Sign Up Now
Get instant access to over 1 million+ study documents
OR
Already registered? click here to login
By creating your account, you agree to our terms of service, privacy policy and student honor code.
Heart of Darkness
Betrayal is an important theme in Joseph Conrad's the Heart of Darkness, and it is one of the most important themes in the book. Both Marlow and Kurtz betray each other, and show the consequences of betrayal on each other.
Betrayal is a regular theme in Conrad's writing, as this critic says: "Conrad's thematics of coercion, isolation, and betrayal; the complicated relations among author, narrator, and character" (Wollaeger xiv). Betrayal causes anger, disappointment, and misunderstanding, and Kurtz' betrayal of himself, and the natives create all of these things.
Kurtz betrayed the other white men in the Congo when he disappeared and lived with the natives. He betrayed Marlow when he was not the man Marlow thought he was, and Marlow betrayed him when he realized that to take Kurtz' side, or the side of the manager against Kurtz, was really to betray his own dreams and illusions. Marlow says in the book: "But then, you see, I can't choose. He won't be forgotten. Whatever he was, he was not common" (Conrad 46). Marlow cannot choose between right and wrong, and this is because Kurtz is powerful and charming, even as he betrays the people around him.
Betrayal is also an important theme because it shows how the British government betrayed the natives of the Congo when they took over the country. Conrad is showing how the British abused and killed the natives, and treated them like animals, betraying their trust, and stealing their valuable resources. So, while the characters betray each other in the novel, the bigger theme is the betrayal of Imperialism like England practiced, and how it destroyed, people countries, and the continent of Africa.
In conclusion, betrayal is a continual theme in Heart of Darkness, and Conrad's use of this theme adds more depth to the novel, and shows how betrayal can affect many people, just as it did in this novel.
References
Conrad, Joseph. Heart of Darkness. New York: Dover Publications, 1990.
Feder, Lillian. "Marlow's Descent into Hell." The Art of Joseph Conrad: A Critical Symposium. Ed. Stallman, R.W. East Lansing, MI: Michigan State University Press, 1960. 162-170.
Guaerard, Albert J. Conrad the Novelist. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1958.
Orr, Leonard and Theodore Billy, eds. A Joseph Conrad Companion. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1999.
Wollaeger, Mark A. Joseph Conrad and the Fictions of Skepticism. Stanford, CA: Stanford University, 1990.
Heart of Darkness and Apocalypse Now Comparing and Contrasting Coppola's Apocalypse with Conrad's Darkness While Francis Ford Coppola's Apocalypse Now is framed by the music of The Doors, Joseph Conrad's novella Heart of Darkness, upon which the film is based, uses the narration of Marlow as a framing device for the murky tale of the "horror" that hides in the human heart. The difference in framing devices has more to do with
It reveals the truth about mankind and while this may be an ugly truth, it is one of which we need to be reminded. My research in Joseph Conrad has allowed me to appreciate him more as an author. I have always been interested in this period of history. I can appreciate Conrad for more than simply someone who wrote books. Before reading the articles, I knew I liked the
Heart of Darkness century has passed since the publication of Heart of Darkness and the verdict still remains out on Joseph Conrad's overall thoughts on imperialism and its associated problem of racism. Many critics believe that Conrad wrote his book to adamantly rally against expansionism and the evils it brought. Other literary professionals question the vagueness and inconsistencies within the book and wonder about the strength of Conrad's beliefs or
It would come slowly to one. They howled and leaped, and spun, and made horrid faces; but what thrilled you was just the thought of their humanity -- like yours -- the thought of your remote kinship with this wild and passionate uproar." (Conrad 105). This indicates a gradual shift of viewpoint from the Western, or civilized, to the uncivilized. In this, Marlow's viewpoint shift foreshadows his meeting with Kurtz.
Horror, the Horror: Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness vs. Francis Ford Coppola's Apocalypse Now I stood on this hillside, I foresaw that in the blinding sunshine of that land I would become acquainted with a flabby, pretending, weak-eyed devil of a rapacious and pitiless folly. How insidious he could be, too, I was only to find out several months later and a thousand miles farther -- Joseph Conrad, Heart of Darkness The
Heart of Darkness advances and withdraws as in a succession of long dark waves borne by an incoming tide. The waves encroach fairly evenly on the shore, and presently a few more feet of sand have been won. But an occasional wave thrusts up unexpectedly, much further than the others; even as far, say, as Kurtz and his Inner Station"- Albert J. Guerard." In Conrad's Heart of Darkness Marlow, the chief