Underneath the literal journey encountered in Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness lies a tale saturated with subtle, yet, significant imagery that brings forth the true meaning of the novella. Throughout Heart of Darkness Conrad uses a plethora of simple colors, objects, and places to convey multifaceted images and ideas. ... Blatant, but often passed over is the symbolism of the number three in Heart of Darkness. ... Towards the close of Heart of Darkness he finds himself amidst a swarm of small flies. ... Symbolism as such is one of the great examples of Conrad's intelligence Heart...

• Word Count: 1071
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: High School

Mine My Precious The novel Heart of Darkness is a montage of many political and social themes appropriate to Joseph Conrad's era. ... "And it is precisely those desires, repressions, investments, and projections' that Heart of Darkness exposes in the discourses of imperialism."" ... The same can be said of Marlow's experience in Heart of Darkness although Conrad uses several tactics to avoid his experiences being directly linked with the experience of his main character. ... "The true center of Heart of Darkness is the subtly revealed psychology of an ethical human being s...

• Word Count: 2001
• Approx Pages: 8
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

Chinua Achebe, a well-known writer, once gave a lecture at the University of Massachusetts about Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness, entitled "An Image of Africa: Racism in Conrad's Heart of Darkness." ... By reorganizing Conrad's descriptive words, Sarvan was able to propose that Conrad did not intend for the mistress to be perceived as the "savage counterpart."... While reading Heart of Darkness, I noticed a significant difference in the levels of communication that were allotted between the Europeans and the Africans. ... By completely agreeing with either writer, I would be d...

• Word Count: 1109
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: High School

Heart of Darkness, by Joseph Conrad, tells just such a tale of two men: Kurtz, who became the devil incarnate, and Marlow, who came to discover that he had not the will for either extreme. Let us begin with Marlow, the first character in Heart of Darkness with whom we truly become acquainted. ... Quite the contrary, this made Marlow all the more excited (Conrad 1371). ... By accounts, Kurtz is "a prodigy[. . .]an emissary of pity, and science, and progress" (Conrad 1383). ... He became its embodiment, the heart of darkness itself in twisted human form, worshipped as a dark god by those w...

• Word Count: 2372
• Approx Pages: 9
• Grade Level: High School

However, in the novel, Heart or Darkness, Conrad uses the journey both in its literal and figurative meanings. ... On a more figurative level, for Marlow, the journey up the Congo River to the 'heart of darkness' is reminiscent of Guido's journey into hell in Dante's Inferno, with literary allusion always present, through forms of intense imagery. ... Marlow has to face the darkness within, very much the same thing that Kurtz fell victim to. ... Marlow has to face this darkness within, but as he continues to search for Kurtz, he refuses to succumb to this darkness within....

• Word Count: 659
• Approx Pages: 3

Throughout the novel Heart of Darkness there is reference to the idea of civility versus savagery - this is also true of the movie Apocalypse Now. Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness shows the disparity between the European ideal of civilization and the reality of it, displayed by the domination, torture, exploitation and dehumanization of the African people. ... Marlow, the main character in Heart of Darkness, often recognizes the Europeans' dehumanization of the Africans. ... Although the clothing, money, and overall appearance of the Europeans may look civilized, the...

• Word Count: 882
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: High School

What is the nature and scope of the modernist crises as depicted in Joseph Conrad's "Heart of Darkness"? ... This was accomplished in "Heart of Darkness" at least, by a new and innovative style of narration, and by the absence of definition and the addition of questioning of almost everything within the text. ... When considering the modernist crises as depicted in Heart of Darkness, one must not regard the idea's of colonialism as the only aspect, but rather one must also cogitate Marlow's own individual crises and the psychological journey that is undertaken. ... Wh...

• Word Count: 1769
• Approx Pages: 7

This personal experience into the interior of Africa came to provide an outline for a short novella, Heart of Darkness, which he would publish in 1899. ... There are two main characters of The Heart of Darkness, Marlow and Kurtz. ... In Kurtz's case, he enters the heart of darkness with the noble goal of bringing civilization and progress, but no sooner does he arrive than an intense sense of isolation from any consequence strips him of his civilized exterior. ... The themes of this novel are based around the idea of the "heart of darkness- and past a description of the unexplored part...

• Word Count: 1555
• Approx Pages: 6

Conrad's Heart of Darkness and Jung's Shadow Jung considered that an archetype that embodies the most archaic and obscure part of the human psychism and which represents the lowest part of the personality is the Shadow. ... Every individual has deep inside a dark part heart of darkness. ... Conrad presented it in Heart of Darkness, in Mr. ... Marlow's voyage is a voyage into the dark heart of man. ... The Heart of Darkness is the heart of man, the instinctive nature of man. ...

• Word Count: 1032
• Approx Pages: 4
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

Conrad's society is Marlow's society, a society that supports imperialism. ... This is revealed in the novel by the aunt when she describes Marlow's journey as a "Mission"; Marlow is the main character of the novel, Joseph Conrad's Heart Of Darkness. ... Within Heart Of Darkness the reader is offered the choice of being taken gently by the hand and lead into the Congo where they can discover for their self, the realisation of the vileness that colonialism is. ... Marlow's journey of self-discovery begins in London on the "Nellie, a cruising yawl" surrounded by "gloo...

• Word Count: 1884
• Approx Pages: 8
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

Eventually we find out that both Dorian, from Oscar Wilde's The Picture of Dorian Gray, and Kurtz, from Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness, are defeated by their darkness and fall prey to its wrath. ... (Conrad 13) The effect that is used exemplifies a lack of civility, which in turn provides the opportunity for the emergence of darkness. ... But the snags were thick, the water was treacherous - (Conrad 33) If civilized limits are placed upon society as a whole, the majority of people have the opportunity to contain the darkness within. ... (Conrad 28). ... (Wilde 93) Through ...

• Word Count: 1170
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: High School

Plot Overview Heart of Darkness centers around Marlow, an introspective sailor, and his journey up the Congo River to meet Kurtz, reputed to be an idealistic man of great abilities. ... The cruelty and squalor of imperial enterprise contrasts sharply with the impassive and majestic jungle that surrounds the white man's settlements, making them appear to be tiny islands amidst a vast darkness. ... Analysis of Major Characters Marlow - Although Marlow appears in several of Conrad's other works, it is important not to view him as merely a surrogate for the author. ... Kurtz can ...

• Word Count: 3088
• Approx Pages: 12
• Grade Level: Undergraduate