Oppositions in Joseph Conrads Heart of Darkness Essay -- Heart Darkne

Oppositions in kindling of dimness Joseph Conrads Heart of Darkness is full of oppositions. The most obvious is the juxtaposition of darkness and light, which are some(prenominal) present from the precise beginning, in imagery and in metaphor. The novella is a puzzling mixture of anti-imperialism and racism, civilization and savagery, idealism and nihilism. How can they be accommodate? The final scene, in which Marlow confronts Kurtzs designate, might be expected to provide resolution. However, it seems, instead, only if to focus the dilemmas in the book, rather than solving them. Throughout the first cleave of his interview with Kurtzs Intended, Marlow talks about saving her from the darkness Yes, I know, I said with something like despair in my heart, but bowing my bearing before the faith that was in her, before that great and saving conjuration that shone with an unearthly glow in the darkness, in the triumphant darkness from which I could not have defended her-fr om which I could not even defend myself. (93) The Intended believes wholeheartedly in Kurtz, as well as in the greatness of civilization and imperialism. As Marlow now knows well, her ideals are nothing but invocation however, he acknowledges and protects them. He has a somewhat sexist view of women as he has stated previously in his narrative, he believes that women cannot deal with humans and thus need illusions in order to survive. It is noteworthy, however, that even though this note comes before the interview with the Intended in the sequence of narration, the story is creation told after the interview has happened, and thus it is not unreasonable to suppose that Marlows doctrine of women has been formed from this very inci... ...Adelman, Gary. Heart of Darkness Search for the Unconscious. Boston fiddling & Brown, 1987. Conrad, Joseph. Heart of Darkness. Ed. Ross C Murfin. Second ed. New York Bedford Books, 1996. Levenson, Michael. The Value of Facts in the Heart of Da rkness. Nineteenth-Century Fiction 40 (1985)351-80. Professors Comments Very well done--subtle and perceptive and well-argued. A very sophisticated and beautifully written paper as a whole. I wish youd included the details of the setting, but mainly, see question on p. 4 Well--acknowledge that her certainty only exists, and is only unextinguishable, because its blind illusion. Do you think thats what Conrad offers us as a source of hope? you stop alone short of moving out to Conrad, and what he may offer us by way of certainty and even hope in the middle of all the fogginess.