Heart of Darkness is a complex and controversial book that is read and discussed in schools all around the world. Set in the 1800s, the book discusses both a physical and psychological journey through what was going on in the Congo through a frame story. The storyteller, Marlow, recounts his time on his trip and the brutality that he saw conducted by the Europeans on the natives. Modern day readers are able to look at the past; however, recently people have begun to discuss if the author, Joseph Conrad, is a racist leading to many conversations. Upper classmen in high school should be required to read Heart of Darkness because it increases their awareness of global social issues and will add to a better understanding of complex writing.
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The people of the time period that the book is set in have many controversial ideas and can teach a lot. During the time, King Leopold II of Belgium exploited the Congo and its resources while treating the natives as slaves. Heart of Darkness is an example of a European going to the Congo and shows the poor treatment of the natives. When he first sees the natives, he describes them as, “nothing but black shadows of disease and starvation, lying confusedly in the greenish gloom…The black bones reclined at full length with one shoulder against the tree, and slowly the eyelids rose and the sunken eyes looked up at me, enormous and vacant …”(pg. 72). The natives were beaten on their own soil and forced into slavery so that the Europeans could make a profit and this description shows how worn out they have become. This shows how the thoughts of how people are treated have changed over time and can show high school students how the world used to …show more content…
The book could just be a story about a guy going down the Congo River or it could be the journey of a man as his environment challenges all that he has ever believed in. For example, Marlow mentions “rivets” many times: “What more did I want? What I really wanted was rivets, by heaven. Rivets. To get on with the work – to stop the hole. Rivets I wanted.”(pg. 87) Without digging deeper into the text, one could say that he just wants to find rivets to fix the boat. However, when one looks deeper into the context, the interpretation that the rivets could refer to rules may come into play. Marlow has come from a place where there are strict rules about how to behave however, it seems that in the Congo, no man has rules that they have to follow causing them to behave more savagely. This causes Marlow to question his beliefs and makes him uneasy which leads him to wanting rules for comfort. The rivets hold the boat together just like the rules do for Marlow. These are the types of conclusions that students can draw from the book and the ideas that they can take
The people of the time period that the book is set in have many controversial ideas and can teach a lot. During the time, King Leopold II of Belgium exploited the Congo and its resources while treating the natives as slaves. Heart of Darkness is an example of a European going to the Congo and shows the poor treatment of the natives. When he first sees the natives, he describes them as, “nothing but black shadows of disease and starvation, lying confusedly in the greenish gloom…The black bones reclined at full length with one shoulder against the tree, and slowly the eyelids rose and the sunken eyes looked up at me, enormous and vacant …”(pg. 72). The natives were beaten on their own soil and forced into slavery so that the Europeans could make a profit and this description shows how worn out they have become. This shows how the thoughts of how people are treated have changed over time and can show high school students how the world used to …show more content…
The book could just be a story about a guy going down the Congo River or it could be the journey of a man as his environment challenges all that he has ever believed in. For example, Marlow mentions “rivets” many times: “What more did I want? What I really wanted was rivets, by heaven. Rivets. To get on with the work – to stop the hole. Rivets I wanted.”(pg. 87) Without digging deeper into the text, one could say that he just wants to find rivets to fix the boat. However, when one looks deeper into the context, the interpretation that the rivets could refer to rules may come into play. Marlow has come from a place where there are strict rules about how to behave however, it seems that in the Congo, no man has rules that they have to follow causing them to behave more savagely. This causes Marlow to question his beliefs and makes him uneasy which leads him to wanting rules for comfort. The rivets hold the boat together just like the rules do for Marlow. These are the types of conclusions that students can draw from the book and the ideas that they can take