The Light and Dark Forces in Joseph Conrads Heart of Darkness Essay

The scintillation and Dark Forces in substance of Darkness Heart of Darkness, by Joseph Conrad, explores something truer and more(prenominal) fundamental than a mere personal narrative. It is a night jaunt into the unconscious and a confrontation within the self. Certain circumstances of Marlows voyage, when looked at in these terms, have new importance. Marlow insists on the dreamlike quality of his narrative. It seems to me I am trying to tell you a dream - making a vain attempt, because no relation of a dream can land the dream - sensation. Even before leaving Brussels, Marlow felt as though he was slightly to set off for mettle of the earth, not the center of a continent. The introspective voyager leaves his familiar rational world, is cut off from the information of his surroundings, his steamer toils along slowly on the edge of a portentous and incomprehensible frenzy. As the crisis approaches, the dreamer and his ship moves through a hush that seemed unnatural, lik e a state of trance then enter a deep fog. In the end, there is a symbolic unity in the midst of the two men. Marlow and Kurtz are the light and dark selves of a single person. Marlow is what Kurtz qualification have been, and Kurtz is what Marlow might have become. Much of the meaning in Heart of Darkness is found not in the center of the book, the look of Africa, that on the periphery of the book. The story that Marlow tells centers around a musical composition named Kurtz. However, around of what Marlow knows about Kurtz he has learned from other people, many of whom have well-behaved reason for not being truthful to Marlow. Therefore Marlow has to piece together much of Kurtzs story. We slowly get to know more and more about Kurtz. Part of the meaning of Heart of Darkness is ... ...e human condition. Kurtz represents what every man will become if left to his own intrinsic desires without a protective, school environment. Marlow represents the train soul that has not been drawn back into savagery by a dark, alienated jungle. The book implies that every man has a heart of darkness that is usually drowned out by the light of civilization. However, when removed from civilized society, the raw evil within his soul will be released. whole kit and caboodle Cited and Consulted Conrad, Joseph. Heart of Darkness. New York Norton, 1971. Greene, Graham. The Heart of the Matter. New York Penguin, 1984. Hawthorn, Jeremy. Joseph Conrad Narrative Technique and ideologic Commitment. New York Arnold, 1990. Murfin, Ross C., ed. Joseph Conrad, Heart of Darkness A Case Study in Contemporary Criticism. New York Bedford-St. Martins, 1989.