Leon Rom

Sulky Devils: A Post-Colonial Criticism of Heart of Darkness “And between whiles I had to look after the savage who was fireman. He was an improved specimen; he could fire up a vertical boiler...and what he knew was this - that should the water in that transparent thing disappear, the evil spirit 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 these savages and to bring riches back to England. He is there to conquer undiscovered land, the “place of darkness” (Conrad 9). This darkness not only represents the mysteries of the jungle, but also the people who reside within it, dark literally and figuratively. Eurocentrism and the presence of the subaltern guide Marlow through the jungle. Relying much on the language and social implications used by Conrad, the post-colonial lens “is a hybrid alliance of philosophy with linguistic theory with literary analysis” (Willette). Its goal is to go much deeper than just the easily understood surface bigotry. Instead, the lens is able to dig into the tensions threaded between the lines of Marlow’s intricately spun tale. Winding along the…

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,…

Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness is one of the most known novels in English literature. The story begins when Marlow, who works for a Belgian company, went on a journey to the heart of Africa as a steamship captain. Through his journey, he heard the name of Kurtz for the first time. Then the name repeated many times which made Marlow, who is our narrator in addition to another unknown narrator, interested to know about Kurtz. Kurtz works for the company as an ivory trader in the Congo which was…

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…

Heart of Darkness follows the main character, Marlow, and his journey in search of Mr. Kurtz in the Congo to bring him back to England. Marlow eventually finds Mr. Kurtz and witnesses how he exploits the African people due to the fact that they worship him; Mr. Kurtz dies on the trip back. Conrad’s language throughout the novella is extremely descriptive of the natural landscape of the new land he is traveling around. Within the description of the new land he is witnessing, he also describes the…

In times of distress, or in times of chaos, people will desperately look for something positive or orderly such as in Heart of Darkness (by Joseph Conrad) when Marlow stood amazed at the well-kept Chief Accountant. Even in chaotic areas however, someone may meet a charismatic individual, like how Marlow met Kurtz, and begin to obsess over that person instead of something that reminds them of home. For Marlow in Heart of Darkness, his complexity grows as he transitions from obsessing over the end…

Experiences and surroundings are what shapes our character. Often these interactions are positive. For example, experiencing a tragedy often builds empathy or living in poverty encourages determination. The opposite can also occur where a person who grows up in immense wealth is prideful and arrogant. Sometimes life is not so concrete, often times change causes a conflict between who someone actually is and who they perceive themselves to be. Changes in life such as shifts in surroundings,…

The Professional, a film directed by Luc Besson, is about a cold-hearted and unsympathetic professional assassin named Leon. He kills for a living, and has been successfully executing targets for a very long time. However, when he isn’t taking down targets, he stays in a compact apartment in solitude doing his daily routine which includes cleaning, watering his plant that he cares a lot about, and sleeping on a chair with one eye open. The movie not show much about Leon’s past life but he is an…

The Persecution of Religion in Stalinist Russia Throughout history, religion has played an important role in shaping culture, government and the economy, but it is important to also consider times when the absence of religion has done the same. Under the control of Joseph Stalin and the Communist party in the early 1920s, Russia became the first nation to institutionalize atheism. Propelled by the ideals of communism and the example of his predecessor, Stalin sought to secularize the nation and…

between an individual 's behavior and a group 's standards or expectations. This behavior in accordance with socially accepted conventions or standards. “Loyalty to one 's party everyone is matching wearing the same thing. Compliance refers to the act of changing one’s behavior in response to a direct request. These are act or process of complying with a desire, demand, or proposal. Thanksgiving is nearby please feed the poor and give charity. Obedience is a special type of compliance that…