HEART OF DARKNESS

Joseph Conrad

Historical-Biographical

• Born 1857 in Polish Ukraine• English was his 3rd language• Died 1924• Father exiled to Siberia/mom dies/Joseph raised

by uncle in Krakow• Became a seaman at 17 years of age• Began writing in 1889 at 32 years old• Boyhood dream of traveling to the Congo was

realized/provided outline for H of D

Moral-Philosophical

• Bridges Victorian values• Rapid growth into cities/transition from rural

economy/abandonment of traditional rhythms of rural life

• English superiority/age of certainty and national pride

• Rapid change created pessimism for experience with no meaning beyond itself

• Masses suffered greatly during this period of growth

Africa in 1880

Africa 1885-1914

•Congo River is 2733 miles long

•Enormous semicircle

•Dense forest

•World’s sixth longest river

Things to Look For• Adventure story-seafaring, river boating, trade and

exploration, imperialism and colonialism, finding meaning to the mysteries of life

• Framed story told by am unseen narrator who describes Charlie Marlow-still a sailor

• Imagery of light and dark• Marlow is Conrad’s alter-ego• Cultural irony• Displacement of culture• The horror or the human mind• Appearance and reality• Impossibility of innocence• Moral Ambiguity• Omens

Style

• Impressionist writer (impressionist painters—Monet, Manet, Van Gogh and Renoir, et.al.)– Intentionally ambiguous/reader has the responsibility

to determine meaning– Action is described through the MC eyes while the

events are occurring– Concerned with the “emotional landscape”—how the

landscape evokes emotional responses for characters and readers

– Marlow reports what he sees• Landscape is figurative

– Doesn’t push along the plot or explain things

Impressionists Painters

• They found many of their subjects in life around them rather than in history, which was then the accepted source of subject matter. Instead of painting an ideal of beauty that earlier artists had defined, the impressionists tried to depict what they saw at a given moment, capturing a fresh, original vision that was hard for some people to accept as beautiful.

Monet: Soliel Levant

Renoir: Girl with Watering Can

Achebe’s Thoughts on Conrad

• “Joseph Conrad was a thoroughgoing racist”

• H of D is an “offensive and deplorable book”

• It contributes to “the dehumanization of Africa and Africans.”

The Journey

• Belgium

• First station

• Central station

• Russian’s cabin

• The gateposts

Is Man Good or Evil?

• In Kurtz, Marlow saw the inconceivable mystery of a soul that knew no restraint, no faith, and no fear. Why is this dangerous? Why do people tend to fear a person such as this?

• What does Joseph Conrad think?

What does the “Heart of Darkness” mean to you?

• Two minute discourse with the person next to you.