General
1 Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad is
about the harsh journey to the continent of Africa. The narrator and a few
other men listen to a man named Marlow recap this harsh and dangerous journey
to Africa. He traveled on the Nellie,
a British ship, for a Belgium ivory trading company. During his journey he
encounters the savageness between the people who are trying to colonize Africa
during that time and the natives. He soon finds himself drought between the
struggle within the Company he works for. He also learns the cold hard truth of
about a Russian named Kurtz. Kurtz is a madman who Marlow decides to take him
because he very ill, but he soon dies after he begins to travel.
2 I guess a theme of the novel is imperialism and
what it does to the men and women involved in the action of imperialism and the
madness that is derived from imperialism.
3 The novel has a cynical tone to it but at
sometimes it is sad because of the horrible and gruesome things that Marlow
experiences. “Not a living thing was seen
on the shore.”
4 Symbolism – Flies in the story are a great
symbol for death because they appear like when a slave dies in chapter one and
when Kurtz dies.
Personification – “The tidal current runs to and fro in its
unceasing service.”
Tone – “Not a living thing was seen on the shore.”
Characterization - “He was the only man of us who still ‘followed
the sea.’ The worst thing that could be said about him was that he did not
represent his class.”
Foreshadowing – in the beginning of
the story Marlow talks about how a Roman conqueror would have to deal with “…cold, fog, tempests, disease, exile, and
death…” which is a clear foreshadow for his journey.
Metaphor – “The water shone pacifically: the sky, without a speck, was a benign
immensity of unstained light; the very mist on the Essex marsh was like a gauzy
and radiant fabric, hung from the wooded rises island, and draping the low
shores in diaphanous folds.”
Simile – “His eyes, of the usual blue, were perhaps remarkably cold, and he
certainly could make his glance fall on one as trenchant and heavy as an axe.”
Irony - “Let us hope that the man who can talk so well of love in general will
find some particular reason to spare us the time.”
Setting - “The sea-reach of the Thames stretched before us like the beginning of
an interminable waterway.”
Characterization
1 Direct – “He
resembled a pilot, which to a seaman is trustworthiness personified.” , “He
[Marlow] had sunken cheeks, a yellow complexion, a straight back, an ascetic
aspect, and, with his arms dropped, the palms of hands outwards, resembled an
idol.”
Indirect – “He was the only man of us who still ‘followed the sea.’ The worst
thing that could be said about him was that he did not represent his class.” ,
“Marlow ceased, and sat apart, indistinct and silent, in the pose of a
meditating Buddha.”
Using both indirect and direct
characterization is very helpful in developing the characters in the story
because it gives to different ways for a reader to meet a character and it
provides a full characterization because that is how we meet people in real
life.
2 The author uses both syntax and diction when
focusing on a character because while Conrad has is own unique syntax and
diction he can not only use it to fully describe characters but he also
sometimes uses different syntax and diction from what he is used to, to allow a
different approach to the characters that may seem one way but now with a
different perspective you can fully understand the character.
3 Marlow is definitely a dynamic round character
because he is going on this adventure with the what as we know the slightest
clue of what he is in for. We get the feeling that going in he doesn’t really
mind imperialism because he was on the good side of it. But when we journeys on
he begins to realize that imperialism isn’t really what he thought it to be and
is horrified by the damage it has done to so many people of all races. He
completely changes his views on the topic making him a dynamic character.
4 I feel like I really did meet Marlow because the
whole story was based around his adventure though it may be harsh, because I
learned how he would react to certain situations and how he went about doing
everything so I kind of get a sense of who he really is in the novel.
