“I had immense plans.” Explore the changes of direction and desire in the novels Heart of Darkness and the Great Gatsby.

Kurtz and Gatsby both have their own hopes and desires in the respective novels. For kurtz he wanted to colonise Africa by bringing the light; for Gatsby, he wanted to win­over Daisy to be his true love. However, both novels are similar in portraying how these plans can go horrifically wrong. Today i will explain how greed became the catalyst for their destruction of dreams. In Heart of Darkness, Kurtz left clues to show that he wanted to colonise Africa and make a positive difference to the lives of the Africans. He is known to paint a picture that shows a ‘blindfolded, naked woman’ holding a torch into the darkness. The light can be symbolic for the hope and direction that the europeans want to bring to Africa. In a more simplistic manner, the torch is the element for a fire and a source of energy and Kurtz could be saying that the ‘European energy’ is arriving into Africa to build up the continent. However, this painting also shows a more grave implication that the Europeans efforts will be futile. Although there is a light to guide the woman through the darkness , she is still blindfolded suggesting that they are ill­equipped to deal with the situation, and they are more inclined to make mistakes and not reach their targets. In conclusion, the danger of the wilderness, and the fact that the europeans are not well prepared for Africa means that Kurtz will have to overcome a large barrier to achieve his desires. Similarly, in The Great Gatsby, the light on Daisy’s dock is symbolic as the hope and direction for Gatsby to achieve daisy. The fact that the light is green connotes the idea of progression and advancement. This idea could be linked to the way that Gatsby wanted to attain a romantic relationship with Daisy, and the green could be seen as him achieving this. However, likewise to Heart of Darkness, Gatsby’s direction and desire is blocked by a large obstacle in the way, which in the novel is symbolised by the body of water. This water separates the West Egg from the East Egg, and suggests that Gatsby must overcome to division of old wealth and new wealth to achieve this. I believe that Fitzgerald uses this imagery to foreshadow the difficulties that he will face in the future, and the fact that Fitzgerald quotes ‘boats against the current’ in the end, shows that he cannot achieve this as the water is too strong for him to pass. In an alternative perspective a website sees: The green light is ‘minute and far away’ which makes it appear impossible to reach. The green light also represents society’s impossibility of achieving the materialistic American Dream. * Gatsby not achieving his desires can be contextually seen in the fact that Gatsby’s lack of social mobility was very common in 1920’s America, as the wall­street boom caused many people to make money rapidly. However, people who earnt the money in a very short space of time, were not as highly respected as those that have been born into a previous generation of wealth. This was because the ‘old wealth’ people were considered to have better etiquette and background (e.g attending Oxford University), which Gatsby did not experience. In addition, new wealth people did not experience the strong connections with other influential people, that established people had. Because of this, people with new found wealth were generally believed to be isolated from others. Therefore the ‘strong current’ shows that his ‘new wealth’ status could not be easily changed to satisfy Daisy. A 21st century audience would be outraged at the divisions that appear to be made through society. The fact that Gatsby managed to waive a speeding offence for simply “doing the commissioner a favour”, is in contrast to the society today where everybody is supposedly treated equally under the law. An audience today would interpret 1920’s America to be unfair because the policing that is designed to protect them, is actually corrupt. Perhaps this incident is foreshadowing the incident in which Mrytle gets run over, suggesting that innocent people are being affected by those who are able to waive the law, because the police are ineffective at their job. On the other hand, a modern day audience would equally feel outraged at the actions of Kurtz in Heart Of Darkness. Likewise to the Great Gatsby, the citizens in the novel were equally treated unfairly as a consequence of not being looked after by the natives who were meant to bring “light” to Europe. Like the death of Mrytle, innocent natives died in consequence to the treatment by the europeans. Gatsby shows changes in desire through the way he changes his name from ‘Jay Gatz’. This suggests that he is having a rebirth in identity and that he wants to immediately start his ‘new life’ earning money, and shred his troublesome past. Unlike the Great Gatsby, Kurtz’s desire shifts from colonising and improving the continent to ‘killing the savages’. This quote is ironic as through the readers perspective, Kurtz is seen as a savage himself. He makes the natives “crawl to him”, which suggests that Kurtz is trying to be above them. In Victorian context, racism was prominent, and white people was seen as the supreme race, who were supposedly in charge of the black race. Therefore, when the Europeans embarked onto the impoverished nation of Africa, a hierarchy was formed between the Europeans and the Natives. This is evident in this quote as the black people are made to behave like animals, stripping them of their human qualities. Because of this, Kurtz could be seen as the owners of the ‘pet’ animals. One could try to say that he is trying to assert authority over them by humiliating and being taller than the natives. However, this is also ironic as Kurtz is portrayed of suffering from an illness that makes him crooked when he walks, so in reality he is not taller,and his ways of achieving power are only achieved through immoral activities, which is similar to what Gatsby does when he leaves his parents. Because of this he is not using legitimate means to obtain the power, but the natives themselves are scared for their lives and are forced to obey. He is not a leader, and, his ideology of a colonised country are an illusion compared to the reality. This suggests that the whole foundation of Kurtz actions and desires are superficial. Likewise in The Great Gatsby, Gatsby achievements can be presented as being superficial through the way he has obtained his wealth and his love. To achieve the materialistic Daisy , he has had to win her over by trying to be like Tom, who is an established ‘old­wealth’. Gatsby lites that he “Attended Oxford University”, which if true would show him to be an outstanding and intelligent individual. Unfortunately, this was one of the numerous lies presented to Diasy, which in the heat of the moment brought her and Gatsby together. This suggests that their love for eachother was untrue and superficial because Gatsby was trying to be a different person. This is also reinforced by the changing of his name, which is an illusion of his true identity. However, in a similar situation to Kurtz in Heart of Darkness, we have to feel empathetic for both parties, because we know that their original intentions were meant to be for the good. However, in trying to achieve their goal they have become carried away. Towards the end of the novel, Kurtz comes to realise how destructive his actions have been when he quotes “The horror, the horror”. Death is seen to be a peaceful event, which can often be symbolised as the colour white, as if the person is being lifted to heaven. However, this image is quite contrasting, and the idea of horror connotes the idea of red, which is likened to the devil. Conrad may be trying to say that during his life Kurtz has been the devil. In a different perspective, we can also use the colours red and green to represent right and wrong. Perhaps Conrad is trying to say that kurtz actions have always been wrong. My personal belief is that the colour red represents the blood of all his victims in the past, and as he lies there powerless all of these thoughts have now consumed his mind, and he himself understands that his actions have been savage, and it is too late to change to his original desires. Gatsby in a different light sees how futile his efforts have been when he comments on how ‘ugly the rose looks”. Even though it is autumn and everything else is dying, the rose appears to be vivid to him and this is effective because it is a link to Daisy, who is also named after a flower. However, a Daisy is pure and white and soft. In contrast a rose is thorny and red. Fitzgerald could be saying that Daisy herself can cause damage to those people who approach her, hence the reason the rose has thorns. Gatsby's death could be seen as a consequence of his confession of love for Daisy in trying to be near her, but his actions have ‘stung’ him. Also, like the Heart of Darkness, the colour red could symbolise how Daisy has been devilish, or how Daisy has blood on her hands by running over Mrytle. Either way, like Kurtz, Gatsby’s death is concentrated on how his original aims have been tainted into a horrific situation. In conclusion, by looking at the characters of Gatsby and Kurtz, their drastic changes in desire was influenced heavily by the context at the time. For Kurtz, the predominant racism present in the Victorian times caused him to be racist towards the natives. For Gatsby, the ‘Roaring 20’s’ made him greedy for money.

Footnotes: * http://thegreatgatsbysandm.blogspot.co.uk/ Word count: 1650