“Heart’s of Darkness” explained the difficulties in the filming project as the movie went over budget and took a long amount of time (about four years). The film explained that the filming of “Apocalypse Now” was not structured as the filming crew would film whatever Francis comes up with which lead to the long filming time. There was a time where Francis’s wife believed that Francis was going through a journey while filming. As the days went by, no one knew if the movie was going to be successful, but Francis continued to film and invest into the movie because they were in so deep and there was no turning back like Marlow’s journey up the Congo. Martin Sheen was a lead actor in the movie as he played the role Marlow. A scary moment in the film occurred when he suffered a heart attack. The producers were especially concerned because he was the main actor and if he becomes absent before the completion of the filming, the entire film would be ruined. The actors on set were given drugs and alcohol to enhance their acting as to allow wild and primal personality emerge to demonstrate the wild nature of people like the natives of “Heart of Darkness”. Similar to Marlow’s struggle with himself during his journey, the euphoria caused by the drugs and alcohol allowed the actors to more easily portray the struggle between sanity and insanity. The juxtaposition of the journeys in “Hearts of Darkness” and “Heart of Darkness” show a similarity of having a psychological journey.
December 9, 2012 8:33pm
Heart of Darkness is written as a story within a story. The story is written with a narrator telling the story that was overheard from Marlow. The story was mainly written in Marlow’s point of view as many of the thoughts in the novel were given as Marlow’s ideas, but his story is framed by the anonymous narrator that is telling the story to the reader. This way, the story is told in a way that makes the reader question the truth of the ideas portrayed in the book as Marlow’s thoughts could have been filtered by the anonymous narrator. Also, each character provides different points of view on Kurtz as he was described in a contradictory way. Some described Kurtz as a remarkable man, but others thought of him as a weak and ill character. Many facts and views are thrown at the reader that make the novel complex as the reader attempts to interpret the contradictory information given. The reader can view the the peripheral story is based on the five crew members waiting for the tide to come in before they depart on the Thames. Another view the novel could be interpreted as is the first person narrative of Marlow as he describes his journey and thoughts, but the story can also be viewed as first person by the anonymous narrator. The significance of this is that the author creates layers of the main story to distance the author and allow the reader to have a view of the bigger picture of the story and journey into the heart of darkness as well as providing the first person narrative to experience the action.
December 11, 2012 8:58pm
Imagine Dragons - Demons
“No matter what we breed
We still are made of greed
This is my kingdom come
This is my kingdom come”
I overheard these lyrics on the radio recently and I felt it related directly to “The Hollow Men” and “Heart of Darkness”. The author in this song created lyrics that inferred that greed is in the heart of human beings, similar to Joseph Conrad’s theme of darkness being within everyone. This song also makes reference to the “kingdom” which reminds me of the kingdoms found in “The Hollow Men”. The writer of this song wanted to “hide the truth”, but came to the realization that “with the beast inside/ theres nowhere we can hide” because the darkness lies within and we all have it. The darkness symbolizes greed like that of the Company in the ivory trade. England’s colonialism of Africa is also a result of a heart of darkness as they treated the natives as slaves and even killed many as a result of this. The writer of this song uses himself to represent all people as he warns not to “get too close” because “it’s dark inside”.
December 11, 2012 10:08pm
“The Hollow Men” had certain allusions to “Heart of Darkness” that I now see. A central idea in “The Hollow Men” was the inability for people to act as they were stopped by “the shadow”. The events that “The Hollow Men” made allusions to were events that were wrongly acted upon, but the people responsible were able to act. An example of this is Guy Fawkes attempting to destroy the parliament building. I see that Marlow is one of these characters that is unable to act as during his reflection of his journey along the Congo, he thought about Kurtz’s final words as he himself cannot sum up the events that occur in words. Kurtz on the other hand, happened to lose his sanity, but was still able to speak upon his actions as he described it as “The horror, the horror”.
December 12,2012 9:55pm
“Marlow notices an unusual painting on the wall, of a blindfolded woman with a lighted torch; when he asks about it, the brickmaker reveals that it is Kurtz’s work.”
The painting made by Kurtz found in the Central Station by Marlow is a significant symbol that represented the European goal of imperialism by colonizing Africa. Kurtz painted this picture because it represented his mission to enlighten the savages (natives). The torch symbolizes enlightenment as the white English people forcing their imperialistic views onto the Africans in an attempt to civilize them. Kurtz even becomes a god-like figure towards the primitive natives. The blindfold infers the blindness that the white Europeans have towards the reality and brutality against African people as a result of colonialism. The dark background symbolizes the darkness of the Congo that the white Europeans journey through “enlightening” the natives.“She struck me as beautiful—I mean she had a beautiful expression.”
Marlow’s lie to the Intended symbolized the ignorance of the white Europeans towards the reality of the cruel truth of colonialism. People of Europe believed that Leopold’s mission in Africa was a noble act, but the reality of it is not explained towards the public. Marlow depicts the Intended like a celestial being with “This fair hair, this pale visage, this pure brow, seemed surrounded by an ashy halo”. She symbolized the idealistic views that Europeans had on colonialism as they are blind to the harm they have caused towards the Africans. Marlow chooses to lie to the Intendant about Kurtz’s last words to protect his reputation instead of creating the “justice” that Kurtz wanted. Like Kurtz’s reputation, the truth of the horrors and evil actions were not told to keep an idealized image from the public. Kurtz’s “justice” was his truth to reveal the true nature of the brutality caused in the Congo. Conrad uses the lie to the intendant to criticizes the evil actions of colonialism.
“In a very few hours I arrived in a city that always makes me think of a whited sepulchre. Prejudice no doubt. I had no difficulty in finding the Company's offices. It was the biggest thing in the town, and everybody I met was full of it. They were going to run an over-sea empire, and make no end of coin by trade.” The biblical allusion of the “white sepulchre” from the Book of Matthew is used to describe the Company. Like the sepulchre, the Company appears beautiful and ideal on the outside, but is full of horrors and deceit within. The horrors of the Company are depicted by the reckless acts of evil used to control the Africans and the ivory trade. The allusion to the “white sepulchre” could also describe Europe as a whole as the allusion of the white Europeans being ideal and civil, but inside their hearts arise a darkness that caused them to do evil. The only restraint from the acts of evil and loss of morality is the law and order of civilization.
December 15, 2012 5:43pm
Leopolds Ghost
To my surprise, the characters Marlow and Kurtz were created based upon real people. I found the effect of Europeans colonizing the Congo intriguing and slightly disturbing. I cannot imagine the cause of officers like Guillaume Van Kerekhoven to desire killing the heads of the natives. The propaganda created by King Leopold must have had greatly influenced the bulk of Europe into believing the mission of “colonizing” Africa was a noble cause because I find it hard to believe that brutal killings and slavery was seen as just actions and accepted by the public. These actions are evil as it provides no benefit towards Europe or Africa except for creating fear within the African natives. Creating fear invokes power. This power ultimately allows Europeans to conquer and colonize Africa.
Marlow’s journey in “Heart of Darkness” was dictated by the personal experience of Joseph Conrad. The novella reflects Conrad’s horrified feelings towards the memories of the brutality and greed in the hearts of white men. Conrad has witness the dead bodies, slavery, and torture during his apprenticeship trip from Stanley Pool to Stanley Falls. One theme of “Heart of Darkness” would be the darkness within the hearts of humans. Another theme revealed by “King Leopold’s Ghost” is the effects of imperialism. The journey along the Congo was “like travelling back to the earliest beginnings of the world”. The novella was written with realism as the events that occurred were based upon real events without an idealized biased on events. This was effective in exposing the true dark happenings in the Congo.
Kurtz was a headhunter and an expert business man. He is multi talented as he is a poet, painter, and writer. We can see Kurtz’s loss of sanity because initially, on the report to the “International Society for the Suppression of Savage Customs”, he wrote “exterminate all brutes!” He has forgotten his initial purpose of attempting to civilize the Africans. To the Africans, he was adored like a god, maybe due to fear of their own lives.
December 17,2012 8:15pm
The two knitters in the book were symbolic to the Three Fates in Greek mythology. These Fates named Clotho, Lachesis, and Atropos decide a mans destiny. Clotho is involved in spinning the thread of life, Lachesis measures and determines the happenings during the life, and Atropos shears the thread of life at death. The black wool being knitting symbolize life and the darkness in the hearts of all humans. These knitters foreshadowed the dangers of the upcoming journey that Marlow is about to undergo as “Not many of those she [the old knitter] looked at ever saw her again”, but the absence of the Atropos foreshadow the fact that Marlow is not close to death.
Conrad’s impressionistic style creates a deeper understanding of the novel by using symbols, allusions, and imagery. This allowed for a wide range of interpretations to be made about the book and reveals the themes.
Imperialism
- cruelty towards Africans
- leads to madness
- power and lack of order leads to insanity
- greed
- no moral boundaries
- mission to “civilize” Africans
- by “exterminat[ing] all brutes”
- reveals the evil nature
- Kurtz takes ivory by force
- enforces superiority through intimidation
Good vs Evil
- struggle to maintain morality
- Marlow witnesses acts of evil
- moral ambiguity
- the evil of Kurtz’s rule of the natives
- the evil of the Imperialistic Europe
- power leads to acts of cruelty
- causes the loss of sanity
Women
- symbolize their own societies
- eg. Intended symbolized European society
- eg. African mistress symbolized the African society
- naïve illusions
- public views with false understanding
- justify economic enterprise and colonialism
- objects that display a man’s success
Light
- London lights illuminated
- civilized
- believe to be enlightened
- ignorance towards evil
- knowledge
Darkness
- the view of white “good” and “dark” bad is challenged
- Europe
- civilized
- ignorance of cruelty
- colonialism
- “and this too, has been one of the dark places of the earth”
- greed of white men
- symbolized by ivory trade
- speaks of “enlightening” and “civilizing” Africans
- denying African culture
- Thames River
- known
- tranquil
- illuminated by city
- orderly
- symbolize society controlled by law and order
- Africa
- savages, primitive
- unknown
- acts of cruelty
- slavery, butchering, torture
- instead of enlightening, rules over Africans by intimidation
- white men forcing black men to work
- evil is revealed
- eg. gunboat firing randomly into the jungle
- acts of brutality
- Congo River
- mysterious
- rapid
- wild
- symbolize society of savages
December 18, 2012 9:13pm
The day has finally come in which I must prepare for the AP Composition for “Heart of Darkness” and feelings of doubt arise as it is quite difficult to piece together the scatter thoughts I have.
“Choose a novel or play in which cultural, physical, or geographical surroundings shape psychological or moral traits in a character. Then write a well-organized essay in which you analyze how surroundings affect this character and illuminate the meaning of the work as a whole.”
MARLOW TRAVELS THROUGH THE CONGO AND WITNESS “THE HORROR, THE HORROR”.
Marlow has changed. In Conrad’s “Heart of Darkness”, Marlow begins his tale with the words “and this also, has been one of the dark places of the earth”. Both Europe and Africa are dark places of the earth as the fear of the unknown and greed in the hearts of humans influence the actions that lead to the conception them both being places of evil. As Marlow journeys through the Congo, he witness acts of brutality and savagery that influenced his sanity. The fact that he was away from civilization and law provided an objective view of both the Congo and London that nearly drove Marlow mad.
London
- THE IDEA OF ORDER AND LAWS KEEP PEOPLE SANE
- initially described as bright, creates paradox “...lurid glare”, “this also...dark places of earth.”
- civilized
- enlightened
- ignorance toward the evil
- colonialism, darkness in the hearts of everyone
Congo
- THE IDEA THAT POWER AND WILD CAUSES INSANITY
- dark, unknown
- savages
- acts of evil
- brutality
- french warship
- disregard of the Africans
- wild
- ivory trade
Inner Station
- REALISATION OF INSANITY
- Marlow anxious to meet Kurtz as he was described as a remarkable man
- Kurtz
- lost sanity due to power and lack of laws
- keeps explaining he was on the brink of great things
- WAS a remarkable man
- He was overwhelmed by his pursuit of ivory and power, praying towards materialistic things, lacking moral strength and courage and only during death does he realize this when he whimpers, “the horror, the horror”.
- spiritual salvation
- DISSAPPOINT
- Gained a greater respect as Kurtz was able to sum up his belief
- “it had candour, it had conviction, it had a vibrating note of revolt in its whisper, it had the appalling face of a glimpsed truth”
December 20, 2012
Rivets. Rivets are what we need. The rivets hold the city together. The laws are simply rivets that contain the innermost thoughts of darkness. In the light we see a shadow; in the dark, we are the shadow.
I was walking home today from the shadows of the night sky. I look up to see tears falling down at a rapid rate. Mistah Kurtz. He dead. He died with conviction. The flashing lights of the police car caught my eye. A savage was being detained. In our hearts, full of greed, we wander onwards. Between the anticipation and the execution falls the shadow, but now I have been enlightened.
where did u get the images? can u please link me to the sources
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