Heart of Darkness and
Heart of Darkness, by Joseph Conrad, and "Hollow Men," by T.S. Eliot have several comparative themes, though each author has an entirely separate way of conveying them. Each work displays a darkened and dismal mood, separation, and obscurity, which are depicted through different characters and environments. The authors both have a disdain for the hierarchy in society, which they cannot escape, and the destructive consequences that occur because of a higher authority's demands. And, both authors portray characters who are observant, though one observes the tactile, and the other looks deeper into the spirituality of himself and others. Conrad and Eliot make darkness, death, impending doom, and separation the main focus in these two pieces of work. On page one of Heart of Darkness, Conrad uses descriptions like "haze, dark, mournful, brooding, and gloom" to set the general scene and mood for the continuum of the novel. Eliot sets up a similar scene by using "death" several times throughout the poem (line 14), and parallels life with "fading" or "dying stars" (line 28, 44, and 54). In lines 39-44 Eliot even goes so far as to give a morbid depiction of a graveyard,
This passage can be seen as an interpretation of the emotions of the narrator and the people around him; the want, the violence, the force, the struggle for existence, human nature, and mental descent all linger in the darkness of human souls. This is what Marlow experiences on his journey to the Congo; trying circumstances directly affect the emotions of both characters. This shows the reader that Eliot's narrator, and the other men whom he describes are in a desolate environment. Both character's talents are utilized by a higher authority in order to save themselves from the damnation that they know is bound to occur; obviously, the authors do not approve of such exploitation. In lines 1-7 Eliot uses evasive metaphors like, We are hollow men We are the stuffed men Headpiece filled with straw. Alas! Our dried voices, when We whisper together Are quiet and meaningless,This describes how the government has taken away the narrator's free will, and soul, and has filled the hollow space with their ideals; he feels as though his voice is meaningless. Marlow says that "instead of going to the center of a continent. He goes onto satirize the children's song "The Mulberry Bush", by calling it the "prickly pear" (line 68-70). In Heart of Darkness, Marlow and his crew are separated from the usual way of life on their journey to Africa. The authors use separation to give the reader a deeper sense of darkness, which anyone could relate to, and associate with loneliness. Both of the authors use a setting that is isolated from general society. Both Marlow, and the narrator of "Hollow Men" are observant individuals, although they display different kinds of observations.
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Acceptance Essays
