Heart of Darkness - Critiqued Using New Criticism
The impression one receives when closely reviewing portions of Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness - embracing New Criticism strategies along the way - is a frank and seemingly journalistic encounter / recounting utilizing Conrad's original storytelling and fictional ideas. The ideas from the narrative text must be taken at face value in order to follow New Criticism style, and with Conrad's protagonist Charlie Marlow, there is ample unity between what the character does, how he reacts, and what the story is delivering to the reader. This narrative is not necessarily to be taken in the sense of deep literary symbolism or irony; it is simply descriptive writing designed to draw the reader into the womb of the story. The novel is about post-colonial Africa. The reader can, if he or she chooses, make more of the narrative than the author intended, but this is true of most all literature, and in this instance, it abides by the non-specific "rules" if you will, of New Criticism formatting. Put aside the allusions to black people being evil, blacks reflecting wilderness, wildness and wickedness, as some kind of apocalyptic metaphor (albeit this novella was turned into the movie "Apocalypse Now"). Certainly, readers are primed for the
There had been no "restraint" however when it came to the issue of the European colonists taking everything they could take from the land. " The starched collar, white cuffs, "snowy trousers" and "varnished boots. a black and incomprehensible frenzy" from men who "howled and leaped and spun and made horrid faces. " What's the difference? Does it matter? Is this to be construed as a land where things were foreign but also creatively different from England? It would appear that Conrad is just working his narrative so that everything on this dark strange land is unlike anything else anywhere. (Earlier in the novella, Marlow gives a black native a biscuit he had in his pocket, which, juxtaposed to the hunger narrative on page 42, is stunning. A strange new land with bizarre people as a new adventure is about to begin for the protagonist. "Naked breasts, arms, legs, glaring eyes" were seen behind the swaying twigs, as arrows "came in swarms. one of these creatures rose to his hands and knees and went off on all-fours towards the river to drink.
Common topics in this essay:
Conrad Marlow,
Station Marlow,
Congo River,
Charlie Marlow,
Conrad's Marlow,
Marlow's Marlow,
Heart Darkness,
Joseph Conrad's,
Joseph Conrad,
,
marlow's description,
hunger narrative page,
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joseph conrad's,
narrative page,
hunger narrative,
page 42,
white marlow,
strange land,
narrative page 42,
snake charmed,
central station,
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Acceptance Essays
