With Reference to the designated extract from Heart of Darkness write a detailed analysis. Pay particular attention to the narrative devices used and examine these features in relation to realism and/ or modernism.
With Reference to the designated extract from Heart of Darkness write a detailed analysis. Pay particular attention to the narrative devices used and examine these features in relation to realism and/ or modernism. Joseph Conrad's 'Heart of Darkness' is an early modernist novella. Peter Brooks has described it as 'A detective story gone modernist'. He chose this description because although 'Heart of Darkness' is an adventure story, it is not a typical detective tale as the inner narrator, Marlow, talks and philosophises far too much, and there is simply not enough action. 'Heart of Darkness' has often been described as an autobiographical work. Conrad himself made a journey, to the Congo in 1889 and captained a river steamboat. Peter Ackroyd claims the novel 'seems to reach into the heart of Conrad himself' and capture the effects of his expedition. Conrad became haunted by trauma and illness after his journey into the Congo and much of this is evident in his novella. It is however not true to say that Conrad and Marlow are the same person. Marlow is simply a projected personae created by Conrad from his own experiences. Conrad creates distance between himself and Marlow by incorporating an anonymous narrator. It is likely that Conrad chose this narrative technique to try and disassociate himself with the racist connotations throughout the novel, particularly Marlow's
Transformation - A critical analysis of the main character, The Captain of the unnamed ship, from the short story, The Secret Sharer written by Joseph Conrad in 1950,
Transformation A critical analysis of the main character, The Captain of the unnamed ship, from the short story, The Secret Sharer written by Joseph Conrad in 1950, will reveal that this character had changes from an insecure and inexperienced ship Captain to a more confident and secure individual, due to his experiences with the Secret Sharer. Like much of Conrad's other work, The Secret Sharer, is deeply interpersonal. Because both of Conrad's parents died during his childhood, he was a sad child, something that plagued his adult life. His works, therefore, often deal with a lonely person who is cut off from his fellow man, as the captain is in The Secret Sharer. The Captain is a young man who is full of self-doubt about his abilities to navigate his ship successfully, "The youngest man on board (baring the second mate), and untried as yet by a position of the fullest responsibility..." (Conrad, p. 19) He is not sure of his place on the ship, does not feel right about being in charge and he does not have a very good relationship with his crew because he is the new man on board. The Captain often emphasizes that he is a stranger. "The strangeness of the night scene in the Gulf of Siam at the start of the story is a projection of the Captain's own acute sense of disorientation. He is a stranger to the ship, a stranger to the crew, a stranger to himself even;" (Leo Gurko,
The Heart Of DarknessRemind yourself of the passage from the beginning of chapter 1 as far as "...under the stars", and discuss its effectiveness as an opening to the novel. In the course of your answer:
The Heart Of Darkness Remind yourself of the passage from the beginning of chapter 1 as far as "...under the stars", and discuss its effectiveness as an opening to the novel. In the course of your answer: * Look at the effects of the writing in the passage; * Comment on how methods and concerns of the novel are introduced here. We are immediately led into a slow and calm description of our surroundings by an almost invisible character unknown to us and the company on board this boat. I can only presume it to be Conrad himself, but it immediately shows us how mysterious Conrad's writing can be and what is to come, is not something of child's reading, but rather an in depth, thought provoking novella that will lead us to think much about many things. We are on this boat, "The Nellie" waiting for the tide to turn so that we can start out on a journey of some kind. This is a good start as this is an introduction to our journey that is of Marlow's to Africa, and also of ours through the story. The sky before us is described as being "welded together without a joint". This is an interesting description showing to me that what can be seen has no beginning and no end. This could be relating to the journey about to be undertaken. It is also a slightly strange description as I'm sure that is what it looks like, however, the sky never does touch the sea and who is to define whether
Compare Conrad's Heart of Darkness and Coppola's Apocalypse Now, both being examples of journeys that interlace a physical concept to a spiritual one.
In some cases a journey could prove to be a pivotal event in life. Spiritual and physical journeys can lie completely apart, or they can entwine to produce a complete different dimension of experience. Conrad's Heart of Darkness and Coppola's Apocalypse Now are both examples of journeys that interlace a physical concept to a spiritual one. Conrad's writing style provides several literary techniques to explore concepts of journey, whereas Coppola uses various film techniques. Conrad's Heart of Darkness expresses the journey of a steamboat captain, Marlow, through the Congo. Coextending to this physical expedition is Marlow's impending spiritual journey, and this consequential 'journey into the soul' eventuates due to the physical journey. To exemplify this, Conrad often interweaves the two concepts together, "you lost your way on that river... till you thought yourself bewitched and cut off...from everything you had known once..." (pg33) Marlow's physical expedition permeates itself into his mind and instigates a whole new spiritual journey. The isolation and regression from 'everything he had known once' refers to Marlow's diminution of influences from his European lifestyle and culture -forthcoming with the journey to discover and ascertain his true self, remote from all European influences. Marlow's anxiety towards his journey is exemplified when Conrad appoints the
The effectiveness of the starting passage for
The effectiveness of the starting passage for "Heart of Darkness" The Starting passage of Heart of darkness helps to introduce us to the themes that occur within the book. It is also interestingly started by a Narrator and this framing narrative provides a different perspective for the story. The narrator and the crew are unnamed as they are simply identified by there professional positions, "The Accountant" "The Lawyer" and "The director of companies". However the only crew member with a name is Marlow, he is also the only crew member who is described to us physically, "He had sunken cheeks, a yellow complexion, a straight back and an ascetic aspect". This tells us that he is important and almost the most "realistic" character among the crew members, as the others seem to be stereotypical almost as if they don't simply represent one single person but a whole wide range of British society. The narrator also expresses the views of the crew members in the first person plural which helps create the image of them representing society. The setting of the start is on the river Thames, "the beginning of an interminable waterway" as though the sea is endless and you can follow it "to the uttermost ends of the earth". The time of day for the start of the book is near sunset as "The day was ending in a serenity of still and exquisite brilliance." The language contained at the
Film Review of Apocolypse Now/Redux.
Film Review of APOCOLYPSE NOW/REDUX. Darkness, madness and hallucinatory images of Hell pervade this stunning, mind-blowing film set in the Vietnam War. Herein Francis Ford Coppola has rendered a beautifully surreal work of art. So much has been said of the original 1979 release, as well as this 49-minute more substantial REDUX, recently released on DVD. It has been studied, discussed, and pondered over; it has been abhorred, feared, and embraced. Undeniably, APOCALYPSE NOW has always packed a powerful punch, and nearly a quarter of a century of time has only served to intensify its transcendent force. Based symbolically upon Josef Conrad's novel, HEART OF DARKNESS, this movie not only delves deep into the psyche of war, 8but also explores the vast facets of evil and indistinct limits of sanity. Such are the themes that Capt. Willard (Martin Sheen) must grapple with when assigned to dispatch "with extreme prejudice" a lunatic Green Beret, Colonel Kurtz (Marlon Brando) - a rogue officer bunkered in an absurdly gruesome renegade outpost on the far reaches of a river in Cambodia, the outer fringes of the war. His trek down that river is an utterly absorbing, terrifyingly bizarre odyssey marked with all sorts of surreal, often nightmarish encounters. Willard commences his mission with a small unit of men in a Navy patrol boat. Along the way, they come across a number of
Joseph Conrad - author review
Joseph Conrad was an author whose life was as equally amazing as the stories he wrote. In many cases, he derived the situations he wrote about from his many experiences as a seaman and adventurer. "The Heart of Darkness" was written in 1898 and 1899 and published in 1902. Conrad's setting of a "night journey" into the Congo becomes an appropriate metaphor. This "Heart of Darkness" portrayed the heart of darkness found in every man. The insights gained by Marlow into the condition of the human heart are the same insights gained by a careful, thoughtful reader. As Marlow makes his way to Kurtz's camp and his knowledge of the savage land is deepened. His experiences and knowledge gained expanded our understanding of the inherent darkness within every man. In other words: In our deepest nature, all men are savage. "Heart of Darkness" focuses on a similar problem (the image of darkness" echoing the resonance of blackness in the previous story), although were what threatened is not only the group, but also the individual".1 We are told early in the story is insurable that is, he is incapable of being understood. Fortunately Marlow does tell us how he feels about the things that happen around him. Although we may not understand him, at least we know whose side is on. We never can be sure about that other narrator, the fifth person the deck of the yacht. He merely reports what is
Explore how the authors present the 'darkness' of the human heart and the savagery of human nature at the removal of civilization. In Lord of the Flies and Heart of Darkness.
Explore how the authors present the 'darkness' of the human heart and the savagery of human nature at the removal of civilization. Lord of the Flies and Heart of Darkness attempt to deal with the notion of 'darkness' in human hearts. The novels themselves are actually very diverse, in terms of context, however the settings and the themes are comparable, and both seem to have the same underlying message. The darkness of the situations in the novels are contrasted to the luminosity of society to show man's dependence on western morals, and how when these morals are challenged by the darkness, the light crumbles under its newly weakened foundation, reflecting the clear collapse of human nature when they are taken away from 'normality'. The distinction between light and dark is most stark in the themes of both novels. Lord Of The Flies describes in detail the horrific exploits of a band of young children who make a striking transition from civilized to barbaric. Tracing the faults in society to the faults in the individual person. Golding perceives each individual to have an evil inner nature poorly covered by society. If the society is taken away, then the inner nature comes out and the chaos and lawlessness erupt. Each person has an evil nature and is capable of committing heinous crimes. Heart Of Darkness deals with the dark heart of mankind. Conrad in his book
Is Joseph Conrad a Racist?
Is Joseph Conrad a Racist? The Nigerian novelist Chinua Achebe made claims in the 1970s that `Heart of Darkness' was a racist novella. My initial thoughts on this are yet to be decided during the course of this essay. While my thoughts are yet to have any significance, I do believe that Chinua Achebe's remarks hold some truth. Achebe's theory assumes that Marlow and Conrad are the same voice. This could be a reasonable assumption as research into Conrad's life has given us knowledge of Conrad's early years. In the `heart of darkness' the main character, Marlow has since childhood, had a desire to "go there" (Africa), whilst exploring maps of the world. Conrad, in the `Introduction' of the book, also explored maps and, like Marlow, travelled up the river Congo. Therefore one could assume that `Heart of Darkness' is a brief account of one man's life experience in a land so misunderstood, judged and rejected. The narrator of the novella is at the beginning, and during intermissions of Marlow's dialogue, an anonymous hired hand that introduces Marlow. The not-so-obvious presence of this character will in no doubt make Chinua Achebe's claims groundless and in a sense a lie. Conrad has distanced himself from this novella by creating not one but two narrators in the same materiel. Therefore the audience will not only hear Marlow's accounts and opinions but also
Remind yourself of the opening passage of Heart of Darkness, as far as "…under the stars" and discuss its effectiveness as an opening to the novel.
Remind yourself of the opening passage of Heart of Darkness, as far as "...under the stars" and discuss its effectiveness as an opening to the novel. At the time when Joseph Conrad wrote Heart of Darkness, the British Empire was at its highest, and Britain controlled colonies from all over the world. The main topic of Heart of Darkness is imperialism, and the policy of Britain using their influence over other areas through military, political, and economic force. The narrator (who remains unnamed) expresses the mainstream belief that imperialism is a glorious and worthy enterprise. In fact, in Conrad's time, the "empire" was one of the main values of British subjects, the basic term through which Britain defined its identity. The first passage of Heart of Darkness is written in the narrative, and the book opens with a thorough description of their beginnings in the journey - the Thames (this in itself is very important through the book), and the surrounding area, Gravesend. The narrator who starts off Heart of Darkness is unnamed, just like the other three listeners on the boat, with the reader just getting their profession (Director of Companies, Lawyer, and Accountant). Furthermore, the narrator is mostly speaking in the first-person plural, telling us all four of Marlow's listeners think and feel, rather than having them speak themselves. The ambiguity and agreement of