Congo River

inside the boiler would get angry through the greatness of his thirst, and take a terrible vengeance.” (Conrad 45) Throughout much of Conrad’s Heart of Darkness, there lurks a theme of Marlow’s, and Kurtz’s, perceived superiority. When Marlow speaks of the natives, there is an air of pity in his language. He sees himself as more developed, although there does seem to be validity in his view. Marlow is a white man coming into the Congo, to work among…

just merely using descriptions and language to bring attention to the world of racism and suppression during the 1890’s. Achebe further contradicts himself when he proclaims that fiction is “another way of looking at reality” which only further shows why Conrad was not a racist. All throughout Achebe’s criticism, he analyzed the book literally without considering the symbolic or ironic connotation. Achebe begins his criticism from the very beginning of the book. Conrad, according to Achebe,…

In the short story “The Boat”, Alistair Macleod describes the conflicting relationship between a mother and a father based on their different attitudes about their children’s futures. The story is told through the perspective of the son in the family, looking back on his childhood in the 1930’s in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia. The narrator begins the story with the first trip he took with his dad on their boat. It was a 32 by 9 foot “Cape Island boat” designed for small inshore fisherman. Coming…

Joseph Conrad’s techniques in “The Heart of Darkness” convey the experience of traveling up the Congo River. Specifically, the atmosphere and effects of the Congo are detailed through Conrad’s use of diction and imagery. Conrad’s diction emphasizes the complexity of the Congo’s atmosphere. As Marlow travels up the “silent” river he notes that the air is “heavy” and “sluggish.” The diction conveys a still atmosphere, emphasizing the idea that the Congo is stuck in (a primitive) time.…

to write an article on a book and Rafael wanted it to be a cleverly woven masterpiece. Rafael checked into her school’s library one day and carefully browsed through the selection of books until she found a book that was rumoured to be interesting and thought provoking. “The minute I opened the book and began reading the first words, I knew I was in for a literary delight”, Rafael says, “The words speak to a person; one can imagine the scene that is being narrated. While reading the Heart of…

Savage: a term often used to describe someone or something that is unruly and uncivil. Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness, is a novella, in which the main character, Marlow, tells of his journey to Africa, a land full of savages, to obtain imperialism. In Heart of Darkness, Conrad uses the Congo habitat as a symbol of darkness to aid the practice of imperialism while also being responsible for the psychologically obscure side of a man. Conrad negatively represents Africa to symbolize that really…

The Archetypal Lens of Good vs. Evil in Heart of Darkness In Heart of Darkness, Joseph Conrad focuses on the main characters of Marlow, the story’s narrator, who recounts his journey into the interior of the Congo, and Kurtz, an ivory trader, who is shrouded in mystery as Marlow is eager to meet him. Through the archetypes of the hero’s journey and shadow, both Marlow and Kurtz become deeply affected by their setting, which illuminates the theme of good versus evil. Throughout Heart of Darkness,…

In the novel The Poisonwood Bible, written by Barbara Kingsolver and published in 1999, follows the story of the Prices, a missionary family. They depart from Georgia in 1959 and head to the Congo, their expectations coming nowhere close to unforgiving African life. The mother and four daughters tell their stories first person of how they suffered under the fist of their legalistic, abusive father. The main portion of the book takes place in a village called Kilanga, where the patriarch, Nathan,…

How could a society appear so stable, as people are treated inhumanely? Surely a thriving community would demand justice? Heart of Darkness recants the tale of Joseph Conrad on his voyage up the Congo River, into the Congo Free State in the heart of Africa, through the perspective of narrator and adventurer, Marlow. Marlow tells his story to friends aboard a boat anchored on the River Thames, London, England. This setting provides the frame for Marlow 's story of his obsession with the ivory…

I. Heart of Darkness was written by Joseph Conrad. He was born in Poland on December 3, 1857. Much of the writing of Joseph Conrad was centered around adventures at sea and trips to exotic places. His writing often has messages that are deeper than most stories. He attacks issues that he thinks are important. Conrad, himself, spent much of his youth at sea. After mastering sailing, Conrad was given command of merchant ships in the Orient and on the Congo. He later left the boating…