Light and Dark in Cnrad's Hearte of Darkness and Secret Shar

Joseph Conrad uses the words light and dark to show many different points throughout the novel Heart of Darkness and the novella The Secret Sharer. He uses the words in showing the differences in good and evil. He also uses these terms to contrast differences in civilization and the uncivilized, loneliness/isolation and happiness, and sanity to insanity.

Conrad, no doubt, relates characters in his stories. In Heart of Darkness, Conrad uses Marlow’s “personal confession, a profound discussion of man’s moral complexity,”(Concise Dictionary, p.69) to outline the story. He obviously relates the character of Marlow to himself, as he had experienced many bought with, dark, lung ailments as a child, and also had a want to explore. (p. 69)

In Heart of Darkness, Conrad explores his memories of a journey through the Congo. His memories include his feelings of sympathy towards the natives of the Congo, as well as his hatred of the Imperialist. He uses the memories to add to the perceived, darkness, of the jungle to give a gloomy overall effect. Seemingly Conrad is fed up with

man’s ability to make other men suffer. Conrad even uses Marl

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On the way to Kurtz camp, Marlow’s steamer goes against the stream, which previews the reader

to the difficulties to come.

Both of the stories contain numerous symbols that contain images of light and dark.

In Heart of Darkness, there are many symbols.

The most profound usage of darkness in Heart of Darkness is the death of Kurtz. The final straw is when Kurtz repeats “the horror, the horror,” while he was on his deathbed. This represents the lack of logic that Kurtz and his followers possess. When the captain leaves the hat, the hat then symbolizes the separation of Legatt and himself and allows him to rid himself of all obligations to Legatt. The fog also represents Kurtz’s cloudy perception of reality and his perception of himself and his

occupation. When Marlow first arrives at Kurtz’s house and discovers Kurtz is sick he notices a black hole in the roof. In the beginning of the novel the use of the river Thames shows how the Romans occupied and civilized England. By the same token many people have compared Marlow’s journey into the Congo as a journey through Hell. When the young captain hides Legatt he becomes intertwined into Legatt’s crime and almost goes insane because of it. Marlow also describes the dark men who guard the white ivory showing that darkness surrounds all that is good. This talent seems to almost be supernatural, like a magical spell, more than it seems that Kurtz possesses some sort of positive attraction (Conrad, Heart of Darkness).

Approximate Word count = 1469
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)

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