How Does Conrad Present The Power Of The Wilderness In Heart Of Darkness
Welcome to the heart of darkness where dreams go to die...
Marlow is fascinated by the wilderness and he always wanted to explore it. He always sensed a connection to it. In Joseph Conrad's, Heart of Darkness, Marlow embarks on a journey where he is changed forever. The wilderness had a mind of its own, it did not care for anyone, once someone corrupted it, it fought back. It was alive. It is a character of the story in and of itself. In Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness, he demonstrates the power of the wilderness and how it can pull people from civilization and lose restraint.
The wilderness watches as the white men tarnished its land. While Marlow was at the Central Station, he describes the wilderness as a "rioting invasion of soundless …show more content…
The chief accountant preserved himself from the wilderness by maintaining an excellent appearance. Marlow says of him, ". . . in the great demoralization of the land he kept up his appearance. That's backbone. His starched collars ... were achievements of character" (28). Signifying that if they do not focus on the darkness of the wilderness, they will not find the darkness in themselves so they will remain pure and unchanged. Restraint is what keeps a person together. While in the wilderness the white men lost no restraint and only represent their greed for ivory. They were unfazed by the powers of the wilderness because they were to busy focusing on themselves that they did not turn to their savage ways. According to litcharts.com they describe the Russian as "the only white man in colonial Africa not looking for money or power. Without the will to dominate, he seems safe from corruption. " But Kurtz has lost all restraint in himself. Marlow states about Kurtz that ". . . the wilderness . . . seemed to draw him to its pitiless breast by the awakening of forgotten and brutal instincts, . . . this alone had beguiled his unlawful soul beyond the bounds of permitted aspirations. (112) He had turned savage and he has seen his true soul and the true horror of humanity. The wilderness is a persistent force that continually beckons the characters …show more content…
He notices that there is "a great silence around and above." The only noise he hears is "the tremor of far-off drums...a sound weird, appealing, suggestive, and wild”. Either meaning he is going mad or that he is being called by the wilderness to see the truth depths of the darkness inside his soul. He wonders at how different the Congo is from the civilized city he has travelled from. Africa’s wilderness and the natives exist in harmony with one another. It is the white men who have upset this balance. Marlow begins to consider that in a place like the Congo a man can reconnect with who he really is rather than what society has made of him. "Going up the river arms was like traveling back to the earliest beginnings of the world, when vegetation rioted on the earth and the big trees were kings... into the gloom of the overshadowed distances". Marlow begins to feel the landscape pulling him in as his civilized mind began to deteriorate. The Congo and its people were free of the restraints placed upon man in a civilized
Marlow is fascinated by the wilderness and he always wanted to explore it. He always sensed a connection to it. In Joseph Conrad's, Heart of Darkness, Marlow embarks on a journey where he is changed forever. The wilderness had a mind of its own, it did not care for anyone, once someone corrupted it, it fought back. It was alive. It is a character of the story in and of itself. In Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness, he demonstrates the power of the wilderness and how it can pull people from civilization and lose restraint.
The wilderness watches as the white men tarnished its land. While Marlow was at the Central Station, he describes the wilderness as a "rioting invasion of soundless …show more content…
The chief accountant preserved himself from the wilderness by maintaining an excellent appearance. Marlow says of him, ". . . in the great demoralization of the land he kept up his appearance. That's backbone. His starched collars ... were achievements of character" (28). Signifying that if they do not focus on the darkness of the wilderness, they will not find the darkness in themselves so they will remain pure and unchanged. Restraint is what keeps a person together. While in the wilderness the white men lost no restraint and only represent their greed for ivory. They were unfazed by the powers of the wilderness because they were to busy focusing on themselves that they did not turn to their savage ways. According to litcharts.com they describe the Russian as "the only white man in colonial Africa not looking for money or power. Without the will to dominate, he seems safe from corruption. " But Kurtz has lost all restraint in himself. Marlow states about Kurtz that ". . . the wilderness . . . seemed to draw him to its pitiless breast by the awakening of forgotten and brutal instincts, . . . this alone had beguiled his unlawful soul beyond the bounds of permitted aspirations. (112) He had turned savage and he has seen his true soul and the true horror of humanity. The wilderness is a persistent force that continually beckons the characters …show more content…
He notices that there is "a great silence around and above." The only noise he hears is "the tremor of far-off drums...a sound weird, appealing, suggestive, and wild”. Either meaning he is going mad or that he is being called by the wilderness to see the truth depths of the darkness inside his soul. He wonders at how different the Congo is from the civilized city he has travelled from. Africa’s wilderness and the natives exist in harmony with one another. It is the white men who have upset this balance. Marlow begins to consider that in a place like the Congo a man can reconnect with who he really is rather than what society has made of him. "Going up the river arms was like traveling back to the earliest beginnings of the world, when vegetation rioted on the earth and the big trees were kings... into the gloom of the overshadowed distances". Marlow begins to feel the landscape pulling him in as his civilized mind began to deteriorate. The Congo and its people were free of the restraints placed upon man in a civilized