heart of darkness

A detailed Summary of heart of darkness

The point of view from which a story is told positions the reader to perceive experiences in the novel from a certain perspective. This is particularly true for Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness. Conrad uses two first person narrators within the text, one within the other; the nameless frame narrator who describes the happenings on board the 'Nellie', and Marlow - an interior character who narrates his adventures in the Congo. These differentiating points of view help to convey the symbolic significance of the impact the exterior landscape has on the 'interior landscape', or the development of the inner self.

Firstly, the use of the two point of views provides the reader with two versions of reality. At the beginning of the novel, the frame narrator views England's past as one of distinction presenting an idealistic view of imperialism and therefore endorsing the European ideology. While anchored in the Thames, he declares that the river carries with it "the dreams of men, the seed of commonwealths [and] the germs of empires." Marlow, on the other hand, challenges this affirmation, suggesting that England "has been one of the dark

Conrad acknowledges restraint as an important aspect of human nature. Marlow struggles to explain the reason for Kurtz's defection from civilisation but then he too begins to lose his identity as a civilised man when he "confounded the beat of the drum with the beating of [his] heart." He momentarily loses self-control, expressing his desire to "go ashore for a howl and dance." The only thing preventing him from doing so was restraints such as time and work. But Kurtz, having being exposed to the wilderness, is incapable of controlling his unconscious, participating in murder, raids, cannibalism and above all, allowing himself to be worshipped as a God. Marlow interprets Kurtz's final exclamation of "The horror!" as a "judgement upon the adventures of his soul on this earth." Thus Conrad suggests that the reason for Kurtz's degradation was that "he lacked restraint in the gratification of his various lusts."

At the conclusion of the novel, it seems that the frame narrator is the only one of those on the ship who is affected by Marlow's tale; in the end the two points of view amalgamate to reinforce England as the "heart of an immens

Some common words found in the essay are:
Heart Darkness, God Marlow, Darkness Conrad, , frame narrator, heart darkness, novel frame narrator, reason kurtz's, novel frame, deeper deeper, conrad suggests,

Approximate Word count = 773
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: Miscellaneous

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heart of darkness

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