s secret by Liane Moriarty is a phenomenal serious novel with twists and turns along the storyline. It is a book about a wife named Cecilia Fitzpatrick, who one day mistakenly finds a letter addressed to her which was supposed to be given to her after her husband (John-Paul’s) death. As curious as she is, she opens it and finds out a dark truth which can ruin her family and affect people near them. As being the innocent woman she is, she wants to do the right thing : telling her husband and breaking the family apart or keeping the discomfort of hiding a big secret. Overall, this book was very interesting to read because it grips on the hard reality and for me, it was something i have never read before which made it more captivating.