As part of the exposition in Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness, the narrator vividly describes the setting. He explains that he is in a boat with five men, one of which being the storyteller, Marlow. The narrator then goes on to create a descriptive image of his surroundings in the boat on the river. Throughout this description, Conrad uses foreshadowing, imagery, connotative words, symbolism, and personification, creating a shift in tone, in order to illustrate that Marlow’s journey up the Congo River parallels his exploration of the human psyche and the nature of evil.
In the beginning of the excerpt, the narrator discusses the time at which the story is taking place, noting that “the day was ending.” This in itself foreshadows the approach …show more content…
The phrase suggests that there will be a shift from the bright sunlight of day, something commonly associated with peace, happiness, and rationality, to the dark reality of night, which is typically associated with impulse, fear, and desire. Additionally, throughout literature and in the real world, people generally behave themselves during the day, and become their true selves at night when they pursue their own desires and act with less respect to rules. More simply, it is more common for people to act cruelly and selfishly after the sun goes down. Therefore, for these reasons, the day could be said to symbolize the civility of the superego and the night could be said to represent the compulsions of the id. This would mean that the ending of the day both would represent the ending of rationality and respect and would foreshadow the beginning of night, the beginning of cruel and evil actions carried out by those who are ruled …show more content…
The narrator begins to use words with negative, threatening connotations as he begins to discuss the sunset, the clear transition from day to night. Specifically, the narrator notes that the “gloom to the west” was appearing. The gloom itself is a representation of the immoral and sinful nature of night in that it is associated with the darkness. In addition to this, the narrator describes the gloom to be “brooding” and “sombre,” which further builds upon the ominous tone and contributes to the development of night as a symbolic representation of evil and cruelty. The use of these words make the night seem intimidating and frightening. As a contrast to the previously mentioned apollonian daytime, the night time is quite clearly dionysian; the night strongly reflects the id aspect of human nature. Finally, the narrator describes the gloom to be “angered by the approach of the sun.” The personification that the narrator gives to the gloom quite clearly makes the gloom seem more human, which is a statement in itself, asserting that humans are ruled more by darkness and the id. More importantly however, the fact that the gloom was made to be angered by the approach of the sun is representative of the dionysian, id-ruled side of humanity opposing the apollonian, superego based side of humanity. The emotional, selfish, and
In the beginning of the excerpt, the narrator discusses the time at which the story is taking place, noting that “the day was ending.” This in itself foreshadows the approach …show more content…
The phrase suggests that there will be a shift from the bright sunlight of day, something commonly associated with peace, happiness, and rationality, to the dark reality of night, which is typically associated with impulse, fear, and desire. Additionally, throughout literature and in the real world, people generally behave themselves during the day, and become their true selves at night when they pursue their own desires and act with less respect to rules. More simply, it is more common for people to act cruelly and selfishly after the sun goes down. Therefore, for these reasons, the day could be said to symbolize the civility of the superego and the night could be said to represent the compulsions of the id. This would mean that the ending of the day both would represent the ending of rationality and respect and would foreshadow the beginning of night, the beginning of cruel and evil actions carried out by those who are ruled …show more content…
The narrator begins to use words with negative, threatening connotations as he begins to discuss the sunset, the clear transition from day to night. Specifically, the narrator notes that the “gloom to the west” was appearing. The gloom itself is a representation of the immoral and sinful nature of night in that it is associated with the darkness. In addition to this, the narrator describes the gloom to be “brooding” and “sombre,” which further builds upon the ominous tone and contributes to the development of night as a symbolic representation of evil and cruelty. The use of these words make the night seem intimidating and frightening. As a contrast to the previously mentioned apollonian daytime, the night time is quite clearly dionysian; the night strongly reflects the id aspect of human nature. Finally, the narrator describes the gloom to be “angered by the approach of the sun.” The personification that the narrator gives to the gloom quite clearly makes the gloom seem more human, which is a statement in itself, asserting that humans are ruled more by darkness and the id. More importantly however, the fact that the gloom was made to be angered by the approach of the sun is representative of the dionysian, id-ruled side of humanity opposing the apollonian, superego based side of humanity. The emotional, selfish, and