Into paragraph

Marlow's journey into Joseph Conrad's "Heart of Darkness" explores how far the human mind and body are willing to go when no restrictions are placed on condemnable actions. The dream-like environment of The Heart of Darkness is described as being absent of rules, restrictions, and limitations that would normally halt an individual from pursuing his deepest, darkest desires. Here, in the heart of darkness an individual's id is allowed to triumph and any desires or temptations that might have been subdued in a civilized society are able to manifest. This carefree and dominant lifestyle is best demonstrated by the jungle's master ivory collector, Kurtz. Marlow develops an obsessive fascination with Kurtz and continues his journey into the heart of darkness in order to investigate the powerful figure that Kurtz represents. Marlow represents the perspective of an outsider looking in; he brings his societal values and morals with him into the Congo, and therefore judges each of the situations he is in with much discretion. His outsider perspective sparks his fascination in this dream like world. His assessments of Kurtz's actions places Kurtz as both a God-like figure who controls all, and as an evil-minded being who lacks human emotion. Although the reader, through Marlow's point of view, witnesses the powerful and domineering personality of Kurtz, analysis of psychoanalytic criticism and a deeper glance into the heart of darkness reveals that at some point even in a dream like world there is a breaking point and that Kurtz's power to control actually results from him succumbing to the temptations from the jungle; in actuality the Heart of Darkness controls Kurtz, not the other way around.

On the surface vs. Taking a closer look

When analyzing Kurtz on a surface level, the words strong, controlling, and dominant first come to mind. The reorder repeatedly hears about the voice of Kurtz and how he is so highly revered by the natives and agents that he controls. After hearing this description of Kurtz, one would hypothesize him being a big, overpowering figure whose appearance should match his frightening reputation. However, a deeper glance into Kurtz's personality shows physically how weak he really is and that even though he is seen as a powerful figure in the Congo, maybe the fact that he succumbed to his deepest desires shows his weakness. Kurtz is the one who succumbed to the temptations of the jungle and the ability to let his id and inner desires to come out fully.

Essay ideas

After reading over Karl's literary critique of The Heart of Darkness, I found his connection his Conrad and Freud to be very interesting. The point brought up by Karl that sticks with me the most, and that I want to focus my essay on, is the fact that both Freud and Conrad set up dream light, nightmarish worlds that is almost too radical and unrealistic because of their odd nature. He describes the environment in The Heart of Darkness as being absent of rules and limitations that might halt the average individual from pursuing his deepest, darkest desires. I would like to focus my essay on Marlow's journey through the Congo and how what he sees affects him emotionally and how what he does see triggers his interest in the lives of the natives and the managers. I would like to ficus on the shade and how it takes on unexpected symbolism. Further, it seems to me that everything in the Congo is represented in a way that one wouldn't expect: such as the cannibals and their restraint against eating Marlow and the other managers on the boat. Maybe it comes down to, what Jeff and I were speculating about yesterday, that maybe the images and events brought up throughout the course of the story are unthinkable and somewhat odd, because it there is no rules and no restraints, instead the human id is allowed to break through. Therefore, all of the desires that are usually pushed down by police and laws, are able to manifest.

Psychological significance of journey

Marlow’s description of his journey into the heart of darkness sets up such a mysterious, odd, and eerie atmosphere. The reader is taken so far into a world that is nothing like the average civilized world, such as in England. Instead, Marlow is forced to observe the death of the helpless natives, while simultaneously communicating with the dainty agents and managers who perform various duties there. Marlow is continuously pondering the events that are happening and their significance. He is forced into evaluating his own moral standards as well those of others he encounters. He must pinpoint the differences in character as well as moral beliefs in order to come to some kind of an explanation to the unimaginable events occurring. He starts to wonder how people like the Chief Accountant, who resembles the features of a well-off businessman, could ever get work done in the horrific environment that is just right outside of his doors. The Accountant’s tolerance makes Marlow wonder whether or not he is even aware of the detrimental torture being done to the natives in an attempt to “civilize” them. Marlow starts to recognize that the “colonizing” being done to the “criminals” is actually just an infliction of pain and abuse onto the natives. Marlow is in a state of confusion, because not only is he amazed at the calmness of the agents but he also has to monitor himself to see if he will go as far as to believe in the so-called “beneficial” work being done on the continent. As Marlow travels further and further into the continent he is traveling further and further into his own mind and the mind of the continent’s inhabitants. Marlow brings his morals from the outside, within and he assesses each situation and event that comes his way. For example the restraint of the natives on Marlow’s boat to not eat the white agents comes into the picture; Marlow starts to wonder more about their mind and how it works. He is curious to find out why they haven’t fulfilled their hunger, when the opportunity to do so is right in front of them. 

430 blog #6

The image of justice the blindfolded woman holding a lighted torch represents justice. However the customary connataion associated with liberty represnting hope, is truncated by the odd and unusual appearance of justice. She is descibed as being blindfolded, which doesn't make sense because she should be able to see where she is going with her lighted torch. The painting's irregularity goes further, by portraying the figure behind a black setting, which suggests that the light she was carrying was "sinister" and not a promising symbol of truth or hope. This painting just adds on to the somewhat odd atmosphere repeatedly described by Marlow.

429 #2

Marlow begins his tale by referencing London in "very old times" while making a connection to Africa and how their societies and ways of living are similar. London's society was viewed as uncivilized and habited by savages and disease. Through Marlow's speech it can be inferred that he is not in agreement with the English colonizing Africa and that he compares Africa's society as being similar to London's savagery.