Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad

[The Heart of Darkness] is a dreadful and fascinating tale, full as any of Poe’s mystery and haunting terrors, yet with all the substantial basis of reality that no man who had no lived as well as dreamed could conjure into existence. --from a review in --from a review in Nation, 1906 Nation, 1906

What is the book about anyway?  seafaring  river boating  trade and exploration  imperialism and colonialism  race relations  the attempt to find meaning in the universe while trying to get at the mysteries of the subconscious mind

Conrad’s Biography ► In adulthood Conrad became a British merchant sailor and eventually a master mariner in ► He traveled widely in the east. ► He took on a stint as a steamer captain (1890) in the Congo, but became ill within three months and had to leave. ► After his illness, Conrad retired from sailing and took up writing full time. ► Writing took a physical and emotional toll on Conrad. He considered his writing experiences draining.

Background- rewind a bit… ► After his long stint in the east had come to an end, Conrad was having trouble finding a new position. ► With the help of a relative in Brussels, he attained his new position as captain of a steamer for a Belgian trading company. ► Conrad had always dreamed of sailing the Congo in Africa. ► He had to leave almost immediately for the job; the previous captain was killed in a trivial quarrel.

Background continued… ► While traveling from Boma (at the mouthof the river) to the company station at Matadi, he met Roger Casement who told Conrad stories of the harsh treatment of Africans in the colonies. ► Conrad saw some of the most shocking and depraved examples of human corruption he’d ever witnessed. He was disgusted by the ill treatment of the natives, the scramble for loot, the terrible heat and the lack of water. ► He saw human skeletons of bodies left to rot - many were bodies of men from the chain gangs building the railroads. ► At one point, he went back and found his ship was damaged and had to be repaired. ► Dysentery was rampant as was malaria; Conrad had to terminate his contract due to illness and never fully recovered.

Frame Story Frame Story ► The novella opens with a frame story in which the unnamed narrator and four companions aboard the a ship named the Nellie are sailing the Thames River. To pass the time, one of the men, Charlie Marlow, describes his experiences as a steamboat captain for a European trading company with outposts in Africa. Our anonymous narrator occasionally intrudes on Marlow’s narrative and comments on it.

Characters ► Anonymous narrator aboard the Nellie, a former seaman with a sense of humor ► Marlow-a seaman who piloted a steamboat for a large Belgian trading company ► General Manager-the chief of the company’s Central Station who seeks to replace Kurtz ► Russian-a boyish seaman who idolizes Kurtz ► Kurtz-the characteristic chief of the company’s inner station

Narrative Structure ► Framed Narrative  Narrator begins  Marlow takes over  Narrator breaks in occasionally ► Marlow is Conrad’s alter-ego; he shows up in some of Conrad’s other works including “Youth: A Narrative” and Lord Jim ► Marlow recounts his tale while he is on a small vessel on the Thames with some drinking buddies who are ex- merchant seamen. As he recounts his story, the group sits in an all-encompassing darkness and passes around the bottle.

Varied Interpretations ► Many different interpretations have been suggested for this text- You will have to develop your own! ► What is Conrad saying about colonialism and capitalism as a whole? ► What might Kurtz symbolize? ► What is this really a journey into? ► How could this be an escape?

Conflicts, Themes, Symbols, & Motifs ► Light vs. Dark ► Civilization vs. Savagery ► Racism ► Search for Identity ► Effects of Imperialism ► Hypocrisy of Imperialism ► Individual Responsibility

Modernism & Heart of Darkness ► Heart of Darkness was published in the late Victorian-Early Modern Era but exhibits mostly Modern traits:  a distrust of abstractions as a way of delineating truth  an interest in an exploration of the psychological  a belief in art as a separate and somewhat privileged kind of human experience  a desire for transcendence mingled with a feeling that transcendence cannot be achieved  an awareness of primitiveness and savagery as the condition upon which civilization is built, and therefore an interest in the experience and expressions of non-European peoples  a skepticism that emerges from the notion that human ideas about the world seldom fit the complexity of the world itself, and thus a sense that multiplicity, ambiguity, and irony--in life and in art--are the necessary responses of the intelligent mind to the human condition

Conrad’s Use of Diction  Very Descriptive words  “Trees, trees, millions of trees, massive, immense, running up high; and in their foot, hugging the bank against the stream, crept the little begrimed steamboat, like a sluggish beetle crawling on the floor of a lofty portico.” **Oh, yes! Get ready for some serious imagery!  Uses synonyms for “dark” for emphasis  “All this was in the gloom, while we down there were yet in the sunshine, and the stretch of the river abreast of the clearing glittered in a still and dazzling splendor, with a murky and overshadowed bend above and below.”  Vivid sound imagery  ‘“It is the gift of the great,’ she went on, and the sound of her low voice seemed to have the accompaniment of all the other sounds, full of mystery, desolation, and sorrow, I had ever heard- the ripple of the river, the soughing of the trees swayed by the wind, the murmurs of wild crowds, the faint ring of incomprehensible words cried form afar, the whisper of a voice speaking from beyond the threshold of an eternal darkness.”

Diction continued…  Uses anaphora, which is emphasizing words by repeating them at the beginning of neighboring clauses, to help build tension. “I looked around, and I don’t know why, but I assure you that never, never before, did this land, this river, this jungle, the very arch of this blazing sky, appear to me so hopeless and so dark, so impenetrable to human thought, so pitiless to human weakness.” “I looked around, and I don’t know why, but I assure you that never, never before, did this land, this river, this jungle, the very arch of this blazing sky, appear to me so hopeless and so dark, so impenetrable to human thought, so pitiless to human weakness.”  Very patronizing  While describing a black man Marlow says “The man seemed young- almost a boy- but you know with them it’s hard to tell.” About his crew he says “They wandered here and there with their absurd long staves in their hands, like a lot of faithless pilgrims bewitched inside a rotten fence.”

Diction continued…  Negative connotations  “Droll thing life is- that mysterious arrangement of merciless logic for a futile purpose.”  Conversational choice of words and punctuation  “He forgot I hadn’t heard any of these splendid monologues on, what was it? on love, justice, conduct of like- or what not.”

Punctuation Dashes  Used frequently  Help put a greater emphasis on his point  “We live, as we dream- alone….”  Used as appositives  “He allowed this “boy”- an overfed young negro from the coast- to treat the white men, under his very eyes, with provoking insolence.”  Used for a conversational effect  “But this must have been before his- let us say- nerves went wrong, and caused him to preside at certain midnight dances ending with unspeakable rites, which- as far as I reluctantly gathered from what I heard at various times- were offered up to him- do you understand?- to Mr Kurtz himself.”

Exclamation Points  Used for the basic use of emphasis.  “But it was a victory!”  Sometimes followed by a word that is not capitalized, simply for the conversational aspect to come across.  “I said Hang!- and let things slide.” Ellipses  Shows Marlow’s thoughts trailing off.  “The danger, if any, I expounded, was from out proximity to a great human passion let loose. Even extreme grief may ultimately vent itself in violence- but more generally takes the form of apathy….”  Leaves certain ideas and thoughts hanging for his listeners to think about for themselves.  “It seems to me I am trying to tell you a dream- making a vain attempt, because no relation of a dream can convey the dream-sensation, that commingling of absurdity, surprise, and bewilderment in a tremor of struggling revolt, that notion of being captured by the incredible which is of the very essence of dreams….”