Need You Now

In Act 2 of the play Lena asks Boesman for help and in turn he responds by asking “What? Find yourself? Who are you?” Lena responds by saying she wants to be Mary. This could be seen as a biblical reference and that Lena uses religion to give her life meaning. Similar to how Vladmir saw meaning in Godot and his hope was kept alive by the boy assuring him that Godot…

The Use of Darkness in Characterization in “Heart of Darkness” Through Imperialism In many great works of literature, the use of darkness and insanity in characterization was often used in a fictional matter. However, there is nothing fictional about the darkness that had spread through Africa’s deepest roots as a result of imperialism. This alone had set the primal continent back several hundred years behind the rest of the world in terms of technology and development. Lacking an advanced…

the unknown leaves us vulnerable to our minds. We face many emotions from joy to fear in the matter of seconds. What will come about when you are stripped of your emotions, are you even human? Being curious and having fear for the unknown the unpredictable is what makes us who we are, humans. It is what happened when you let these curiosities and fear overcome you to devour your innocents to be this lifeless creature. Author Tim O’Brien illustrates the loss of innocence in a single chapter…

Heart of Darkness is a story about a captain’s journey through the jungles of Congo. Joseph Conrad based this subtly introspective tale on his own travels as a steamboat captain in the same locations in Africa. The physical danger and fear he experienced traveling through the Congo can be felt throughout the story and is represented by literal and metaphorical references to darkness. A concurrent theme of the story is the darkness of life and death, which is demonstrated through the narrator’s…

“Your strength is just an accident arising from the weakness of others,” (Conrad) says Marlow at the beginning of Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad. This almost prophetic notion becomes like a guideline for two main characters in the book: the Manager and Kurtz. Their actions bring this belief to light in their lives, showing what is truly underneath. The Manager was only strong whenever Kurtz displayed weakness, and Kurtz 's weakness became prevalent when he recognized his heart of darkness…

found Kurtz, Kurtz had become oppressive and violent. He had lost all regard for the natives. This can be seen when Marlow describes seeing the heads of natives on stakes around Kurtz’s house, and he points out that the heads provide no benefit. But now what remains to be explored is whether or not the reason Kurtz ended up doing such things is that he gave into his will and desires. If he did indeed act according to desire, it is first necessary to establish what it is that Kurtz desires. In…

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…

In the “Heart of Darkness” by Joseph Conrad, a man, Kurtz, has some confrontation with his dark self. This is both dangerous and enlightening. In the novel, the term "darkness" and “light” have a few different meanings. The difference between dark and light is uncivilized and civilized. Heart of Darkness is about a man 's journey into the darkness. The journey is both physically strenuous and descripted metaphorically: he travels to both the depths of the Belgian Congo and to the deepest regions…

plain"(65). Marlow's description of the Russian harlequin, using words like ‘boyish', ‘little blue eyes', and ‘sunshine' depicts the Russian’s supposed innocence. However, Marlow reveals the Russian’s innocent, but ignorant nature as he said, “‘I tell you,' he cried, ‘this man has enlarged my mind.' He opened his arms wide, staring at me with his little blue eyes that were perfectly round'"(67). The Russian refers to Kurtz as the person who ‘enlarged' his imperialism ideology. In fact, Russia…

The human mind is like a building. It has a base, outer and inner support systems, and screws and nails to hold it together. When any of these crucial pieces disappear, the entire building crumbles. For mankind, these critical pieces are social constructs within civilization, the bolts which hold together our minds and our humanity. In Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad, as characters venture deeper into the congo, they are forced into their primital states due to the lack of civilization and…