2. “I saw on that ivory face the expression of
sombre pride, of ruthless power, of craven
terror—of an intense and hopeless despair.
Did he live his life again in every detail of
desire, temptation, and surrender during that
supreme moment of complete knowledge?
He cried in a whisper at some image, at
some vision—he cried out twice, a cry
that was no more than a breath:
“‘The horror! The horror!’
[. . .]
“‘Mistah Kurtz—he dead.’”
It echoed loudly within him because he [Mr.
Kurtz] was hollow at the core
Heart of Darkness (1899) 1925
7. In 1890, Joseph Conrad secured employment in
the Congo as the captain of a river steamboat;
this was also the approximate year in which the
main action of Heart of Darkness takes place.
Illness forced Conrad's return home after only six
months in Africa, but that was long enough for
intense impressions to have been formed in the
novelist's mind. Today, the river at the center of
Heart of Darkness is called interchangeably the
Congo and the Zaire, and the country is the
Democratic Republic of the Congo, but at the time
Conrad wrote of them the country was the Belgian
Congo and the river the Congo.
8. Lecture
Modernism is a movement generally said to reject the Victorian pieties, its
moralism, its imperialism, and its patriarchal forms.
The years between 1901 and 1910 roughly correspond to the reign of
Edward VII and are often referred to as the years of early modernism, and while
not every work produced during this time shares modernist qualities, there is
substantial evidence that the modern period developed significantly in these
years.
Technical and stylistic innovations emerge in early modernism. The
consciousness of the New Woman emerge during this time. Texts incorporate
both the contemporary technological and psychological innovations and themes
that opposed imperialism. Finally, they address the anxiety of not knowing.
Heart of Darkness demonstrates both the thematic move away from
Victorianism and innovations in narrative strategies and literary experiments that
worked to show the unknowability of the new world.
9. New story-telling techniques that emerged in this early modern period emphasized a
shift in focus from the external world to the interior world.
Stream of consciousness: a flow of combined, disorganized, and sometimes
irrational thoughts and reactions It is a narrative strategy used to show what is
going on in the mind rather than an attempt at analyzing facts.
Internal monologue a compilation of thoughts and memories, wishes, ideas, and
assumptions that the character has realized throughout events in life. The
thoughts are both rational and organized; it is used as a strategy to dramatize a
conflict using thoughts.
Dreams, thoughts, and explanations of a character’s mental process replaced
lengthy descriptions of external objects. Conrad does not specifically use these
devices, but he did focus on both the internal world of his characters and the reality
of their dreams and thoughts. Marlow’s story suggests a nightmarish journey into
the unknown.
Technical and stylistic innovations emerge in
early modernism.
10. Heart of Darkness is a bridge between
Victorian values and the ideals of high
modernism. This novella, like its Victorian
predecessors, relies on traditional ideas of
masculinity and heroism. We still find women
occupying conventional roles in private
spheres where they command only morality,
yet in Heart of Darkness they are virtually
absent from the narrative: Marlow tells us
clearly that, “the women [. . . ] are out of it.”
Now, the concepts of “home” and
“civilization” exist simply as ideals,
meaningless to men for whom survival is in
constant doubt.
The consciousness of the New Woman
emerge during this time.
11. Texts incorporate psychological innovations
Maybe, more than any other factor, the advent and progression of psychology shaped
both the new vision of man and the artist’s conception of him.
Freud’s ideas showed the different aspects of man’s personality. His terms “ego,”
“id,” and “super-ego” reveal the depth of our conscious and subconscious mind. After
Freud’s work appeared, critics began to examine, authors, characters, and texts using
Freud’s lens. Consider Marlow as the “ego” (the balanced and rational), while Kurtz
represents the “id” (the crude and selfish).
Jung’s influence is also apparent in Conrad’s text through the many recurring
symbols. Marlow’s journey, the jungle, and even Kurtz suggest both real and
symbolic meanings. Since Conrad gives few clues to his intention, the reader must
interpret each one. Missing the symbolic means missing ambiguity, which many
writers use to give their texts depth and complexity.
12. In Heart of Darkness, Conrad also engages in a complicated and
politically dangerous exploration of the colonization of the Congo. King
Leopold of Belgium founded the “International Association for the
Suppression of Slavery and the Opening Up of Central Africa.” The
king’s intention was to extract ivory from what he claimed as his personal
property in 1892. From 1885 to 1908, the people living in the Congo
were subjected to well-documented abuses such as mass killings and
mutilations. Leopold’s brutal colonialism was done in name of
philanthropy and anti-slavery. This Belgian colonialism is considered one
of the most terrible in a period of growing doubts about imperialist
politics. The natives’ sufferings and Kurtz’s writings about them reflect
the historical reality.
Conrad engaged with themes that opposed imperialism.
13. Marlow begins his story aboard the Nellie with a brief history lesson about the ancient
Roman occupation of Britain. He says that the Romans were ‘‘no colonists’’ for ‘‘they
grabbed what they could get for the sake of what was to be got. It was for robbery and
violence, aggravated murder on a great scale.’’ Initially, we are led to believe that the
European colonists were motivated by loftier objectives than those of the Romans.
Marlow's aunt declares that the Europeans’ purpose in Africa is to help the savages
stop their ‘‘horrid ways.’’ In the beginning of the story, Marlow to seems to defend
imperialism when he says that “What redeems [the conquest of the earth] is [. . .] not a
sentimental pretence but an idea; and an unselfish belief in the idea—something you
can set up, and bow down before, and offer a sacrifice to....” He exonerates himself
and his role in the colonial enterprise from the damage they do to Africa.
But when Marlow arrives at the mouth of the Congo River, he becomes aware that
saving the natives from their savagery is not the European mission. At the Company's
Outer Station, Marlow sees six black men chained together and realizes that these
pathetic figures “were not enemies, they were not criminals.” They are, in fact,
brutalized victims ‘‘brought from all the recesses of the coast in all the legality of time
contracts, lost in uncongenial surroundings, fed on unfamiliar food, they sickened,
became inefficient and were them allowed to crawl away and rest.” The intention of
Marlow’s story shifts here.
14. In Your New Groups, discuss
your QHQs and discussion
questions
15. QHQs
1. QHQ: What is the significance of the title?
2. Q: There is such a lack of communication and
true understanding of motives and emotions
and people in this story. Why is Mr. Kurtz so
revered for his words? Why does everyone
remember him for what he says? For his
“unbounded power of eloquence?” (1991)
3. Q: What is the function or purpose for leaving
out the message the native lady shouts at to
the steamboat?
4. Why doesn’t Marlow come to Kurtz’s burial?
How does Kurtz’s death influence Marlow’s
pursuit of destiny?
16. Discussion Questions
2. Why does Conrad use a double narrator to tell his story? Why not let Marlow
narrate the novella directly? Discuss the function of this narrative frame.
What does it add to the story? Why might Conrad use this narrative frame to
tell this story?
3. Though seemingly minor, the three women are important to Marlow’s adventure.
His aunt, Kurtz’s black mistress, and Kurtz’s Intended influence the story in
various ways. Compare the three of them. What does each one represent? Include
how they come from different parts of society with separate values and beliefs,
especially Kurtz’s two loves.
17. 4. Marlow’s journey to Africa enables him to meet for the first time the
natives, people unlike him in many ways. How does Marlow, as well as
the other white men, contrast with the blacks? Focus not only on their
physical differences, but their behavior and general way of life. Are they
representative of their distinct cultures, since one group comes from
“civilized” Europe and the other comes from the “dark” continent?
5. Consider the accountant, the manager, and the brickmaker—all puppets of
the Company. What negative concepts or themes might each one
represent? How are they different from one another?
6. Consider Chinua Achebe’s essay "An Image of Africa: Racism in
Conrad's 'Heart of Darkness.'" Is Heart of Darkness racist? Or are
the views of race more complex? How do era and culture factor into
opinions about what constitutes racism? How do we productively
discuss race and racism of the past without marginalizing or
dismissing the racism many people feel today?
18. 7. Colonialism is the policy or practice of acquiring full or partial political
control over another country, occupying it with settlers, and exploiting it
economically. Conrad focuses the colonial intention in Heart of Darkness
on what the Company overtly tells the public: They are going into the
Congo to civilize the Natives. The Europeans commonly conflated their
economic goals with the promise to improve the lives of the inhabitants of
the Congo region by converting them to the European way of life, that is,
by providing them with the benefits of the advanced world. Given that
information, How do you see Conrad complicating the idea of
colonization? What kind of negative effects does it have on both white
men and the black men of Africa?
8. In Heart of Darkness, Joseph Conrad explores the nature of
colonialism. He reveals the horrors of colonialism and is cynical of the
entire process. He uses several symbolic characters, the main one
being Kurtz, to accomplish this. Heart of Darkness has been called
both a justification for imperialism and an indictment against it. How
is it possible for this one work to be interpreted in such opposite
directions?
19. 9. Our information of Kurtz comes secondhand via a series
of conversations. The buildup is quite compelling: How
does that rising expectation affect our vision of him
when we finally see him in person? Does Kurtz live up to
our expectations?
10. There are many indications of Kurtz’s mental illness.
The decapitated heads on poles outside his home, his
“exterminate all the brutes” philosophy, and his
obsessive quest for ivory show his “unsound method,” as
the manager terms it. Is Kurtz mad, or has he simply
adapted to a barbaric society? Why do you think so?
20. 11. To what does Kurtz refer when he voices his famous last
words: "The horror! The horror!"?
12. And your favorite question: What's going on with the
names—or lack of names? The only names we get are
"Marlow" and "Kurtz." Everyone else is defined by their
occupation, a physical description, or their relation to a
named character. Does this demean their importance?
Does it level the statuses of white and black individuals?
Or is there some other motivation or outcome?
21. Author Presentation: D.H. Lawrence
Arthur John Lawrence, his father, worked
in the coal pits from the age of seven.
Coarse, semiliterate, intensely physical, a
strong fellow, popular with his friends, he
was prone to drink, and he and his family
lived in virtual poverty. Lydia Lawrence
(née Beardsall), his wife, was a former
schoolteacher from a middle-class
Methodist family. Along with his four
siblings, young Lawrence was inevitably
caught up in the frequent and sometimes
violent strife between his mother and
father.
22. D. H. Lawrence is an extraordinarily important figure in
English literature. Though he was marginalized by the
Bloomsbury Group, for his working class background, he
wrote successful essays, plays, poems, short stories, and
novels, Lawrence focused much of his work on the
relationships between men and women, subjects thrust
Lawrence into the center of controversy. His novels Lady
Chatterley’s Lover and Sons and Lovers were censored or
banned in many places because of their sexual content, and
some of his manuscripts were seized by British authorities for
perceived indecency. Despite his initially shaky reception,
Lawrence is now recognized by many critics as a masterful
writer who would not shy away from depicting complex
human interactions. You may recognize his name from a
short story that is often required reading “The Rocking Horse
Winner.”
23. To Watch Out For in
”Odour of Chysanthemums”
Social Class
Light and Darkness
Appearances and Reality
Sex Roles
Death
![“I saw on that ivory face the expression of
sombre pride, of ruthless power, of craven
terror—of an intense and hopeless despair.
Did he live his life again in every detail of
desire, temptation, and surrender during that
supreme moment of complete knowledge?
He cried in a whisper at some image, at
some vision—he cried out twice, a cry
that was no more than a breath:
“‘The horror! The horror!’
[. . .]
“‘Mistah Kurtz—he dead.’”
It echoed loudly within him because he [Mr.
Kurtz] was hollow at the core
Heart of Darkness (1899) 1925](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7)