Monika Pareek
Professor Chandra
British Literature (Early 20th Century)
6th October 2015
Nihilism and the Idea of Darkness in Heart of Darkness
Joseph Conrad's novel Heart of Darkness was written more than a century ago and was first published in 1899. In much the same way as in the novel, where Marlow could observe that almost all the blank spots on the map had been filled, the world at the end of the 20th century had all but been explored. The 19th century was coming to an end and the French Revolution and then the Industrial Revolution had taken a toll` on lives across the globe. The concept of nihilism gradually entered people's minds, even in their daily lives. Heart of Darkness was also contemporary with an epoch of revolutionary advancement …show more content…
Just prior to Marlow's enrolment, he encounters two women who are posted by the entrance of the Company's offices, knitting black wool and “guarding the door of Darkness” (HD 26). The young woman approaches Marlow without taking her eyes off her work, similar to the lack of foresight of a cosmic machinery, whereas the old woman scrutinizes him “with unconcerned eyes,” in parallel to its want of conscience and heart (HD 24, 26). There is a cynical undertone to this metaphor, and in connection to it there is also a sense of helplessness; the process of creation is blind and heartless and man is abandoned in a mechanical universe. A cosmic knitting-machine could not be more unlike a meticulously creating divinity, where man is the centerpiece of a master plan. The consequences of the theocide of which Nietzsche sighted as the sign of the nihilistic era can be discerned in this vision. In a mechanical cosmos, man is a victim; a significant reduction of man's spiritual position since the pre-Copernican time. Like an unstoppable juggernaut, the oblivious cosmic machinery relentlessly pours forth hapless creations. Man is powerless before the process.
Another source of nihilism in Heart of Darkness, pertaining to transitoriness of human civilization, is the uneven contest between man and nature. There is a plethora of examples in the novel that illustrate how futile and pitiful human …show more content…
In the empty immensity of earth, sky, and water, there she was, incomprehensible, firing into a continent. Pop, would go one of the eight-inch guns; a small flame would dart and vanish, a little white smoke would disappear, a tiny projectile would give a feeble screech – and nothing happened. Nothing could happen. There was a touch of insanity in the proceeding, a sense of lugubrious drollery in the sight. (HD 30-31)”
The whole situation is burdened with a sense of ludicrousness and hopelessness. Against the vastness of the continent that represents the stronghold of Darkness, acts of conquest and resistance fall short. Such endeavours are full of “drollery” and sooner or later, nature will reclaim its dominion; it is simply a matter of time.
Nietzsche's philosophical view of nihilism, with its presumption that everything is meaningless, filters through Heart of Darkness. The experience of nihilism is due to the devaluation of the highest values, as the novel throughout demonstrates a disproof of objective reality and in so, a real foundation for a moral purpose. Therefore, there are multiple examples in the novel which point towards the nihilistic ideas and philosophies of the times that Conrad writes the book in, and it is this very hopelessness and quest to find the 'real self'
Professor Chandra
British Literature (Early 20th Century)
6th October 2015
Nihilism and the Idea of Darkness in Heart of Darkness
Joseph Conrad's novel Heart of Darkness was written more than a century ago and was first published in 1899. In much the same way as in the novel, where Marlow could observe that almost all the blank spots on the map had been filled, the world at the end of the 20th century had all but been explored. The 19th century was coming to an end and the French Revolution and then the Industrial Revolution had taken a toll` on lives across the globe. The concept of nihilism gradually entered people's minds, even in their daily lives. Heart of Darkness was also contemporary with an epoch of revolutionary advancement …show more content…
Just prior to Marlow's enrolment, he encounters two women who are posted by the entrance of the Company's offices, knitting black wool and “guarding the door of Darkness” (HD 26). The young woman approaches Marlow without taking her eyes off her work, similar to the lack of foresight of a cosmic machinery, whereas the old woman scrutinizes him “with unconcerned eyes,” in parallel to its want of conscience and heart (HD 24, 26). There is a cynical undertone to this metaphor, and in connection to it there is also a sense of helplessness; the process of creation is blind and heartless and man is abandoned in a mechanical universe. A cosmic knitting-machine could not be more unlike a meticulously creating divinity, where man is the centerpiece of a master plan. The consequences of the theocide of which Nietzsche sighted as the sign of the nihilistic era can be discerned in this vision. In a mechanical cosmos, man is a victim; a significant reduction of man's spiritual position since the pre-Copernican time. Like an unstoppable juggernaut, the oblivious cosmic machinery relentlessly pours forth hapless creations. Man is powerless before the process.
Another source of nihilism in Heart of Darkness, pertaining to transitoriness of human civilization, is the uneven contest between man and nature. There is a plethora of examples in the novel that illustrate how futile and pitiful human …show more content…
In the empty immensity of earth, sky, and water, there she was, incomprehensible, firing into a continent. Pop, would go one of the eight-inch guns; a small flame would dart and vanish, a little white smoke would disappear, a tiny projectile would give a feeble screech – and nothing happened. Nothing could happen. There was a touch of insanity in the proceeding, a sense of lugubrious drollery in the sight. (HD 30-31)”
The whole situation is burdened with a sense of ludicrousness and hopelessness. Against the vastness of the continent that represents the stronghold of Darkness, acts of conquest and resistance fall short. Such endeavours are full of “drollery” and sooner or later, nature will reclaim its dominion; it is simply a matter of time.
Nietzsche's philosophical view of nihilism, with its presumption that everything is meaningless, filters through Heart of Darkness. The experience of nihilism is due to the devaluation of the highest values, as the novel throughout demonstrates a disproof of objective reality and in so, a real foundation for a moral purpose. Therefore, there are multiple examples in the novel which point towards the nihilistic ideas and philosophies of the times that Conrad writes the book in, and it is this very hopelessness and quest to find the 'real self'