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Symbolism in the heart of darkness
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Upton Sinclair was an only child born on September 20, 1878. He was born and raised in Baltimore, Maryland. Even though his name was respected in the South from his great-grandfathers fame in the War of 1812, Upton Sinclair grew up in a family without much money. Any profit his father made was spent on alcohol. Living in poverty, the family moved often, unable to pay rent.
King Leopold II was a selfish man who in effect, used his status as king to provide a lavish lifestyle for himself as he neglected his own country and forced the Natives of the Congo into ruin. He put dollars over the lives of millions and eventually this caused his downfall as king. He used his position as king to lobby Belgium's Parliament to take on certain projects that would benefit him, one of which was the Congo free state of 1885(Hochschild 1). While he did help to create Belgium into the country it is today, he is known almost exclusively for the atrocities he created with the creation of the Congo free state. He was eventually found to be at fault for these atrocities and stepped down as king, only to die soon after.
King Leopold II - A cruel ruler in Congo that made profits off of mainly ivory and rubber. He eventually was forced to sell Congo to the Belgian government because people found out how harsh his rule was. Cecil Rhodes - Believed in colonialism and colonized Zimbabwe and Zambia. He greatly exploited the resources there and made a large profit off of diamond mining. He was one of the most significant and influential promoters of Britain's imperial interests.
Major Works Data Sheet – Do not copy from a website – that is plagiarism! Use citations as appropriate. Title of Book: Heart of Darkness Author: Joseph Conrad
During the second half of the 19th century, Leopold II, King of Belgium, claimed the Congo Basin during the scramble for Africa and attempted to maintain the area for his own profit, resulting in the annihilation of over half of the basin’s population through unspeakable violence and brutality. While the imperialism of the Congo may have been beneficial to Leopold II and Belgium, the impact on the Congo itself was much, much more serious and detrimental, and nothing that either side may have gained can change that. In 1878, King Leopold II of Belgium, after failed attempts of creating colonies in Africa, hired the explorer Henry Stanley to explore the Congo. Then, with the Congo being brought to the attention of Europe, Leopold established
Ignorance of another's personal values or situation results in an impassable schism between the two parties. People fail to understand each other, and as such, they regard each other in lower lights. In “Heart of Darkness”, Joseph Conrad, through Marlow, writes his novella through a lense of ignorance and the perspective of the typical white person of the time in order to relate his story to the reader. Marlow and the accountant are contrasted with Kurtz to display the effects of evil on an individual.
"Without feelings of respect, what is there to distinguish men from beasts?" (Confucius). This quote by Confucius states the idea that, deep down, there is not much separating man from beasts and man is naturally "dark" when removed from civilization. Throughout history, man has had the dark opinion that there is no being that is superior and that they are good, all-knowing beings; yet, due to the blindness to the truth around man, they do not know that this is false. Conrad uses this idea to emphasize that man's conscience is within the darkness, leaving man blind to the truth surrounding them.
With the imperialistic drive being a bigger motive for Europe, he could depict the harshness of the Victorian Era class system in his novel Heart of Darkness. Not only were the effects of the class system that made it dangerous, but also how easily it can spread. These themes are present in Heart of Darkness due to the Victorian Era being one of the worst time periods for class diversity. Also, Conrad presented the story from the point of view of a white man, or Middle Class worker, just so the reader can see what goes on directly below and above him in the social hierarchy. While there has always been a class system for all types of societies, the Victorian Era may be the worst since the poverty problems at the time gained little attention, yet a numerous amount of people fell victim to it.
Everyone has their own opinions of which cultures are civilized and which are savage. A culture which is civilized is one where morals are set in place and and there is intellectual advancement. Civilized cultures follow a set a moral given to them usually by a government. A savage culture is where there are no morals in place. The people part of this culture do not follow any morals only hoping to survive, with no government intact.
Into the Darkness: How and why is a social group presented in a particular way? Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness takes a multi-faceted approach to the issues that surrounded 19th century colonization and imperialism in Africa. Marlow’s journey into the heart of Africa serves to highlight the hypocrisy of this endeavor, and how this deceit followed the rhetoric utilized by the colonizers in order to justify their colonization of Africa and the treatment of the natives. As the novel progresses, Africa becomes more of a backdrop for Conrad to truly expose the depravity of European intervention in Africa. Through Marlow’s narrative, varying connotations of words and his own main character’s reactions,as well as copious amounts of descriptive imagery, Conrad casts Europeans in a negative light in order to criticize imperialism and colonists.
BRIEF ANALYSIS The use of various literary devices in Joseph Conrad’s novel helps to bring his story to life, which ultimately is to his advantage. Conrad brings the reader into the darkness, displayed the corruptibility of humankind and left them pondering the absurdity of evil and imperialism. One of the strongest literary devices that Conrad uses to engage the reader in his novella is the use of imagery. However other important literary devices that are used throughout the novel as well as in the extract above is: similes, metaphors, personification, foreshadowing, and symbolism and narrative techniques.
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.
LANGUAGE TECHNIQUE USED IN JOSEPH CONRAD’S HEART OF DARKNESS ABSTRACT The nineteenth century has been called "the age of the novel", as the last of the major forms of literature to appear. The novel was one of the most fluent, diverse, and unpredictable of literary forms. It was the dominant literary form which reached its apotheosis in the Last century. The novel may seem modern but is historically related to other literary forms such as drama and the epic.
Joseph Conrad English novelist and short story writer of Polish descent. He worked as a sailor on French and British ships. Conrad spent most of his life sailing all over the world, it was this experience that provided him with material on exotic location of many of his novels. He visited Australia, various islands in the Indian Ocean and the South Pacific, South America, and he even sailed up the Congo River in Africa. He became naturalized British subject in 1886 then in 1894 at the age of 36 Conrad finally left the sea behind him and settled down in England and then Conrad’s literary career began in 1895 with publication of his first novel Almery’s Folly later he wrote two of his most famous novels Lord Jim (1900) and Heart of Darkness (1902).
The lights from the city reflected the Thames River because London is described as being light, the light symbolizes Conrad’s view of civilization. According to Conrad civilization is where evil is present but ignored. The light is the knowledge that is gained through exploring. Conrad uses Africa and the Congo River to represent the evil that waits in the unknown. The darkness is said to be full of savages and cannibals it is further emphasized as being the uncivilized part of the world where people eat people and the savages wait in the trees and in the darkness.
