...Good or Evil? The Fight For Dominance The fierce battle between the lightness and darkness of man’s heart has coexisted since the earliest of times. William Golding’s award-winning novel, Lord of the Flies, is one that captures this very judgment. A group of young British schoolboys who were once innocent and pure of heart are quickly devoured by the dark powers of destruction, savagery, and murder. However, even with these destructive powers at hand, the young schoolboys along with their distant memories of being in a civilized society, fight in an epic battle to try and prevent the full outbreak of evil. Golding illustrates the never-ending combat of “good” and “evil”, amidst the young schoolboys and the Beast; Ralph, the democratic leader, contrary to Jack, who favoured dictatorship; and the strength of civilization versus the forces of human nature. First and foremost, the story displays the constant conflicts between the innocence of the British schoolboys and the dark nature of what they come to know as the Beast. An example of this is when the twins Sam and Eric encounter the Beast in Chapter Six: "Beast From Air." In the beginning of the chapter, Sam and Eric, who were on duty to watch the fire, falls asleep as a dead parachutist falls from the war in the adult world and lands on the island. When they awake from their sleep, they noticed a “figure that hung with dangling limbs” (103) and mistake it as the Beast. Sam describes to Ralph that the Beast was ‘“furry”’...
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...Darkness inside Human Mind Joseph Conrad, who wrote The Heart of Darkness, once said, “The mind of man is capable of anything.” What he is telling us was that a person will do any actions by any means regardless of its consequence. There is always an evil side living inside the human soul, and this evil side breaks out during times when there is a difference in culture; for example, during World War II, Nazis killed any Jews that appeared in Europe, and their reason was Jews were not considered Germans, and they were believed to be disloyal and untrustworthy. This shows the difference in culture that created darkness inside the mind of the Nazis, who told them to do unimaginable things. The madness, fear, imperialism, death, escape, and difference in culture are the main theme of Heart of Darkness and Apocalypse Now; although they were written in different times, settings, and purposes, they both express how savage the human mind can be when he confronts with darkness. Both the novel Heart of Darkness and the film Apocalypse Now address the idea of imperialism. Imperialism, defining as a country’s political, military, and economic domination over another, is the theme that talk thoroughly in both works. For instance, in Heart of Darkness, richer nations are robbing the goods in Africa, such as ivory and slaves, while in Apocalypse Now America is trying to subvert Vietnam from being Communism. A modern example that relate to the idea of imperialism is America showing assistant...
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...sucked dry. The government in the Congo made no honest and practical effort made to increase the knowledge of the Congolese people nor did they secure their welfare, which is what they promised (Williams, "Remembered and Reclaimed"). This is around the time the main character in the book Heart of Darkness, Marlow, went to Congo because of his obsession with Africa. As Marlow was going up Congo River and journeying to his final destination, he was disappointed with how things were operating due to the company’s inefficiency and brutality towards the slaves. The company in the book...
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...xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxx 20 October 2013 Disillusioned Desire In Joseph Conrad’s The Heart of Darkness one of the dominant themes involves notions of civilization. Through the eyes of those who knew him, Kurtz was an intelligent, civilized man but the river, the solitude and unchallenged power can change a person. As Charlie Marlow, the story’s protagonist and narrator, traveles farther down the river, his obsession with Kurtz and the heart of darkness take many forms. Marlow struggles with his intense feeling for the myth of Kurtz and what he really has become. Marlow becomes fascinated with Kurtz as he hears stories that make Kurtz out to be god-like. Marlow finds himself being drawn toward him upon hearing that Kurtz has turned on civilization for “the depths of the wilderness” (8). Kurtz has the opportunity to head back to civilization. His trading post has had no more supplies for months. He has no reason to stay. Kurtz, even as intelligent as he is, has fallen prey to the solitude of the jungle. Kurtz has powers in the jungle he could never have in a civilized land. Power is a hard thing to give up and Kurtz is lost in it. As they continue up the river, Marlow’s fascination with Kurtz has him imagining the kind of man Kurtz would be and the kinds of knowledge Kurtz would pass on to him. Marlow’s mood changes as he struggles with the idea that Kurtz might be dead and he will not be able to have a conversation with him. His character becomes...
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...Heart of Darkness is based in the late nineteenth century, a time period in which imperialism was commonly practiced by several Eastern countries. The concept of conquering foreign nations was idealized and seen as a noble and just cause, sometimes even thought of a burden for the white man. Thus, with this idea in mind, Europeans traveled to the Congo with the “good” intention of bringing civilization to the natives; however, it is seen clearly in the novel that the help these outsiders are willing to provide is not necessary or beneficial to anyone besides themselves. Ironically, the Europeans have the least restraint and are the least civilized in the novel, presenting the idea that there is a direct relationship between the two themes....
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...The Darkness of Colonialism “A slight clinking behind me made me turn my head. Six black men advanced in a file, toiling up the path. They walked erect and slow, balancing small baskets full of earth on their heads, and the clink kept time with their footsteps.” (Conrad, page 70) What links does man go to achieve the riches they desire? The human urge to dominate those weaker and foreign is unnerving. Colonialism of the 19th century did just that and Africa was the front runner of being colonized. Some would argue that inside every human soul, lays a savage, evil side that remains hidden and repressed by society. During times of seclusion from culture, or when cultures collide, this evil side emerges. History is full of examples of heinous acts that have occurred when cultures collide; from the Holocaust to slavery. During these times, a person may discover more about their true self. In grade school, we learned about the Pilgrims colonizing the new lands of the Americans. We are told how wonderful it was and we now have a special holiday to give thanks. As we dig deeper into the history books, we learn about the horrific atrocities committed on the Native American Indians, the so-called Savages of these new lands. The white man was the destruction of these natives in the New World. We colonized these savages, “helped them,” in other words, forced them to forget their own identity and beliefs and become like “us.” This is the same thing the Europeans did to the Africans of...
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...Heart of Darkness vs. Apocalypse Now Both the novel "Heart of Darkness" by Joseph Conrad and the movie "Apocalypse Now" are about one man's journey through Africa and Vietnam. A comparison and contrast can be made between the two. Both have the same themes but entirely different settings. Heart of Darkness takes place on the Congo River in the Heart of Africa while Apocalypse Now is set in Vietnam. The stock characters in both have the same general personalities but have different names. Of course, Kurtz is Kurtz, Willard twins Marlow, and the American photojournalist relates to the Russian Harlequin. Willard is a lieutenant for the US Army while Marlow is a captain of a steamboat of an ivory company. The first looks of Willard and Marlow differ a little. The movie begins with Willard lying in an apartment room completely out of touch with reality. He is haunted by his earlier deeds and he is getting very plastered. Willard smashes the mirror while fighting himself and cuts his hand. He falls to the bed crying. Marlow is portrayed as a traveler of the sea. The narrator described him as a hero somewhat. Their mission is to find Kurtz and take him down.. In both stories Kurtz is a psychotic rebel, worshipped as a god, who threatens the stability of his unit, but in one it is an ivory trading company and in the other it is the US Army. Kurtz, who had begun his assignment a man of great optimism and the highest morals, had become peculiarly savage. Tribes of natives worship...
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...One would not read Adolf Hitler’s Mein Kampf to learn about Germans’ anti Semitic views in the 20th Century, or to learn about how the Jews “bastardized the white race” (Hitler 56). Surprisingly, Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness is still taught in high schools in 2016 even though the likes of Wilson Follett in 1915 have noted that the novel “Contained an implicit moral injunction to the white man: keep racial purity” (Adelman). Students would learn about the state of colonialist Europe at the end of the 19th Century equally from history books as they do from Conrad’s Heart of Darkness. Until racism is completely eradicated from our society today, it is not acceptable to propagate any form of literature or art which supports it. Similar to sexism, racism is...
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...which maintains the overall traits of the book (its plots, settings, and stylistic convention) but revamps particular details in those particular ways that the filmmakers see as necessary and fitting. The third one is radical, which reshapes the book in extreme and revolutionary ways both as a means of interpreting the literature and of making the film a more fully independent work. (Linda Cahir, p17) Traditional adaptation and radical adaptation are considered to be the top two types of film adaptations to discuss since traditional adaptation and radical adaptation are mostly seen in films. In order to examine the effectiveness of both traditional adaptation and radical adaptation in films, Pride and Prejudice (both novel and film), Heart of Darkness (novella) and the film adaptation of this novella Apocalypse Now are going to be discussed here. According to Linda Cahir, “Traditional adaptation maintains the overall traits of the book (its plots, settings, and stylistic convention) but revamps particular details in those particular ways that the filmmakers see as necessary and fitting. (P16)” Pride and Prejudice (both film and novel) is applied here to examine the nature of the traditional adaptation and evaluate the effectiveness of traditional adaptation in the film. As far...
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...The “Heart of Darkness” by Joseph Conrad, takes a look into imperialism through the eyes of its main character Marlow. Conrad used this story to condemn King Leopold II’s exploitation of the Congo and imperialistic views. Unlike capital rich imperialism, which seeks long term sustainment, King Leopold’s capital poor imperialism allowed for hasty exploitation of easily obtained resources through forced labor. The story takes a powerful look at the cruel and inefficient exploitation of natives by the “civilized societies”. This essay will discuss Conrad’s distain for imperialistic societies as seen in “Heart of Darkness”, and how these criticisms are relevant in contemporary societies. The story “Heart of Darkness” explores the issues and hypocrisy...
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...the message that the Africans are savages and that Africa itself is a place of no order and no civilization. To begin, on page 17 of Heart of Darkness, Conrad has his protagonist Marlow describe the Africans in many inhumane ways. “Black shapes crouched, lay, sat between the trees, leaning against the trunks, clinging to the earth in all attitudes of pain, abandonment, and despair they were nothing earthly now, nothing but black shadows of disease and starvation One of these creatures rose to his hands and knees and went off on all fours towards the river to drink.” After calling the African people creatures and shadows of disease and starvation, it was apparent that Conrad definitely did not think of the Africans as human beings. This portrayal shows the natives as "shadows" and unearthly "creatures," not as dying and sick men. The men are not other human beings, but in fact incoherent shapes with no humanizing characteristic to classify one man from another, which furthermore makes the indigenous Africans people into animals. Although the story has many different statements such as the one above, due to the time period of this story, I do not believe that it can be seen as racist. In our time, statements such as these would be seen as complete and utter racism and totally unacceptable. However, at the time of when Heart of Darkness was written, things like these were not only said, but also widely accepted. For this reason, I believe that now obviously this would be...
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...Power Most people in today’s society want to be in command; people want to be in control of their surroundings and authority and say in what is going on. People also want to be in charge of everything, and want everything to go their way. Whether it is the desire of leadership over a nation, or just being in charge of a family, everyone wants to be powerful. Power is one of the main themes in the novel “Heart of Darkness.” Characters within the story are willing to do whatever it takes to get their way and to make themselves more powerful. This includes everything from blowing up steamships, beheading African slaves, to plotting to kill coworkers. Within the story, the main characters feel as if they are more powerful than women, and also more powerful than the native African Americans; however, the story proves that the people who assume that they are in power are not always the ones who are actually in power. An example of power being used as a theme throughout the story is the authority of the “civilized” Europeans over the “barbarians”. The Europeans felt empowered over the African natives, enslaving and corrupting their society. Although they claimed to have been trying to civilize the “barbaric” Africans, the Europeans took control and dominated the land. Although Kurtz, a European who lived within the African jungle and was worshiped by natives, empowered the natives, he treated them with more respect than the other Europeans because he had adapted to their culture...
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...Fortunately, they are many different ways people approach curiosity. It can be a sense of seeing it in a perspective of fear or a way to explore more about the unknown. Some people like to open their mind and figure out what’s out there. Curiosity stems from the unknown but can lure someone into consequences. Heart of darkness depicts the story of how curiosity indulges madness and is evident in both Marlow and Kurtz. Marlow’s curiosity led him to witness uncivilized human interaction. Kurtz wants the Africans and Europeans to become more civilized but his curiosity allured him to know how the Africans became savages and eventually Kurtz became one himself. For example when Marlow spots the harlequins, “ He looked like a harlequin. His clothes had been made of some stuff that was brown Holland.” (Conrad 64) he notices how primitive they are and their interaction with them is unusual but to them it is normal in their society. Marlow knows that going more into his journey he will spot uncivilized human behavior and eventually causes some madness....
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...Although the content within Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness is universally commended for its deep thematic concepts and skillful literary techniques, there has been a spirited argument over whether the novel is itself a discriminatory work. Due to the many contradicting aspects of racism during the 17th century and the limited information known about the personality of Conrad, the question of racism versus realism is too complex to give a definitive answer. One of the passages that appears to be intuitively racist is included in Part I: “All their meager breasts panted together, the violently dilated nostrils quivered, the eyes stared stonily up-hill. They passed me within six inches, without a glance, with that complete, deathlike indifference...
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...Primal Cry All humans are connected whether or not they do see the connection; for example, when one person is mad and he or she takes their madness out on another person and that person gets effected and the domino effect occurs where the whole community is effected just by that person’s mood. Humans are also connected to their ancestors due to their physical and mental characteristics, such as one guy is naturally strong because one of his ancestors needed the strength for his or her survival. Joseph Conrad goes into explicit detail about how all humans are in touch to their ancestors in the sense of mental reactions. In Heart of Darkness, Joseph Conrad uses Marlow’s instincts in the jungle to demonstrate how even today humans are in touch with their primal senses. In the beginning of Heart of Darkness part 2, Marlow and the crew of his ship are sailing along the Congo River at night and then their senses change from exploring the Congo to heading back to some “home.” “ The prehistoric man was cursing us, praying to us, welcoming us - who could tell ? We were cut off from the comprehension of our surroundings ; we glided past like phantoms, wondering and secretly appalled, as sane men would be before an enthusiastic outbreak in a madhouse. We could not understand because we were too far and could not remember, because we were traveling in the night of first ages, of those ages that are gone, leaving hardly a sign — and no memories.”(Conrad...
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