Joseph Conrad's Iconic Novel in Perspective

Heart of Darkness Conrad's themes embrace navigation, humanity and inspection Descriptiveness, irony and imagery are also on board The novel brings to light the "reverence and affection" (6) Of an exalted character linked to the sea, but not a king or a lord The novel also exposes the bigotry and bias of Marlow's kin She wanted to "wean those millions from their horrid ways…" she said (9) The aunt made Marlow "quite uncomfortable" -- her morality clearly wore thin Later he saw"..black shapes crouched, lay, sat between the trees" all nearly dead The sea, the darkness, the river and the mystery The "foreign shores" and "foreign faces" that also "glide past" (9) Fully illustrate the effectiveness of the novel's link to history Because in this novel's time frame, colonialism was in its last gasp Heart of Darkness explores endless days that seem more like night It examines timeless concepts of good and evil -- and how to hide From the evil action of slaughtering elephants for their tusks so white And the hideousness of "jerking the spear out of his side…" (140) Poor protagonist Marlowe, his boat kept maddeningly breaking Meanwhile Kurtz, with his "savage and superb" African female friend (168) Was a poster boy for colonialism, that horrid system leaving good men quaking But Marlow lived and "…remained to dream the nightmare out to the end" (194).

My name is Marlow and my voyage into the heart of colonial Africa was an adventure I had no doubts, no reservations whatsoever about taking. In truth, my reasons for accepting this assignment are not easy to explain, but in essence I have never passed up an opportunity to escape solid ground in exchange for those never-ending rolling waves and the rhythm of the tides.

Alas, though my aunt gave me her crusty, narrow-minded and biased opinion about the natives of that Dark Continent I was not the least perturbed or put off. Indeed I am sure had I ventured to speak to two dozen other lusty or older women so removed from the truth about colonialism and Africa they would have echoed my dear aunt's biases. But let me first explain why I agreed to make this pilgrimage -- it goes deeper than just my bond with the sea.

Yes, I was born in Russia, and when I turned seventeen I was already at sea enjoying everything about being a sailor. I loved the wild rides we had in storms, waves breaking and smashing upon the starboard side like claps of thunder on a vicious stormy night. I even enjoyed the calm ocean experiences during the twenty years I was learning seamanship aboard several different kinds of vessels.

My wandering, my pilgrimages, my love of the salt air were tested severely as I headed up the Congo River ("river Congo" as some called it). Though I am a man without a great deal of formal education, I do understand and admire souls from cultures far afield from my own. My social system of checks and balances, and my seaworthiness, led me to believe that I could meet any cultural, physical, or moral challenge along the.