How Did Walter Benjamin Developed 20 Theses On The Philosophy Of History

Walter Benjamin, in his “Theses on the Philosophy of History,” developed 20 theses that critiques historicism. In the sixth thesis he states, “to articulate the past historically does not mean to recognize it ‘the way it really was.' It means to seize hold of a memory as it flashes up at a moment of danger." He is saying that people need to not only accept the past, they must also embrace it. Without the understanding of the past and history, progression is not possible. America, along with many other nations, misconstrue the idea of progress because they do not acknowledge the people that helped and sacrificed for their progression. “They owe their existence not only to the efforts of the great minds and talents who have created them, but

He continually states sexist comments and negative attitudes about women. “Then- would you believe it- I tried the women. I, Charlie Marlow, set the women to work- to get a job! Heavens! Well, you see, the notion drove me.’” He believes that women are not capable of anything other than being man’s husband. Marlow also states, "’Girl! What? Did I mention a girl? Oh, she's out of it - completely. They - the women, I mean - are out of it - should be out of it. We must help them to stay in that beautiful world of their own, lest ours gets worse." According to Marlow, women can only bare what they believe in their perfect world and need to remain ignorant and oblivious to the realities of the real world around them because they cannot handle it. Ironically, Marlow himself could not handle the reality of what was happening around

Kurtz’s dying words to Marlow were, “The horror! The horror!” These words shook Marlow and left him with a sense of uncertainty about what Kurtz could have meant. Was he going mad during his final moments, or finally finding clarity from all of the horrors he had been a part of and caused? Was he horrified by what he had become in the Congo; a brute/savage that took away the freedom of all of those Congolese civilians? The uncertainty of Kurtz’s last words confused Marlow, but he believed that what Kurtz said had some hint of truth behind it. Marlow describes Kurtz as, “an impenetrable darkness. I looked at him as you peer down at a man who is lying at the bottom of a precipice where the sun never shines.” Darkness is mentioned tirelessly throughout the entirety of Heart of Darkness, to portray the idea of all of the darkness that came with progression, imperialistic ideologies, and enlightenment’s promise of “freedom.” Walter Benjamin connects with this idea of horror and darkness in the same way that Conrad’s character, Kurtz, does in his dying moments. “For without exception the cultural treasures he surveys have an origin which he cannot contemplate without horror…there is no document of civilization which is not at the same time a document of barbarism." Benjamin understood that there is no advancement or developmental changes over history that has not come with a price, and believed that no country or