Heart of Darkness‚ by Joseph Conrad‚ Marlow finds that barbarism and savagery are universal among nations‚ and that the common man is able to be influenced by the slightest of impulses. The distinctive evil that roams Europe soon pervades newly discovered Africa and allows the darkness to fill the land. The European colonizers brought not only civilization and enlightenment to the land of the Congo‚ but also savagery and utter corruption. Throughout his journey‚ Marlow learns of the darkness of human
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for darkness because they make Marlow feel “uneasy” and “not quite right” (Conrad 55). Moreover‚ Marlow’s “troubled” (55) state is similar to the effect the Congo has on Marlow and everyone who travels into it. When Marlow is with the two knitting women‚ he believes he has been led into a “conspiracy‚” saying that the pair of women know how “foolish” (55) Marlow is in his mistake. Furthermore‚ the women’s “placidity” gives Marlow an “eerie” feeling‚ allowing Marlow to realize that he is about to
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particular men stand out; Marlow and Kurtz. Who is the hero; Marlow or Kurtz? Clearly both Marlow and Kurtz are the protagonists of the story; however‚ protagonist and hero are not always synonymous. Marlow is the hero in the traditional sense of the word‚ while Kurtz is the more modern hero‚ often referred to as the anti-hero. Does it really matter the background of a person to determine whether they are a hero or not? Throughout this paper I will prove to you that Kurtz and Marlow both have aspects the
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Marlow‚ the narrator‚ while trying to relax underneath a tree‚ comments harshly on the white worsted around an African American’s neck: “it looked startling around his black neck‚ this bit of white thread” [...] “Where did he get it?” (Conrad). The opposed colors between the thread and the native’s skin create a shock for Marlow. He does not believe the native is fit to have such a refined “thread from beyond the
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What did Marlow Learn? Marlow is the main character in Joseph Conrad’s novel Heart of Darkness. The protagonist is also the narrator in the story about the experiences of an explorer in the foreign lands in the wake of Western imperialism in Africa. The protagonist‚ Marlow‚ is an eloquent storyteller whom the author uses to give an exposition of his own experiences in the Congo‚ albeit with a touch of fiction. The story line revolves around the experiences of Marlow as a riverboat captain for the
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symbolic journey into the deepest recesses of human nature. On a literal level‚ through Marlow ’s narration‚ Conrad provides a searing indictment of European colonial exploitation inflicted upon African natives. By employing several allegoric symbols this account depicts the futility of the European presence in Africa. One of the first glimpses into the frivolous occupation of Africa by the Europeans is seen when Marlow recounts his journey to Africa aboard a French steamer. The immensity of Africa is
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storm to pass; meanwhile‚ Marlow describes his story from his
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people. When Marlow walks from station to station‚ he sees the company men call the natives savages‚ criminals‚ murderers and other names that classify the natives as morally wrong and an ambiguous part of the world. As he continues onward‚ he notices a boiler lying in the grass‚ an undersized railroad car with its wheels in the air‚ and a detonation in order to build a railway even though the bomb was unnecessary. This “objectless blasting was all the work being done‚” according to Marlow and it did
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On page 86 Marlow says "Next day I left that station at last‚ with a caravan of sixty men‚ for a two-hundred-mile tramp." This is where his story truly begins in the Heart of Darkness. He travels through burnt grass‚ thickets‚ up and down ravines‚ ablazed with heat‚ and solitude. He passes through several abandoned villages‚ he starts at first to admire‚ then shows no thought of the village’s past. "On the fifteenth day I came in sight of the big river again‚ and hobbled into the Central Station"
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foreshadowing. In the beginning Marlow is remembering what it may have been like to be a young Roman conqueror exploring through the jungle. He would have had to deal with “…cold‚ fog‚ tempests‚ disease‚ exile‚ and death...” Marlow mentions how the soldier would have had a “fascination of the abomination” . Later in the book this same fascination overcame Kurtz after his long time in the Congo‚ “he hates sometimes the idea of being taken away” . Even when Marlow finds Kurtz‚ he can’t “break the
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