journeys_conrad

8/8/2019 journeys_conrad

1/5 B H I E C Journeys_Conrad 1th

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Heart of DarknessJoseph Conrad

Jozef Konrad Korzeniowski(Joseph Conrad)1857-1924

An extract from the opening ofHeart of Darkness

by Joseph Conrad 1898

The Nellie a cruising yawl, swung to her anchor without a utter of the sails, and was at rest. The ood hadmade, the wind was nearly calm, and being bound down the river, the only thing for it was to come to andwait for the turn of the tide.

The sea-reach of the Thames stretched before us like the beginning of an interminable waterway. In theofng the sea and the sky were welded together without a joint, and in the luminous space the tanned sailsof the barges drifting up with the tide seemed to stand still in red clusters of canvas sharply peaked, withgleams of varnished sprits. A haze rested on the low shores that ran out to sea m vanishing atness. Theair was dark above Gravesend, and far ther back Still seemed condensed into a mournful gloom, broodingmotionless over the biggest, and the greatest, town on earth.

The Director of Companies was our captain and our host. We four affectionately watched his back as hestood m the bows looking to seaward. On the whole river there was nothing that looked half so nautical.He resembled a pilot, which to a seaman is trustworthiness personied. It was difcult to realize his workwas not out there in the luminous estuary, but behind him, within the brooding gloom.

Between us there was, as I have already said somewhere, the bond of the sea. Besides holding our hearts

together through long periods of separation, it had the effect of making us tolerant of each others

yarns - and even convictions. The Lawyer the best of old fellows - had, because of his many years andmany virtues, the only cushion on deck, and was lying on the only rug. The Accountant had brought out

A unique gure in English literature, not only because of his genius as a writer of novels,short stories, and essays but also because of the variety of his experience, JosephConrad (original name Jozef Teodor Konrad Korzeniowski) born in Berdyczow, Poland, onDecember 3, 1857, died in 1924, came from the nobility of Russian-dominated Poland.

During his lifetime Conrad was admired for the richness of his prose and his renderingsof dangerous life at sea and in exotic places. But his initial reputation as a masterful tellerof colourful adventures of the sea masked his fascination with the individual when facedwith natures invariable unconcern, mans frequent malevolence, and his inner battles withgood and evil. To Conrad, the sea meant above all the tragedy of loneliness. A writer of

complex skill and striking insight, but above all of an intensely personal vision, he has beenincreasingly regarded as one of the greatest English novelists.


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Heart of DarknessJoseph Conrad

Joseph Conrad was born Josef Teodor Konrad Korzeniowski in 1857, in the PolishUkraine. When Conrad was quite young, his father was exiled to Siberia on suspicionof plotting against the Russian government. After the death of the boys mother,

Conrads father sent him to his mothers brother in Krakow to be educated, andConrad never again saw his father. He travelled to Marseilles when he was seventeen

and spent the next twenty years as a sailor. He signed on to an English ship in 1878,and eight years later he became a British subject. In 1889, he began his rst novel,Almayers Folly, and began actively searching for a way to full his boyhood dreamof travelling to the Congo. He took command of a steamship in the Belgian Congo in1890, and his experiences in the Congo came to provide the outline forHeart ofDarkness.

This famous novella begins by describing ships at sunset on the Thames River (London),as well as discussing the importance of journeying in the life of a sailor. Heart of

Darkness involves a physical journey, but also demonstrates the internal impact that sucha journey can have on a person. When Conrad was writing, Africa was seen as a dark

and mysterious place, threatening evil and savagery. But through the experiences of hischaracter Marlow, Conrad exposes the idea that the real horror may be that the heart ofdarkness is within us all.

Read the extract.

Are there any words you dont understand? Check the glossary.

Glossaryinterminable: endless or seemingly endless.luminous: shining, glowing, radiating or reecting light.Thames: River in London, England.pilot: a person qualied to steer a ship into or out of a port or river mouth.benign: mild, gentle, favourable, propitious.diaphanous: ne and translucent.venerable: worthy of reverence and honour.august: Not the month! Dignied or imposing.immutability: the quality of being unchanging through time.

Reread the rst paragraph. How do we know that a journey is about to take place?

What techniques does Conrad use to set the scene?

What has brought this band of people together? What generalisation could you makeabout journeys and groups of people?

How important is journeying to a man who has followed the sea?

What other journeys are mentioned? Why are they mentioned?

What is the signicance of journeying to Marlow?

How does this extract add to your understanding of The Journey?



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eA Journey into the Heart of Darkness . . . Essay

The white man is evil, or so says Joseph Conrad in his novel Heart of Darkness, which describes the colonialtransformation of the symbolically angelic African wilderness into an evil haven for the white man. The novelpresents a psychological journey into the core of evil or heart of darkness in ones own mind, as he or sheprogresses through the jungle. The reader follows Marlow, the novels narrator, along such a journey. Hispsychological changes as he approaches the heart of darkness are evident, as the reader observes, in his views

of the African natives, lying and Kurtz.

Marlow is an honest man. He sets out on a genuine search for answers to his questions of exploration of theunknown when (he) was a little chap (Conrad 64). Marlow was drawn to a cer tain place on the world map,called the Congo the biggest, the most blank, so to speak---that (he) had a hankering after (Conrad 64). Uponrst entering the mouth of the Congo River, Marlow declares his stance on lies and those who lie. [He believesthat lying in the worst thing for a person.] He vows never to lie in his life. After reading Kurtzs report about hisprogress down the Congo, Marlow nds that Kurtz lied, and in part loses all the respect he ever had for Kurtz.However, Marlow still continues to pursue him. Marlow continues his journey up the Congo River, penetratingfurther and further into the heart of darkness. In the process, Marlow reverts back to his innate state tosurvive, whether or not that means going against his principles. Finally, 200 miles later, Marlow meets Kur tz,who is the object of his psychological desire, only to nd him very ill. After Kurtzs death, Marlow nds himself

transformed into a person he thought he would never become, a liar. Marlow lies to Kurtzs intended aboutKurtzs last words when he returns to Europe. After being consumed by the heart of darkness, Marlow throwsaway his previous values as he reverts into a savaged, almost evil state of mind.

Though honest, Marlow is a prejudiced man; he is the epitome of colonialism. Going into the Congo, Marlowviews the natives as prehistoric evils in desperate need of white inuence and civilization. Throughout thephysical journey, Marlow is confronted with the natives time and time again, seeing them chained as slaves, livingin a village and attacking his own steam boat. Marlow holds fast his prejudiced view of the natives, referring tothem as savages or even worse something so derogatory as niggers (Conrad 65), until halfway through hisjourney. While drifting up the Congo, Marlow and his crew encounter a group of native on the shore. Insteadof demeaning the natives, Marlow wishes he could join the natives in their pr imative behavior. Such a desire isa great step in the progress of Marlows psyche. His desire to join the natives demonstrates his consumption bythe heart of darkness, as he reverts back to a more savaged state of being. Furthermore, Marlow encounters

Kurtzs mistress, a native, and describes her with awe and respect.

Finally, Marlow makes a radical change in his view of Kur tz in between his setting off on the Congo and hisarrival at the Central Station. Upon hearing of Kurtz, with all his credentials and successes, Marlow nds himselfawed at Kurtzs prole, saying that Kur tz and his crew were no colonist; their administration was only a squeeze;they were conquerors. It was just robbery by violence, agravated murder on a great scale, and men going atit blind-as is very proper for those who tackle a darkness (Conrad 63). Marlow, from the very beginning,develops a need to nd Kurtz. However, as Marlow travels deeper and deeper into the jungle and furthermoreinto his own mind, Marlow hears of Kur tz becoming ill, lieing and using conniving methods to gain success. Bythe time Marlow reaches Kurtz, he is overcome with dignity and respect for Kurtzs ability to survive. Once

disgusted by his unfair practices, Marlow nds himself respecting the epitome of all evil.

A Journey into Darkness in Heart of Darkness . . . Essay

Joseph Conrad, in his story, Heart of Darkness, tells the tale of two mens realization of the dark andevil side of themselves. Marlow, the second narrator of the framed narrative, embarked upon a spiritualadventure on which he witnessed rsthand the wicked potential in everyone. On his journey into the dark,forbidden Congo, Marlow encountered Kur tz, a remarkable man and universal genius, who had madehimself a god in the eyes of the natives over whom he had an imperceptible power. These two men were, ina sense, images of each other: Marlow was what Kurtz may have been, and Kurtz was what Marlow may havebecome.

Like a jewel, Heart of Darkness has many facets. From one view itis an exposure of Belgian methods in the Congo, which at least for a good part of the way sticks closely toConrads own experience. Typically, however, the adventure is related to a larger view of human affairs. Marlowtold the story one evening on a yacht in t . . .


5/5 B H I E C Journeys Conrad 5th

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The Journey into Hell in Heart of Darkness . . . Essay

In Joseph Conrads novel, Heart of Darkness the environment is often symbolic as well as literal. The

novel contains both the frame narrator, an anonymous member of the Nellie, representing the dominantsociety, and more importantly the primary narrator, Marlow, who too, is a product of the dominant society.For the novels narrator, Marlow, the journey up the Congo River to the heart of darkness is reminiscentof Guidos journey into hell in Dantes Inferno, with these literary allusion always present, through formsof intense imagery. The landscape takes on a hellish nature and the wilderness is personied. Death isomnipresent and this is reected in the death imagery used to describe the cities of Brussels and London,the Congo region and Kurtz station. The hypocrisy of society and civilization is reected in the . . .

Heart of Darkness: Savage Journey . . . Essay

Inherent inside every human soul is a savage evil side that remains repressed by society. Often this evil sidebreaks out during times of isolation from our culture, and whenever one culture confronts another. Historyis loaded with examples of atrocities that have occurred when one culture comes into contact with another.Whenever fundamentally different cultures meet, there is often a fear of contamination and loss of self thatleads us to discover more about our true selves, often causing perceived madness by those who have yetto discover their own self. Joseph Conrads book, Heart of Darkness is a story about Mans journey intohis self, the discoveries to be made there and about Man confronting his fears of insanity, death, and culturalcontamination . . .

Inward Journey in Heart of Darkness . . . Essay

Heart of Darkness is a book about one mans journey into the depths of the African Congo. He travelsto a place where, the changes take place inside(Conrad 15). For a man named Kur tz, his journey went

deeper into Africa then he could have ever expected. Kurtzs journey into Africa ended up being a journeyinto the darkness within himself.

At the beginning of the journey, Kurtz was a good man who believed in bringing civilization to Africa. Yousee some of Kur tzs good intentions in a lot of his writings. When Marlow was reading them, he said, Hebegan with the argument that we whites, from the point of development we had arrived at, must necessarilyappear to them (savages) in the nature of supernatural beings-we approach them with the might as ofdeity, and so on, and so on. By the simple exercise of our will we can exert a power for good practicallyunbounded, etc. etc(Conrad 50). In his writings, Kurtz believed in using the power of Europe for good.He believed in coming to the Africans as a God, not as a conqueror. You... Psychological, Philosophical andReligious Elements of Heart of Darkness . . .

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