Heart of Darkness
The author of this novel is Joseph Conrad. The novel does not provide the exact time when the story took place. However, it appears to occur at the time of writing between 1898 and 1899 (Joseph, 2017). The assumption is based on the fact that the main character, Marlow depicts Conrad himself at the time when he worked in Congo as steamboat captain back in the 1890s. The book was written by Conrad just after he returned from Congo (Joseph, 2017). This was a time when the focus of the British Empire was on trade and colonization of the African continent. The novel revolves around ivory along the Congo basin/river. It shows how native Africans were viewed by the British at that particular time. Basically, the British viewed Africans as primitive beings who deserve to be taken under control.
Use of Symbolism
The author of the novel Joseph Conrad utilized various techniques to pass his intended message through this book. His use of symbolism is one of his notable techniques in the heart of darkness (Joseph, 2017). The technique plays a major role in advancing various themes in the book. Rather than being revealed throughout the plot of the novel, the themes are revealed through symbolic elements and characters that are part of the story (Joseph, 2017). The author of the novel makes use of symbolism as a technique through the use of the company, Kurtz, and Africans in the novel to demonstrate the value of hard work. The novel reveals how Europeans were mistreating Africans as they considered them “wild beasts” that needed to be controlled and educated. Through one of the main character (Marlow), contrary to other Europeans, the author of the novel could see Africans as humans. Marlow viewed that their selfless nature and hard work signified their inner kindness something his fellow Europeans could not see.
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The hardworking nature of Africans was evident as they were forced to work for the Europeans for low wages as the company paid them three pieces of brass wire (3-inch each) weekly (Joseph, 2017). Their work involved ferrying company’s supplies from its outer station to the middle station which were more than 200 miles apart (Joseph, 2017). Marlow describes the African caravan as a stamp and shuffle of sixty pair of bare-feet Africans followed him every day each carrying a 60-lb load. He goes ahead to express how much he admired the Africans’ self-restraint. He wondered how they were able to carry themselves with so much dignity despite their servitude state of affairs.
As one of the great authors, Conrad portrayed a great ability to use symbolism to deliver the themes and messages in the novel (Joseph, 2017). Throughout the story, the author makes use of a wide range of simple places, objects, and colors in conveying his ideas and images. The way he executes the English language tools and techniques enabled him to lure and capture the reader’s attention. For instance, Conrad used the process of going up the river to convey the idea of traveling back to the start of the world, a time when the earth’s vegetation rioted with large trees being kings.
The symbolic upstream movement is used in the novel to represent how the harsh environment of Africa tried to stop the progressive movement of the Europeans as downriver travel granted them an easy and quick exit from the darkness and towards civilization (Joseph, 2017). This description may be concluded to be a demon or a snake image that is threatening everyone that was within its grasp. Additionally, Kurtz life and times serves as an important route into evil.
Joseph Conrad in this novel uses the two main characters, Kurtz and Marlow, to reveal the true nature of humanity. Throughout the story, Marlow’s “light” that is evidenced by his psychological evolution and awareness strikingly differ with Kurtz who according to many may stand for the “dark” side of Marlow (Coleman, 2017). Here, Marlow embarks on a journey to go and look for Kurtz someone he considers to be the one to reveal the truth about him (Marlow). Kurtz just like Marlow arrived in Congo with the aim of bringing civilization and “light” to a primitive or uncivilized African society. He arrives as a refined and an educated fellow who eventually ends up as a pilferer and a killer courtesy of the brutal reality he encountered in Congo.
Kurtz as a name is symbolic in terms of meaning. Its physical shortness in terms of alphabetical characters is used to imply Kurtz shortness in spirit and character. Additionally, both Kurtz and Marlow are used to symbolize the two human sides as far as human nature is concerned (Coleman, 2017). While Marlow represented a pure, untainted civilized individual who is not pushed into inhuman acts the brutal environment and “darkness,” Kurtz is a representation of what a man may turn into when left to face the world on his own without any protection from the outside world or society. As they meet, each one of them is confronted with a reflection of what they would have become in the other.
Marlow as the central character of the story is the primary narrator whose opinions, thoughts, revelations, and experiences are used to reveal various themes throughout the novel (Joseph, 2017). He is an illustration of how darkness and light play a role in weaving together the human soul and hence shape hoe evil, and good is reflected in someone. This is key given Marlow’s construction as a biased narrator owing to his European upbringing. The “grove of death” symbolizes the hardship and the sufferings by Africans while the native biscuit that Marlow offered to those dying at the “grove of death” represents Marlow’s kindness even when he is unable to deal with the challenge before him (Coleman, 2017).
Conrad’s Heart of Darkness uses two knitting women as another form of symbolism. These women feverishly knitted black wool as individuals arrived and the younger of these women walked actively took part in introducing the incoming people (Coleman, 2017). Meanwhile, the older woman sat on her chair. Seemingly, the women symbolized the ancient Greek personification of fate, Moirae. Out of the three fates, two of them spin the life-thread of every man while the third one cuts the thread as the man dies. The fates are immortal and have foresight hence have access to the fate of every man.
Flies in the novel symbolize death because it is common knowledge that flies like hanging around dead bodies. Apparently, when an agent dies in chapter one of the novel, the flies notably appear. ("In the steady buzz of flies the homeward-bound agent was lying finished and insensible" and when Kurtz dies: "A continuous shower of small flies streamed upon the lamp, upon the cloth, upon our hands and faces."
The heads on sticks symbolically represent Kurtz extreme brutality which confirms his madness. The occurrence of heads on sticks represents the graphic climax of the story (Adam et al., 2018). Throughout the novel, the reader has been exposed to horrible occurrences, but the appearances of heads on sticks represent an occurrence like no other. In Conrad’s Heart of Darkness, the language just like all the other things depicts a lot of confusion and mix up. Marlow attributes Kurtz’s eloquence as a redeeming feature, and the novel also puts this as the reason why Kurtz gets mad. Language symbolizes connection among human beings. Marlow feels relieved when he comes across the harlequin's book as he could connect with what is made by man.
The accountant who Marlow met symbolizes the company and how the company wishes to be seen by the outward world. The accountant is elegantly dressed in spite of all the poverty and sorry nature of the native African workers around him depicting the professionalism within the company. He represents the company’s resolve to excellence and perfection going with the way he diligently completed his job as he always immersed in his accounting books.
Realism plays into the meaning of the heart of darkness in several ways. The author states how he saw a hilly slope with scattered and rare tree species with no undergrowth (Alaei and Ahangari, 2016). Realism is also seen when the author defines art as a single-minded attempt to provide the higher justice type to the visible universe by bringing light to the truth, one and manifold which underlies its every aspect. Conrad asks the following questions: “Do you see him? Do you see the story? Do you see anything? (Alaei and Ahangari, 2016). The author makes use of realism in the text to enable the reader to “see” a lot more. To realize this, he uses a number of adjectives as well as close analysis of events and specific objects/things that occur throughout the story.
Themes
The Hypocrisy of Imperialism
The novel looks at issues that surround imperialism in a complex manner (Adam et al., 2018). Marlow is confronted with ugly scenes of cruelty, near-slavery, and torture towards Africans as he moved to the Inner Station through the Central Station from the Outer Station (Adam et al., 2018). This paints a harsh and clear picture of imperialism. The driving force on Marlow’s adventures also shows the inherence in the rhetoric’s that has been used in justifying imperialism (Adam et al., 2018). The cruel treatment of native Africans is described as trade by white men as trade, and the ill-treatment of these Africans is considered part of the well-intended civilization project. On the other hand, the novel depicts Kurtz as someone who does not take part in ivory trade, but forceful takes it by force from the natives and uses “extermination” and “suppression” to describe his treatment of the native Africans. He is open about his use of intimidation and violence to rule the Africans something which proves to be his downfall as his perverse honesty threatened to expose the European mistreatment and evil practices against Africans. For Kurtz, Marlow, and the company, the natives are just objects (Adam et al., 2018). This is well illustrated when Marlow the phrase “a piece of machinery” to describe his helmsman while Kurtz uses “a piece of statuary” to at best refer to his African mistress. From this, it is clear that the novel depicts how the nonwhites are oppressed (Adam et al., 2018). Marlow views nonwhites as a mere backdrop human screen on which he can play out his existential and philosophical struggles. Marlow finds self-contemplation the existence of Africans and their exoticism. This is nothing but open racism and colonial violence as the identification of this type of dehumanization is very difficult. Even as the novel strongly condemns hypocritical imperialism operations, it offers a number of race-related issues that are very disturbing.
Madness Due Imperialism
The closely links the madness observed with the imperialism. Physical illness and mental disintegration are directly linked to Africa (Adam et al., 2018). The author uses madness to serve two major functions (Adam et al., 2018). It is used to engage and attract the sympathy of the reader. Right from the start, the reader is made to believe that Kurtz is mad. As you read into the story, as the clear picture of Kurtz forms, the reader learns that this madness is relative. Here, both the reader and Marlow start sympathizing with Kurtz as the company is viewed with a lot of suspicions. The other function of madness in the novel is to create social fiction’s necessity. Despite the fact that the many explanatory justifications and fictions exhibited throughout the book are false and evil, they are important in both the security of individuals and group harmony. In Heart of Darkness, madness essentially results from one being excluded from their social context leaving them to become sole arbiters of their own actions. In addition to being linked to a kind of moral genius and absolute power, madness also linked to an individual’s fundamental fallibility.
The Absurdity of Evil
The novel represents an exploration of hypocrisy, moral confusion, and ambiguity resembling the proverbial idea of choosing between the lesser of two evils/wrongs (Adam et al., 2018). This is illustrated in the novel when Marlow has to align himself with either the malicious and hypocritical colonial bureaucracy or the malevolently open and defiant Kurtz. Trying to judge either of these alternatives will amount to an act of folly. This is because of the issues surrounding social values and moral standards relevance in the judgment of evil. In a world that has already become insane, there is nothing by the name insanity. Marlow encounters multiple ridiculous incidences which act as a reflection of the major issue. In one of the stations, Marlow observes a man making an attempt to fetch and ferry water in a container with a big hole in it (Adam et al., 2018). He also sees native workers blasting away at a hillside with no specific target in mind. The absurdity ranges from life or death issues and insignificant issues. Treating these issues in a similar manner profoundly indicates tremendous hypocrisy and moral confusion. This is evident from the way the use of a bucket with a hole is used to carry what and Kurtz homicidal megalomania generates the basically similar reaction from Marlow.
Darkness
This is one of the major themes in the novel portrayed by Kurtz unawareness of his own darkness which is the cause of his downfall. He is unable to understand the new behavior that he acquired from the jungle’s darkness which has taken full control of him. The mysterious and the secluded nature of the jungle play a major role in Kurtz madness (Adam et al., 2018). Kurtz greed for power blinded him to the extent that he does not realize how his behavior threatened his life. His last words “The horror! The horror!” shows his late realization of how darkness had consumed (Adam et al., 2018).
References
Adam, S. Z. M., Ahmed, M. A., & Elamin, A. M. (2018). Analyzing the Themes of Greed and Colonization in the Novel “Heart of Darkness.
Alaei, M., & Ahangari, S. (2016). A Study of Ideational Metafunction in Joseph Conrad's" Heart of Darkness": A Critical Discourse Analysis. English Language Teaching, 9(4), 203-213.
Bunce, M., Franks, S., & Paterson, C. (Eds.). (2016). Africa's Media Image in the 21st Century: From the" Heart of Darkness" to" Africa Rising". Routledge.
Chrisman, L. (2018). Tale of the city: the imperial metropolis of Heart of Darkness. In Postcolonial contraventions. Manchester University Press.
Coleman, D. (2017). The many linked threads in Joseph Conrad's heart of darkness (1899). Idiom, 53(2), 6.
Firchow, P. E. (2015). Envisioning Africa: Racism and Imperialism in Conrad's Heart of Darkness. University Press of Kentucky.
Joseph, C. (2017). Heart of Darkness. Strelbytskyy Multimedia.
Levin, Y. (2017). Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad. Journal of Colonialism and Colonial History, 18(2).
