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.
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