TURNING A BLIND EYE TO PATRIARCHY
In Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad, we are introduced to how the more powerful masculine world manipulates the female by asserting authority in every aspect of life. The patriarchal voice, constructing two extremes which are masculine and feminine, presents women as the irrational side of human nature. Logocentrism including ‘‘death-dealing oppositions’’ colludes with Phallocentrism and gives the ultimate power to the male perspective as if it is objective. Kurtz's intended’s attempt to learn his last words to ‘’live with'’ suggests that women are trapped in eye-blinding male dominant ideology and unconsciously become spokespersons of it. In the text, women contribute to the system with their silences, which instantly reminds of the absence of women in Western literature both literally and metaphorically as commented by Luce Irigaray. Women are defined through their relationships to males; they are there as long as the male is there. Kurtz's intended's mourning after his death is a mourning not only for the loss of Kurtz but also for the loss of her own identity. My paper will include how patriarchal manipulation goes on different levels; despite the socio-cultural differences between the intended and the mistress. I will also focus on the explicit solidarity among men in the text. I will analyze that patriarchy has created ''feminine'' out of femaleness which is actually matter of biology. Marlow's discourse is the product this ideology; after all, the male-centred narration is itself another manipulation of reality by patriarchy. Looking at the whole text on a larger scale, Africa turns out to be the female while Britain is the male in terms of asserting power over Africa, exploiting the area in her own interests. All the negative qualities pre-defined for the female are reflected upon Africa by Britain. Britian's colonial discourse with its reducing Africa into ‘’the weak, bizarre creatures’’,which are actually attributed to women, resembles to the patriarchal discourse.
You May Also Find These Documents Helpful
-
After setting foot on the land and beginning his journey to the Inner Station, Marlow observes a group of slaves, from which a particular one stands out in his decimated clothing and deprived appearance. Marlow, in vain, offers the slave a biscuit immediately before they die of hunger right before his eyes (28). This simple encounter echoes the irrefutable damages caused by imperialism and the idea that no matter what anyone does to try and reverse the effects, including Europeans themselves, the damage that has been done has been set in stone for centuries to come. As noted in Edward Said’s essay critiquing Heart of Darkness, “Conrad… could clearly see… imperialism was pure dominance, [but] he could not conclude that imperialism had to end so that natives could lead lives free of European domination” (Said par. 18). This quote unequivocally supports the notion that Europe became a necessary crutch for Africa, and provides evidence for the transformation of darkness to convey the idea of the long-lasting effects of…
- 994 Words
- 4 Pages
Good Essays -
The Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad is regarded as one of the most superlative novels of English literature written in the twentieth century. However, the ideas and notions presented by Conrad in this story has generated quite a bit of controversy among academic scholars and literature experts who believe the novel creates a sense of racial animosity towards the African continent and its people. With further analyzation it can be inferred that this novel does indeed show signs of racial enmity and presents a rather deplorable situation in which one must evaluate if Conrad himself is a racist. Some would argue that his novel was…
- 997 Words
- 4 Pages
Good Essays -
In Neil Bissoondath’s “I’m Not Racist But…” the narrator intends to bring awareness to his readers on the connection between stereotyping and racism and condemns such acts against one another, while in Joseph Conrad’s “Heart of Darkness, the protagonist informs his audience on the consequences of African colonization. Bissoondath’s work is oriented to educate the reader in the different types of racial acts leading to hatred, abuse or enforcement of power toward any given group of people. He condemns their use whether ignorantly or intentionally. Conrad’s work however, informs the reader of how the goals of the European settlers in Africa, such as ….., led them to exploit the Africans and their raw materials for the purpose of earning profits.…
- 830 Words
- 4 Pages
Good Essays -
Heart of darkness is not only an attack on colonialism, but also a criticism of the dark greed that the human heart retains. Moreover, most of the content of the novel is pervaded by symbolic meanings among which destiny and foreshadowing play a leading role, and such is their relevance that both of them are consistently present explicitly and metaphorically throughout the novel. Therefore, the apparently innocent journey to the Congo to meet Kurtz masks a deeper meaning, a symbolic journey to the bottom of the human heart, a heart thirsty for power and wealth ―the heart of darkness ― which is represented by Kurtz and the colonialist lifestyle that surrounds him. “Kurtz 's methods had ruined the district… They only showed that Mr. Kurtz lacked restraint in the gratification of his various lusts, that there was something wanting in him -- some small matter which, when the pressing need arose, could not be found under his magnificent eloquence”.…
- 2108 Words
- 9 Pages
Powerful Essays -
When I turn on the tv, open a book, listen to music, or even attempt to write a story myself, there is always a reoccurring theme, Love. Not just any kind of love a lot of the modern day love stories are doomed ones. Love with flaws that inevitably must be overcome or else they will overwhelm their subjects. The most popular branch of love stories I see these days are ones of a self-destructive nature. Take for instance the Vampire craze going on. In Twilight, Bella is a young girl who has not found her place nor realized her potential in the world. She meets Edward; handsome, brooding, mysterious, sensitive, mature, and permanently seventeen. She comes to realize that he is a vampire with great compassion and loves him all the more even with the full knowledge that his dietary habits could be her death. Does she run seek a safer, healthier, haven, no. Within the first book she is begging to be made flawless immortal, she’s only 17 and has experienced nothing, never traveled, never loved, never really lived and already she begs for death. Within two years Bella has loved and lost Edward then regained him, she has wed him, become pregnant with a hybrid-vampire/mortal baby that basically kills her and forces Edward to make her a vampire or else lose her forever. She is only 19 by the series end. She may be “undead” but she has no options, she has responsibility to a child, she is shadowed by an overprotective immortal husband, and her best-friend is bound to her 6 month old daughter with or without his wanting to be. Her desperate romance has destroyed her individuality, what gives value to a human life, options, free will. Her romance was both undeniably physically, mentally, and spiritually obliterating.…
- 553 Words
- 3 Pages
Good Essays -
Throughout the imperial conquests of Africa, Europeans in general held very low opinions of those that they dominated. Instead viewing the native African people as sub-human, or tools if they were particularly fond of an individual. While Heart of Darkness presents itself as anti-imperial, Marlow, and by extension Conrad still display an astonishingly undesirable view of the tribes assisting himself and Kurtz. For example, there exists an International Society for the Suppression of Savage Customs that Kurtz writes a report for. To Marlow it is an elegant paper that he cannot help but praise for its elegance. The contents of this paper suggest that the Europeans, to, “exert a power for good,” must appear as gods, deities, and supernatural beings…
- 403 Words
- 2 Pages
Good Essays -
‘Although the novel describes a ‘country of men’, women exert a powerful influence in both the family and the wider society.’ Discuss.…
- 351 Words
- 2 Pages
Satisfactory Essays -
Joseph Conrad’s varying depiction of women in his novel Heart of Darkness provides feminist literary theory with ample opportunity to explore the overlying societal dictation of women’s gender roles and expectations in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. The majority of feminist theorists claim that Conrad perpetuates patriarchal ideology, yet there are a few that argue the novel is gendered feminine. Sandra Gilbert and Susan Gubar claim “Conrad’s Heart of Darkness…penetrates more ironically and thus more inquiringly into the dark core of otherness that had so disturbed the patriarchal, the imperialist, and the psychoanalytic imaginations…Conrad designs for Marlow a pilgrimage whose guides and goal are…eerily female” (DeKoven 233). This short essay will use Joseph Conrad’s novel Heart of Darkness to highlight Gilbert and Gubar’s theory of angel/monster dichotomy within male-authored literature.…
- 1197 Words
- 5 Pages
Better Essays -
Throughout Heart of Darkness, the reader receives Joseph Conrad’s portrayal of Africa and its people under a remarkably demeaning light. When the author was born in 1857, racial tensions were at a heightened point in history and Conrad used the novel as a vehicle to advance his innately racist views. During the late nineteenth century, Imperialism struck Africa, leaving harmful effects on many of the native people and marking a dark moment in human history. The colonization of Africa, which had significant economic incentives behind it, ultimately led to intensely strained relationships between white Europeans and black natives, especially in Central Africa. Charles Marlow, the protagonist, is regularly confronted with the racism that stained…
- 1756 Words
- 8 Pages
Better Essays -
In Heart of Darkness, Joseph Conrad relies heavily on the differences between appearances and reality to develop conflict in the story. From the appearance of the ivory trade and the continent of Africa, to the image of Kurtz himself, Conrad clearly shows us that appearances can be deceiving. As Marlow relates his story, the reader is drawn into a world of contradictions. These contradictions challenged the widely accepted European views of that time.…
- 666 Words
- 2 Pages
Good Essays -
When ideas form; reality dissolves. Ideas are presentations of our passionate self, and therefore, lost in a fit of passion, sensibility can be abandoned; humanity and sympathy lost. In the short novel Heart of Darkness, by Joseph Conrad, in The Norton Anthology of English Literature, the theme of European imperialism and the absurdity behind the idea of imperialism are emphasized throughout the story. The issue that formalizes in Heart of Darkness is which stand the text takes on imperialism. Overall, the reader can conclude that the novel takes a hypocritical stand toward anti-imperialism.…
- 956 Words
- 4 Pages
Good Essays -
Feminism is a significant theme addressed in many literary works of the contemporary period. In the 1800's and early 20th century, many women were oppressed and denied the right to equal opportunities that men were granted. However, after the active and significant role women played in World War II, a drastic change occurred. Women began to play a more respected and crucial role in society. Many women abandoned their expected roles as housewives and mothers and looked for other valued opportunities. This societal shift became a political movement and spawned the social theory of feminism. There was a momentous crusade for equal rights. Women were motivated to eliminate the gender stereotyped roles that were hindering their progression in society.…
- 1207 Words
- 5 Pages
Powerful Essays -
When Marlow’s ideas of Kurtz are merely about his voice and influence, our framed narrator praises the ivory-obsessed tradesman’s ‘“ability to talk, his words–the gift of expression, the bewildering, the illuminating, the most exalted and the most contemptible, the pulsating stream of light, or the deceitful flow from the heart of an impenetrable darkness’” (71). The reader has not yet been explicitly informed of Kurtz; everything known about him has been conveyed from numerous layers of people’s perspectives on him. Conrad portrays Africa as a heart of darkness, the savagery of its existence, but Kurtz is the enlightened source of influence that radiates out of the supposedly impermeable darkness. Kurtz collects ivory in the center of Africa, but he sends it outward, a stream of not just the white ivory, but of Kurtz’s noble image. Reflecting (literally in terms of light) the romantic perception of imperialism at the time, Kurtz’s impression on his people is in fact a manifestation of what they want him to be, not his true qualities. This is again the idea of an outward appearance that, as Marlow is about to find out, conceals a darker…
- 583 Words
- 3 Pages
Good Essays -
Cambridge, New York, Melbourne, Madrid, Cape Town, Singapore, São Paulo Cambridge University Press The Edinburgh Building, Cambridge CB2 8RU, UK Published in the United States of America by Cambridge University Press, New York www.cambridge.org Information on this title: www.cambridge.org/9780521852555 © Cambridge University Press 2007 This publication is in copyright. Subject to statutory exception and to the provision of relevant collective licensing agreements, no reproduction of any part may take place without the written permission of Cambridge University Press. First published in print format 2007 eBook (NetLibrary) ISBN-13 978-0-511-34237-0 ISBN-10…
- 149501 Words
- 599 Pages
Good Essays -
In Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness, the main character, Marlow travels through the Congo, witnessing scenes of torture, cruelty and near-slavery. The incidental scenery of the book offers a harsh picture of colonial enterprise. The book is regarded as an attack on imperialism and criticizes the immoral treatments of the European colonizers in Africa in the 19th century. However, the dehumanization of the Africans, and use of Africa as a backdrop setting for Marlow’s thought process, rather than an important focus has to do with hypocrisy inherent in the rhetoric used to justify imperialism.…
- 1795 Words
- 8 Pages
Powerful Essays