Heart of Darkness: Intro Rough Draft

         Through the writings of critics such as Karl and Murfin one is able to gain insight on Joseph Conrad’s well renowned short story, Heart of Darkness.  Written in 1899, much of the story is a reflection of what Conrad witnesses while serving as a Captain for a steamboat traveling up the Congo River. This enables Conrad to use accurate details, which ultimately further draws the reader into the text.  Moreover, Conrad’s usage of detail and paragraph structure allows the reader to develop insight about the Human condition depicted in his work. Critics such as Murfin and Karl use this insight along with the ideologies expressed in Freud’s work to develop new ideas about Conrad’s depiction of the human condition. Albeit Karl and Murfin severely criticize Conrad’s short story, all three men can agree that human beings are naturally good. 

Heart Of Darkness: Battle of the Subconscious

            Besides using the Heart of Darkness text, I will use the psychoanalytic criticism of Karl and Murfin to illuminate the key elements of Conrad’s Heart of Darkness. I will use to human condition depicted in Conrad’s work and that expressed by Karl and Murfin to analyze the subconscious versus the conscious. I will also incorporate elements of the natural setting like black versus white to further illustrate the battle between the subconscious and the conscious.  Throughout my essay, the criticism of Conrad’s work by the two men and the parallelism to Freudian ideas will enable me to compare and contrast the conscious versus the subconscious. 

Frederick Karl: Danse Macabre

         Frederick Karl’s “Danse Macabre,” is a psychoanalytic writing of Conrad’s Heart of Darkness.  Karl believes that the work of Conrad was heavily influenced by the work of Freud. He states that “ Freud did major work on dreams in the 1890’s, the same time that Conrad was fermenting ideas about the Congo and personal and political expedience in a quicksand, nightmarish world.” The extraordinary parallelism between the achievements of the two men is evidence of how influential they were on each other. Furthermore, Karl is not the only author to mention the parallelism between Freud and Conrad. In Muffin’s writings he also mentions the similarities between the Freud and Conrad.  Many can see the influence of Freud’s work through his short novel, Heart of Darkness. 

Heart Of Darkness

           In this paragraph Marlow is faced with a choice. He mistakenly tells Kurtz’s wife that he heard Kurtz’s last words. Obviously Kurtz’s wife asks Marlow what the last words were. This leaves Marlow with a choice to either lie by making up fake last words or tell Kurtz’s wife the truth. However, Kurtz’s last words were not the kind of words that a love one would want to hear. Before he died, Kurtz says, “the horror the horror,” which refers to his time in Africa. After hearing how torn and upset Kurtz’s wife was, Marlow decides to lie and makeup Kurtz’s last words. He says that the last words Kurtz ever said was his wife’s name. Even though Marlow lied to Kurtz’s wife, he did a good thing by helping her accept her husband’s death instead of highlighting how miserable Kurtz’s life was in Africa. This paragraph makes the reader wonder that if they were in the same situation as Marlow, would he tell the truth or lie.

Heart Of Darkness

       
In paragraph 149 through 150, one can notice how Marlow begins to describe Kurtz as a mere child. For instance he says, “my intended, my station, my career, my ideas.” This is similar to a child because children see things very myopically. They see things as theirs only. This is evident in the colonization of the Africa and the exploitation of its natural resources. Like a child, Kurtz sees Africa’s natural resources as his own. Thus, enabling Kurtz to feel entitled and gather up all the ivory he can find.  This is further demonstrated when Marlow states, “ he desired to have kings meet him at railway-stations on his return from ghastly Nowhere, where he intended to accomplish great things.” Marlow believes that Kurtz feels that he is entitled to everything and the respect of everyone. This is similar to a child because both Kurtz and children believe they are the center of the universe. 

Heart Of Darkness

   

       In Joseph Conrad’s short story, Heart Of Darkness, he utilizes long paragraphs to help create a sense of being in the wilderness. He also employs the usage of the double negative to help create a sense of confusion in the reader that is similar to what the characters are feeling. Conrad describes how the “earth seems unearthly.” This illustrates how in the “savage wilderness” the human condition is not what the typical human expects. Conrad’s ability to draw the reader into the story with his literary tools enables his story, Heart of darkness,  to be one of the greatest short stories of all time. 

Heart Of Darkness: Paragraph Notes

        In the nineteenth paragraph Marlow describes his boyhood dream of “filling the blank spaces” of the map. He envisions himself as a brave explorer navigating through the wilderness finding rivers and other geographical landmarks. However, as time continues, Marlow’s ideas become tainted by that of society’s and the white patch on the map becomes filled-in with darkness. The once beautiful wilderness becomes a “savage land,” with a river that “resembles an immense snake.” The “white patch” resembles the ignorance of both Marlow and society. Where as the "black Darkness" illustrates the oppression and suffering the native people are going through due to the ignorance of the white man.  When Marlow relates his fantasy of the map to a “snake with a bird,” one can understand how the exploration and conquer of an unknown land is merely a game. Where the predator rains supreme over of the prey. This paragraph clearly illustrates how the human condition is not one of violence, initially, but can morph into one of violence and oppression when taught by society to the young. 

Heart Of Darkness Question 6

         In describing the painting Kurtz made of “ woman, draped and blindfolded, carrying a lighted torch,” Kurtz is illustrating the evil that surrounds everyone in this savage land. The background of the painting is black, which represents how everyone is in the state of darkness and deception. The torch-light is the only truth that is available. However, since the woman’s face is evil, as the torch-light reflects on her face, it shows the truth is hidden beneath the evil. Marlow would agree with this idea because he respects Kurtz and his point of view. Marlow has not seen enough of the truth to develop his own perspective. He is still operating under the impressions of others. Thus, Marlow is still living in darkness. 

Heart Of Darkness

                       In Joseph Conrad’s work, Heart of Darkness, four men are on a ship outside Thames. The four men are one Lawyer, one Accountant, Marlow and the ships Captain. At sun down, Marlow recalls that the spot they are in once was the “ darkest place on earth.” He begins his story by describing the old Roman Empire and their conquest of England. Furthermore, Marlow emphasis on how when the Roman’s first invaded the land it was merely a “savage wilderness.” The men imagine what it must have been like for young soldiers to march through what “seems” to be the “unknown.” Marlow’s story forces the reader to contemplate the thoughts and actions of the Roman’s.  He wants us to understand where the Roman’s are coming from as appose to brushing it off. He believes that the only way not to repeat history is to learn from it. For instance, when England later colonized Africa they treated the indigenous people as savages and viewed the land as a “savage wilderness.” This is clear evidence of history repeating itself. By not learning from and understanding the mistakes of the Roman’s, the English later followed in their footsteps. Ironically, both the Roman Empire and the British Empire lost control the their territories and shrunk into small kingdoms. The connection between the Roman Empire and the English Colonization is apparent in that the once one is conquered, it later becomes the conquerer. Before the Roman Empire was created, its original Kings were citizens of Troy. After the Armies of Greece conquered Troy, Romulus and Remus who were decedents of Troy founded Rome. The Roman Empire like that of the British, found its birth by being conquered  by other people. The connection to be made by Marlow's story is that History and repeat itself if not learned from.