New Historicism In Brook Thomas 'Heart Of Darkness'

In an attempt to place Heart of Darkness in a new historical perspective, Brook Thomas writes methodically, with intention, in an effort to convey his ideas. In an effort to get to his main point, Thomas must first define the terms he is going to use in his argument. This definition not only leads to a lengthy essay, but lends an easier, hand holding approach to his discussion. Thomas believes this handholding approach is important because it brings his readers directly to how new historicism should be a focus of trying to bring recognition to a particular subject of history in an effort help those in a similar case. The primary points Thomas uses to bring readers to his end goal of recognition of a problem are: a definition of how Joseph Conrad believes fiction lends a more accurate description of history, how Heart of
The quote is Conrad questioning the validity of history and giving an alternative, more truthful, interpretation. “Fiction is history […] being based on the reality of forms and the observation of social phenomena” (266). This is different from history in that history is based “on second-hand impressions” (266). Meaning that through fiction, one receives a firsthand account of events. While they may be derived from a fictional character’s mind, they still offer firsthand accounts as opposed to secondhand through the use of documents and writing. Thomas argues that this distinction is important because it opens the doors to many historical inquiries into Heart of Darkness. Thomas later does this through an observation of one of Conrad’s most notable narrative techniques. With a utilization of breaks and gaps of narration, Conrad is intentionally trying to pull the reader from the lines of the page and into a literal thought about what is taking place. This observation is important in that it allows Thomas to back up his claims of Conrad’s intentions for writing the