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Gitta Sereny's book "Into That Darkness" illustrated a disturbing perspective into the life of Franz Stangl, a former police officer of Schloss Hartheim which was part of the Nazi's Tiergartenstrasse 4 (T4 program) of murdering individuals with disabilities, he was also a former SS commandant of the Sobibor and Treblinka camps. Stangl was held accountable for the deaths of thousands of Jewish people and other minorities during the Holocaust, with this, Sereny sought to understand how a seemingly average and intelligent individual such as Stangl could take part in participating in genocide. Stangl attempts to resolve his cognitive dissonance through the rationalization of his actions, manipulating his memory of events through selective attention,
The novel opens on an overcast morning in mid-October. It is thundering, predicting, something bad like, rain. Philip Marlowe, a tough, distrustful and suspicious of people, yet honest private detective, is hired by the old, ailing General Sternwood to help him "take care of" Arthur Gwynn Geiger, a homosexual who has been, forcing someone to pay money so a secret isn't revealed, the General with possibly pictures of the General's daughter, Carmen Sternwood. Marlowe agrees to the job. Marlowe's first assignment becomes complicated by and twisted together with a second plot, which also has its roots in the first meeting with Sternwood.
Coleridge’s ‘The Rime of the Ancient Mariner’ is a lyrical ballad. It is a narrative poem which recounts the Mariner’s struggle with accepting the truth of religious resistance as the poem resists theological framework. On the other hand Conrad’s ‘The Heart of Darkness’ is a colonial novella. Imperial colonization is at the center of the novella as Marlow struggles to understand his experiences with colonization within the Congo. Both of these texts differ to Ishiguro’s ‘The Remains of The Day’.
This book represents order, and it was heavily used by the white man; this implies that this book was his way of protecting himself from the chaotic jungle around him. As Marlow read this book, he began to forget about the chaotic world around him, and it made him feel something normal from civilization. Conrad is using this plot event and the setting of the cottage to show the difference in the Europeans principles of order and chaos, as well as show how some of them use this order to shield themselves from the chaos. Conrad also uses many examples of how the sham of civilization hides the truth of our human nature. Conrad compares the Native Africans to the raw
Edward W. Said chose to view the novella as a historically-based, personal story. He believed that Conrad was a man that liked to place his personal beliefs into the stories that he created. For the instance of Heart of Darkness, Conrad impresses his ideas of imperialism into the novella and into the character of Marlowe. Said writes about how Conrad conveyed his characters, how he contrasts the way they speak on the natives of Africa. For example, Kurtz comes across as brutal and controlling, but Marlowe shows signs of empathy.
Throughout Conrad’s novel Heart of Darkness, there is a common theme and that is the hollowness in modern men. The author is making the point that man is hollow without God and he will try to fill this void with ungodly things. People who are trying to fill this void are either filling it with pride, power, or terror. By being hollow on the inside humans tend to go mad or live very dark lives.
Psychotic Darkness A gun gives you the opportunity, but a thought pulls the trigger. In this world, there are many life changing situations that can test one's sanity. Such situations can capture one's mind leading the mind to be on the verge of psychotic. Heart of Darkness, by Joseph Conrad, grants the characters with a series of insane scenes that can generate question of psychotic characters.
Out of the three novels we read for the Modern Fiction class, the one I favoured most is Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness. At first I thought I would hate it, because it indeed has a very unattractive appearance, and the subject did not interested me either. When I started to read, it was still somewhat boring. However, with my experience with every other book I’ve ever read, I was aware most novels have a boring and uncompelling beginnings, and pushed myself to leave those parts behind. As I read, it became compelling, and the light air with which Marlow told his story started to make me love the narration.
New Criticism View of Imperialism in Heart of Darkness In Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad, the imperialism of Africa is described. Conrad tells the story of the cruel treatment of the natives and of the imperialism of the Congo region through the perspective of the main character, Marlow. Throughout the novel, Marlow describes how the Europeans continuously bestow poor treatment to the native people by enslaving them in their own territory. Analyzing the story with the New Criticism lens, it is evident that Conrad incorporates numerous literary devices in Heart of Darkness, including similes, imagery, personification, and antitheses to describe and exemplify the main idea of cruel imperialism in Africa discussed throughout the novella.
1. How does Marlow feel when he hears the tribesmen howl and watches them dance? How does he explain that feeling? What keeps him from joining the tribesmen? Marlow identifies with the howling, dancing tribesmen, feeling that he and the tribesmen have a “remote kinship” that he believes all white men need to recognize and acknowledge.
Often in literature, the physical journey the main character takes represents their psychological growth. In Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad, Marlow’s journey into the heart of the Congo represents his progression into the darkest parts of his mind. As he travels deeper into the foreign terrain, he begins to question the world around him and himself. As Marlow begins his journey into the heart of Africa, he holds onto his idealistic belief in imperialism.
Throughout the novel, we see Conrad gives us idea about how deceiving one could be. For example when Marlow talks about the map unfamiliar Africa and where unknown part are drawn which turns out white on the map of Africa. Africa appears to be dark through exploitation, colonization and exploration of the rest of the continents. Conrad even uses the idea of light and dark to gives us more idea of the inner status of some of the specific character. In the novel ‘Heart of Darkness’ Mr. Kurtz who is an Caucasian man, who has white skin, but who has the darkest and most corrupt soul in the novel.
In Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad, the imperialism of Africa is described. Conrad tells the story of the cruel treatment of the natives and of the imperialism of the Congo region through the perspective through the main character, Marlow. Through the lens of New Criticism, it is evident that Conrad incorporates numerous literary devices in Heart of Darkness, including similes, imagery, personification, and antitheses to describe and exemplify the main idea of cruel imperialism in Africa discussed throughout the novella. Throughout Heart of Darkness, Kurtz and other men that are known as strong, greedy, European leaders of the movement to imperialize Africa, are mentioned multiple times.
In 1884 Berlin Conference was held to decide the future of Africa. They finalized to create free trade in the Congo region, free navigation and created rules to divide Africa among themselves. Joseph Conrad wrote Heart of Darkness during this period so, those historical backgrounds on colonization help to portray the theme of imperialism in this novel. In Heart of Darkness, Conrad portrays themes of imperialism in three different views through his main character Marlow. Therefore, this essay argues on how Heart of Darkness comment on Imperialism based on the power of the colonizers, the power of Mr. Kurtz and imperialistic view of Conrad over women.
Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad is a story that centers around Marlow, an introverted sailor, and his treacherous journey up the Congo River in search of a man name Kurtz. Unfamiliar with the terrain and natives, Marlow faced many different obstacles that made his journey even more tough. Obstacles like the Congo River and the dense jungles that surround it not only limited the crew progress, but also aroused confusion as well. Joseph Conrad amazing use of descriptive wording and imagery help the readers understand why their surrounding was giving them uneasiness throughout their expedition to meet up with Kurtz. The readers can understand why nature was truly an adversary to Marlow and his crew.
