The Heart of Darkness
There are many aspects in the areas of light and dark other than their color schemes. The two represent figurative and objective parts of the story “The Heart of Darkness” written by Joseph Conrad. In the novel the main characters Marlow and Kurtz encounter many strange interactions with the Congo, its surroundings, and even themselves. These inevitably create different images of dark and light within the characters. According to Conrad the emphasis on the images of light and dark play an important role on how characters carry themselves as well as develop throughout the novel. As the expedition goes on the Congo ultimately releases the darkness that is hidden inside Marlow and Kurtz. When Marlow and Kurtz began their journey through the Congo they had their own sense of personality and character. As they made their way further and further into the jungle a certain power took over them creating different personas than before. “The sun sank low…as if about to go out suddenly stricken by death by the touch of that gloom brooding over a crowd of men” (Conrad 2). Even before entering the jungle there is a change in the way that the men aboard the ship feel, “suddenly stricken by death by the touch of tha . . .
There was an instance where Marlow was standing above a dead man and had sort of an epiphany: “I had been looking forward to…a talk with Kurtz. The jungle seemed like it had taken on an physical form of state that would follow Kurtz and Marlow almost cursing them in a way. It appears as if he knows that Kurtz has a darkness within with out even having conversations with him. As for Marlow it was more beneath the surface and his fascination with Kurtz. This seems to be a foreshadow that leads to ones heart being covered by darkness. In the case of Skywalker he had so much hatred towards others he became a whole different person eventually turning against those he loved and almost killing his own son. When Kurtz was dieing, Marlow seemed like he was paying more attention than ever to what Kurtz had to say. Kurtz gives the impression that he always had a dark side to him, this darkness can be compared with a character from the Star Wars movies named Anakin Skywalker aka Darth Vader. This would lead to Kurtz’s greed and eventually his death. The point was in his being a gifted creature… the gift of expression, the bewildering, the illuminating…the pulsating stream of light, or the deceitful flow from the heart of an impenetrable darkness” (Conrad 43). The jungle seems to have a uncanny power that can never be taken away. t gloom…”, almost like an eerie feeling. “Never did this land…the very arch of this blazing sky, appear to me…so dark, so impenetrable…so pitiless to human weakness” (Conrad 51). A person who has never seen daylight and confined to darkness must undergo major personality changes.
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Acceptance Essays
