Comparing The Lamp At Noon And Heart Of Darkness

“Look at how a single candle can both defy and define the darkness.” (Frank pg). In this quote from The Diary of Anne Frank we see Anne reflecting on the coexistence of lightness and darkness, with one unable to exist without the other, while remaining in constant opposition. This illustrates how the use of light and dark imagery can be complex in literature as it can take on many meanings depending on the author’s and the reader’s interpretation. In Sinclair Ross’s short story “The Lamp at Noon” and in Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness, light and dark imagery are used repeatedly to convey positive and negative images. Though light and dark imagery are used to convey positive and negative images in both stories, the fluidity and coexistence

The titles of both works contain references to lightness or darkness. The mention of the lamp in the title “The Lamp at Noon” provides the image of needing light at a time of day that doesn’t usually require it, noon. This is the reader’s first introduction to a light and dark contrast, as in order for a lamp to be lit at noon, it must be dark outside. Further in the story the lamp gains more significance as a symbol of Ellen’s hope. Darkness is specifically mentioned the title of Heart of Darkness which sets an ominous tone for the reader as they begin understand the significance of the title. In the first few pages of this novella we are introduced to more imagery. When describing the Thames river, narrator and protagonist Marlow says, “The water shone pacifically; the sky, without a speck, was a benign immensity of unstained light; the very mist on the Essex marshes was like a gauzy and radiant fabric, hung from the wooded rises inland, and draping the low shores in diaphanous folds. Only the gloom to the west, brooding over the upper reaches, became more somber every minute, as if angered by the approach of the sun.” (Conrad pg) Marlow describes the shining waters, the lightness of the sky juxtaposed against the already set sun in the west. The image of the darkness in the west foreshadows Marlow’s narrative about his adventure in Africa. Similarly, in “The Lamp at Noon”, Sinclair introduces us to light and dark imagery in the opening paragraph, writing, “A little before noon she lit the lamp. Demented wind fled keening past the house: a wail through the eaves that died every minute or two. Three days now without respite it had held. The dust was thickening into an impenetrable fog.” (Sinclair pg). The image of the thick fog introduces the reader to the dark storm that is sweeping through the prairie landscape, creating a dustbowl so