Heart of Darkness A Literary Gem or Trash ? Joseph Conrad an active explorer and a prestigious ,author during the late 1800s , wrote one of the most boring books in history , Heart of Darkness. The novel is reflected upon his exploration in the Congo , where he witnessed human corruption and greed. It is centered around the Imperial Era where the Europeans would do anything to attain more power, surpassing humane behavior , which resulted in their savage and vicious attitude: brutes. Heart of Darkness exhibits Conrad’s alter ego , beheld by darkness itself , human corruption , and discrimination . However , when reading it question yourself whether heart Of Darkness is a valuable worth your time! No. It is a piece of nonsense , that’s captivates our confusion rather than our interest , through the eyes of high school students. High school teachers may say “ it is a literary gem that delves deep into the heart of man, and makes the reader reflect on his/her personal values. While intended to highlight the politics of discrimination, this novella holds merit for high school students as well.” (Ms.Herzog).But is it morally right for teachers to assign such a difficult book considering our limited learning capacities? The book was designed for colleagues; incorporating abstract meanings, “rich symbolism”. and literary devices; things that our minds can not keep up with.

As a high school student , I find the novel relatively confusing rather than a phenomenal piece of literature, as projected by everyone else, teachers. I am just learning about the complexities of literary devices: such as metaphors, similes , personification , and how to identify them. Now , Heart of Darkness has such a vast number of these devices;far more advanced from my understanding. How can we keep up ?! The book is vague and confusing. Honestly , I rather bang my head against the wall than read the novella again because I do not understand it. The author of,“ Critical Essay of Heart Of Darkness,“ expressed how high school students feel when reading the novella. The author states,“the reader is being suffocated by the long, wordy, excessively detailed book.” YES! Now why cant teachers consider that! You know we could die from mental breakdown!
We would rather take a gun shot , or a million math problems, 8 hours of an AP test than being assigned to analyze an overwhelming book. For example, the framed narration. The book starts with an unknown narrator (a sailor ?), , then suddenly it switched to someone telling the story, Conrad’s alter ego. And again ,in the end of the book, the narrator from the beginning, ends the story ?!Are you serious how can we be expected to understand this? We are accelerated English 2 students, all this is brand new to us!

Supposedly, the book needs to reflect man’s values , as portrayed by the man’s greed in the novel. Marlow goes to Africa in search of adventure and to learn new things,however, he is found witnessing cruel acts that the Europeans are doing just for the pleasure of power. They were maltreating the natives, giving them contagious diseases such as malaria and dysentery, and plainly being brutes to them. The leader behind all this cruelty was Kurtz.Who at the end dies , insane. He realizes the consequences and brutally dies from malaria.When Marlow witnesses all of this, and Conrad illustrates a sense of darkness that is supposed to make the reader think about their values and feel like a character of the story himself/herself. Finally , Marlow realizes he doesn’t want to be part of this anymore and flees from the Congo. That is what the story has to be about. Intriguing , mesmerizing, breathtaking. Rich in symbolism. Incorporating human values, discrimination , politics. A phenomenon! But it isn’t. Undeniably , the book is trash ! The symbolism is not easy for me to understand or any other high school student. Such as the fog. The fog represents how they don’t want him to know the truth , and he does not anticipate anything such as the steamer boat attack by the natives. According to the critical essay analysis. Yet, I don’t get it and I am brilliant student. Essentially, I wasted my time, I did not learn anything. I would rather watch the trash they preview in Disney Channel than Conrad’s gruesome book!

Furthermore, a true classic novel DOES NOT incooorperate racism! A novel that exhibits such a controversial topic is not to be read by high school students ,it is wrong. We could read another of Americas classic novels such as ,” A Tree in Brooklyn ,The Great Gatsby” but not this racist book. The essay written by Achebe Chinua “An Image of Africa” thoroughly explains the racism Mr. Conrad portrayed in the novel. “ Heart of Darkness projects the image of Africa as the ‘ the other world “ the antitheses of Europe and therefore of civilization, a place where a mans vaunted intelligence and refinement finally mocked by triumphant bestiality. The book opens on the River Thames , tranquil, resting peacefully “ at the decline of the day after ages pf good service done to the race that peopled its banks.” But the actually story takes place on the River Congo , the very anthises of the Thames. The river Congo is quit decidedly not a River Emeritus. It is rendered no service and enjoys no old age pension, We are told: going up that river was like traveling back to the earliest beginning of the world.”
“Certainly, Conrad had a problem with niggers. His inordinate love of that word itself should be of interest to psychoanalysts.”
Also , in an interview Mr. Achebe said,” He has an admiration of the white skin. It is the whiteness that he likes, and he is obsessed with the physicality of the negro." .Achebe was a native from the Congo herself, if it wasn’t racist why would she be offended but the novel? Should high school students be exposed to the racism of a novel , or should we read something of true valuable , something that reflects our values . For example, Leo Tolstoy’s short stories. Clearly , Heart of Darkness is a waste of time , with its exhibition of racism and confusing themes.

In conclusion, the Heart of Darkness is essentially a novella designed for colleagues. . I ,a high school student , strongly implores teachers not to assign it to their future Accelerated English students. It is extremely hard, vague, confusion, and racist! The novel is not of true value. I guarantee if it , if you assign it you will epically fail on trying to have students understand it and see it as a phenomena . Frankly, students will is do procrastinate and copy the answers from the internet. Don’t assign it!