Discuss The Title Of Conrad's Novel 'Heart Of Darkness'.

Discuss The Title Of Conrad's Novel 'Heart Of Darkness' 'Heart of Darkness' by Joseph Conrad is regarded as the first novel of 20th century in terms of its modernist form. Conrad writes a stream of consciousness, a style by which there is no obvious external structuring the internal successive thoughts of a character, in this case Marlow. Also the use of language mirroring the emotions of the character, through the use of imagery in words such as "gloomy" and "brooding" was rarely seen before this novel, and furthermore the time settings in the story, with Marlow retelling the story, via a narrator, having already completed his journey was different from the classical narrative techniques of the time, which were generally third person, character based stories. "'Heart of Darkness' therefore changed the convention of novels, and set a precedent for stories in the 20th century onwards. The novel was set during the time Britain's Empire was at its height, and Britain ruled over a vast amount of the Earth. Britain was colonising many parts of the world and their imperialism made them the most powerful country on the planet. Britain saw itself at this point of time as the centre of the civilised world and superior to every other race, with the role of their vast Empire to take civilisation and Christianity to the world. Great Britain was very patriotic, even jingoistic in its

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  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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The perfection of a short story lies in the symbiosis between content and form. Stylistic devices - especially imagery - contribute to the effect of the story

TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction 2 2 Stylistic Devices: Imagery 2 2.1 Imagery in Katherine Mansfield's "Miss Brill" 3 2.2 Imagery in Joseph Conrad's "The Secret Sharer" 6 3 Conclusion 9 Bibliography 12 Introduction The perfection of a short story lies in the symbiosis between content and form. Stylistic devices - especially imagery - contribute to the effect of the story, and according to Joseph Conrad "it is only through complete, unswerving devotion to the perfect blending of form and substance; it is only through an unremitting never-discouraged care for the shape and ring of sentences that an approach can be made to plasticity, to colour, and that the light of magic suggestiveness may be brought to play for an evanescent instant over the commonplace surface of words" (Conrad 1955). Short stories often rely heavyly on imagery and visual language, for the quite obvious reason that authors have very little space at their hands to bring a subject to life, to give the audience a vivd impression of it. Where a novelist can take any number of pages to establish an atmosphere, develop a character, unfold a plot etc., the author of a short story must make do with an extremely limited amount of text and information. It is therefore necessary, in order to attain intensity, to employ those stylistic

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  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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Comparing "The Darkness Out There" by Penelope Lively, with "The Black Veil" by Charles Dickens - In what ways do they reflect the times in which they were written and the tastes of the particular audience?

Comparing "The Darkness Out There" by Penelope Lively, with "The Black Veil" by Charles Dickens In what ways do they reflect the times in which they were written and the tastes of the particular audience? Throughout this coursework I will be comparing the texts, "The Darkness Out There" and "The Black Veil". I will look at the similarities and differences both texts have in comparison and comment on the way they affected the audience of their particular times. "The Darkness Out There" is a typical fairy story written in the mid fourties by Penelope Lively. The story doesn't tell us this but we can assume the date with the mentioning of such items as an "Aero Bar" and a "Blue Escort". The story begins with Sandra a young, pretty girl on her way to Old Mrs Rutters house to help her for the day, on her way she meets "slitty eyed" Kerry Stevens a fellow member of the Good Neighbours Club sent to help Mrs Rutter aswell. Kerry doesn't "go much for her" and can see that she isn't all that she seems while Sandra thinks she's just a normal, old lady. Mrs Rutter tells Kerry and Sandra about how her and her sister left a German pilot to die. Both are disgusted and shocked, Sandra realises a lot about herself and how she has experienced "an inescapable darkness". In contrast, "The Black Veil" was written by Charles Dickens in the year 1800, we can tell the date this text was written

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  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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Explore the themes of justace and things not being as they seem in The three Strangers by Thomas Hardy and The Darkness out there by Penelope Lively

'The Three Strangers' is a pre 20th century story that was written in 1883 but set in 1820. 'The Darkness Out There' was written in 1970. From the titles of the stories we assume they would be a mystery or horror story. We think this because the word 'darkness' is used and this gives you the idea that it is a horror. The 'Three Strangers' makes it seem mysterious, because they are people you don't know and there are three of them, this makes them seem overpowering because of the number of them. The similarities that happen in the two stories are the characters that are introduced seem as if they are the villain at first but then they turn out to be the hero of the story. Kerry in 'The Darkness Out There' and Timothy Summers (first stranger) in the 'Three Strangers' both fit in with the part of being misjudged. In the stories there are some parts which are similar. In 'The Darkness Out There' the German pilot was killed, and in 'The Three Strangers' Timothy Summers was almost killed by the executioner for stealing a sheep. Both stories have similarities in the way they are written. They have been written so that the reader makes a mistake in thinking that one of the characters is bad when they are really the hero of the story. 'The Three Strangers' was set in 1820 in a place, Thomas Hardy made up called Wessex. The setting was out on the moors in the cold, wind and rain,

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  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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How does the preparation for the river journey at the start of Heart of Darkness prepare the reader for the themes, imagery and narrative technique of the remainder of the novel?

How does the preparation for the river journey at the start of Heart of Darkness prepare the reader for the themes, imagery and narrative technique of the remainder of the novel? The tone at the start of the novel is grim and sets the scene for the rest of the narrative. This is shown when the frame narrator says brooding gloom and mournful gloom (page 31 and 33) it can give the idea that the rest of the novel will follow path and be grim as the first pages are. It also introduces the themes of the rest of the novel when the frame narrator talks about Sir Francis Drake and Sir John Franklin who were involved in Imperialism, this is introduced with such phrases as bearing the sword, and often the torch (page 32) this gives an idea that the men who have left the Thames bear the sword and torch of Imperialism and that the frame narrator is no doubt in favour of Imperialism. The first pages also show us that there will not only be a frame narrator as he talks first, but also there will be another narrator, of course who is Marlow you can see this when Marlow refers to Romans coming down the Thames and invading. Imagery is introduced when the frame narrator sees London as the scared fire of civilisation (page 32) and Marlow sees London as one of the dark places of the earth (page 33). These phrases give contrasting views, the frame narrators of light with reference to fire and

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  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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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

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  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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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

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  • Level: GCSE
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The Heart of Darkness Marlow's story of the Roman Conquest of Britain as an Allegory to Marlow's experience in Africa

Name: Janaty Kondos English course work The Heart of Darkness Marlow's story of the Roman Conquest of Britain as an Allegory to Marlow's experience in Africa In the first scene of the novel, Marlow sits on a boat and meditates like a Buddha. He looks at the water and as the sun sets and darkness comes, he starts describing the river and its history. He says that people come and go but the river stays. If you pass through it, you can feel the history of it. He starts talking about very old times when Romans first came to England. And he starts talking about the journey of a Roman soldier on his way to "the very end of the world". He talks about all of the things that go through the soldier's mind, and why the soldier remains despite the difficulties. By the end of the story, with Kurtz's death, the reader discovers there is a connection between this opening scene and Marlow's experience in Africa. Everything that the Roman soldier has been through and thought is the same as what Marlow has been through and thought. In the opening, Marlow says," I was thinking of very old times, When the Romans first came here, nineteen hundred years ago - the other day ...Light came out of this River since - you say Knights". He talks here about when Rome was the most powerful country and dominated many countries in the world .At that time; the measurement of power was taking land and

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  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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How does Conrad present the company and Marlow's attitude towards its representatives? "Heart of Darkness"

Naeem Yasin How does Conrad present the company and Marlow's attitude towards its representatives? "Heart of Darkness", clearly a novel before its time; shows the attitudes and behaviour of various people of different nature and their reactions to various events that take place during their physical and metal journey. Perhaps for the first time the reader is allowed to decide who is in the right and who is in the wrong due to the way in which Conrad describes this journey. The character of Marlow (almost like Conrad himself), goes through his trip examining different people, and it is his thoughts and attitudes towards them which allows the reader to understand that the typical view of life and people is not the same in "the centre of the earth." The change in the style of writing that this novel brought to the world of literature in the early 20th century puts forward different attitudes towards respected people. Therefore Marlow clearly shows what he thinks of the company and its representatives. One thing that is noticeable about Marlow from his attitude towards other people is that he judges them on what he sees, and not on their background or what they do. This is evident as he has completely different views on people working for the same company. This makes it even harder for the reader to interpret whether colonisers deserve respect or not. "I shook hands with this

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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

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  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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