A Learning Experience

As I reflect upon the ending of The Heart of Darkness I realized how pertinent it is to the traveling theme. Marlow embarks on an expedition to colonize but ends up in a journey to find himself. He is constantly in a border between insanity and discovery that drives him to find the unknown. This motivation is juxtaposed with the danger that Africa seemed to be for Europeans. They too, wanted to explore and go beyond the normal routine. This need to travel finds its roots in curiosity. As I read about the Europeans in King Leopold’s Ghost I found that they were very similar. A quest for knowledge plagued the Europeans and led them towards Africa. The continent serves as a portal to nature and leads to an uncivilized world.

Marlow explores the Congo in search for Kurtz, and in this journey experiences the power of the wild: “But when one is young one must see things, gather experience, ideas; enlarge the mind” (128) We can clearly see that Conrad is telling the reader to explore. Like Marlow a reader can be young and inexperienced, he has to look for new ways to learn and explore. For the Europeans in King Leopold’s Ghost Africa was the place were they could learn and explore.

Social Justice VS. Moral Justice

As I journey deeper into The Heart Of Darkness I find myself immersed in nature. Marlow is experiencing the wild that I imagine, and have heard, Africa is home to. Not only does he live in a completely different time period but he had never seen what Africa was like. Unlike our modern civilization Marlow could not turn on the TV and do some pre-trip studying. When I try to look for the message behind the nature I find that Conrad is probably referring to the people. Not only is the terrain savage but so are the natives: "She was savage and superb, wild-eyed and magnificent; there was something ominous and stately in her deliberate progress. And the hush that had fallen suddenly upon the whole sorrowful land, the immense wilderness, the colossal body of the fecund and mysterious life seemed to look at her, pensive, as though it had been looking at the image of its own tenebrous and passionate soul" (113). The woman Marlow describes is clearly wild. It is as if Conrad was able to grab nature and compress it into one person. These descriptions as well as a variety of messages have intrigued me.

Marlow’s condescension has also caught my attention. Although it is not his fault, he can’t help but feel as if his race was separate and superior to all others. This is all very normal, especially for the time period, but what is not normal is his good will. The reader can see that the main character is an adventurous man that always keeps the high ground. We can see a specific example when he offered a biscuit to the starving workers. These contrasts have made me think about Conrad himself.

Literal Shell

After reading the first few chapter of The Heart Of Darkness, I was enlightened. Although my first approach was not as literal as you might think, it was still too shallow to really realize what the book was about. I would see myself reading along as if it were a storybook, catching a few glimpses of what was behind the literal shell. The next day I left the classroom feeling renewed. I had not noticed most of the symbolism in the book. It seemed extremely obvious once I knew what to look for and I felt very stupid. I decided that the best choice would be to re-read the book with a different pair of eyes.

The most obvious detail was the use of Darkness. I had not thought of it as a race but when the characters refer to Darkness it has a double connotation: “a white patch for a boy to dream gloriously over. It had become a place of darkness” (71). The reader can see how Marlow is using darkness to describe the African continent. This darkness comes, not only from his maps, but from the people that live in Africa. Conrad wants to make it clear that racism and judgment was present at the time. I will continue to look for more details that will give me a hint towards the deeper meaning of the book.

A Dark Brightness

As I began reading this special novel I noticed that Conrad likes to use a specific style. His character descriptions are all very similar and use the same format. The first description the reader encounters is that of the director: “The Director of Companies was our captain and our host. We four affectionately watched his back as he stood in the bows looking to seaward” (Conrad, 2). One would expect this character to be the epicenter of the story to come. To my surprise, he is not. After a few pages he is transitioned out smoothly. The narrator, who was traveling with the director, then introduces “The Lawyer – the best of old fellows – had, because of his many years and many virtues, the only cushion on deck, and was lying on the rug” (Conrad, 2). I found a pattern in which the characters profession, social rank, and what they are doing currently.

I was also interested in the way race, slavery and social rank is portrayed. Slavery is present and the narrator experiences very different social conditions. After reading The Cherry Orchard I might be especially sensitive to social differences but it seemed like a theme that was going to be discussed later on. The first few pages I have seemed interesting and different, which is always nice. Darkness is obviously present and is helpful when trying to see how bright ones life is.