Heart Of Darkness-Anlysis (An Attempt)

                  

 

 Heart of Darkness was a short but beautiful art by Joseph Conrad which described European colonization of Africa nineteenth century. It described the dark adventure of Charles Marlowe a sailor, a adventurer and the protagonist of the novel.

He heard about the talented man named as Kurtz who sent more ivory for Belgium Company. Later the protagonist’s adventure was mingled with Kurtz and Darkness began.

Characterization:

                   Kurtz and Marlowe were the major characters in the novel. Kurtz was a talented business man and he was in respectable position because he spread European culture and tradition throughout Africa. The character of Kurtz represents the liberty, freedom and civilization but later he got more power so became crueler and tyrant. Later Marlowe came to be revealed that Kurtz himself a God and worship by locals.

                   Marlowe was the protagonist of the novel and he acted as intermediate between the company and Kurtz. He was open minded and like traditional hero who was honest, intelligent, philosopher also. He was greatly inspired by Kurtz and called him as REMARKABLE MAN. He was contaminated by his experiences and his memories fell ill. Finally he barely recovered and returned back to his city.

Themes:

Euro centrism in Heart of Darkness:

                  

                     Euro Centrism is a political term coined in 1980, referring to the notion of European colonization which developed the height of the European colonial Empires. It is the practice of European perspectives and views in a literary work. Heart of Darkness is interwoven with European colonization in Africa. Chinua Achebe severely attacked on Conrad and opposed that he was a racist. His picture on colonization is not presented in an exact manner. Anyway other critics said that it is a master peace of art.

The theme of Imperialism: (partition of Africa 1885-1914)

                      British, French, German, Portuguese, Italian, Belgian, Spanish were the countries got power of colonization in Africa. In this novel the colonization of Belgium played vital role. It occupied the Congo region and the author portrayed in his novel. In Africa French and Spanish occupied more power but the author wanted to portray what he saw and experienced. Thus there is little autobiographical elements in the novel.

Brutality, Cruelty:

                      There is some historical evidence for brutality in the novel. King Leopold II of Belgium practiced this brutality among the innocent people. The thing was the people who failed to bring enough ivory, he punished by cutting their hands in a brutal manner. Thus the author gave indirect references which portrayal of sufferings of African people during the colonization.

Slavery:

                        Marlowe often explained the slavery and brutality which was seen by him in Congo. The blacks where not treated as human beings. They were used as tool to get maximum profits. Many scenes and dialogues in Heart of Darkness showed this arrogance. The whites and blacks were depicted as Hitler and Judas. The whites were dominators (Belgium Company) and blacks were suffered (African People).

Theme of Corruption:

                        The author not only showed slavery of Africa but also the corruption during the time of colonization. The novel experienced the truth about European colonization which exploited the sources of sources of African region. The novel gave the message as ‘Even the best of man can be corrupted’ It was about the pursuit of power and wealth which destroyed human qualities. During the time of colonization corruptions spread like a contagious disease. This novel conveyed that unlimited power breathe unlimited corruption. Corruption was the part of fabric society in Africa. The general theme of Joseph’s novel is good vs. evil, man vs. nature, colonization and imperialism.

Moral Views

                        Cultural Relativism and Ethical Subjectivism were the views that found in the Heart of Darkness. The first one expressed whether the proportions were true or false regarding certain Cultural group. And latter expressed whether the proportions were true or false regarding the altitude of the person and expressing his views. Comparing with Relativism and Subjectivism, the author through the light on Moral Subjectivism than Relativism. Most of the philosophies and narrations were expressed from protagonist’s point of view. Thus it expressed from the view of individual person.

Narrative Technique:

                        There were two narrators in the novel. One is anonymous narrator and another was Marlowe. In this novel narrating technique is quite different. The novel chained with ‘A story within a story’. This type of narration is called FRAME NARRATIVE TECHNIQUE. This form resembled the psychoanalytic process of uncovering the unconscious behind various levels of repressive and pictures various conflicts from characters mind.

Language and Style:

                         The language of novel reflected Charles as great poet, musician and best the orator throughout the novel. The language which he used to establish philosophical ideas were incomparably remarkable.