Opposing Forces in Heart of Darkness Essay -- Heart Darkness essays

Opposing Forces in Heart of dark In Heart of Darkness, Joseph Conrad sets up the opposing forces of black and white in order to convey the theme that every man has his own tone of darkness that is simply masked by the superficial light of civilization. The novelette focuses primarily on Charlie Marlows journey into the African Congo, but simultaneously deals with some underlying themes. Marlow understood the basic premises of imperialism, but was unprepared for the realism he encountered while in the wilderness. The world of the African jungle does non abide by the same laws with which Marlow had been raised in civilized Europe. in that respect is an inherent savagery in the jungle that Marlow had not previously encountered and and then for which he was unprepared. This is first apparent when Marlow encounters the shaded death grove early on in his journeys. Marlow witnesses the natives suffering immensely for what seemed to be nothing - their work seemed for zero point - but he does not speak up or surrender his trek. This is also the first time that the reader gets a glimpse of the underlying oppositions within the text. Marlow glances at one of the dying natives, one with a blame of white European yarn tied around his neck. In the surface area that is the O... ...Jan. 1996). Online Internet. 3 October 1998. Available http//www.lawrence.edu/johnson/heart. Conrad, Joseph. Heart of Darkness. Ed. Robert Kimbrough. 17th ed. New York Norton, 1988. Levenson, Michael. The Value of Facts in the Heart of Darkness. Nineteenth-Century Fiction 40 (1985)351-80. Rosmarin, Adena. Darkening the Reader Reader reaction Criticism and Heart of Darkness. Joseph Conrad Heart of Darkness A Case theater in Contemporary Criticism. Ed. Ross C. Murfin. New York St. Martins, 1989. Watt, Ian. Conrad in the Nineteenth Century. San Diego U. of California P, 1979. 168-200, 249-53.