Heart Of Darkness :: essays research papers fc

The Horror&9 stub of Darkness by Joseph Conrad is a novel where the main character Marlow is telling a story of a pilgrimage to the Congo. This novel is said to possibly be an autobiography of Conrads life at sea. This is said because Conrad was a seaman for a many an(prenominal) years and went into Africa many times. The story is so powerful that even after 100 years, we still struggle with its meaning. This story has been retold by Francis Ford Coppola in the film Apocalypse Now. Chinua Achebe has deep explored Conrads ideas on imperialism. Achebe believed Conrads book presented a antiblack view of the people of Africa and Achebe in his own book, Things Fall Apart, presented imperialism through the eyes of the Africans. The story of Heart of Darkness is being told to four men on the deck of the Nellie. The story being told is about one of Marlows expeditions to the Congo in search of an drop hunter named Kurtz. When Marlow found Kurtz in the Congo, Kurtz had "gone native& quot Marlow found, "a head that seemed to sleep at the top of that pole," outside of Kurtzs house and Kurtz had been hunting with tribes in the area (Conrad, 73). When Marlow arrived Kurtz, was ill and dying. Kurtz cried out the words "The horror The horror" right before he died (Conrad, 85). These words cried out by Kurtz as he died created the close important passages in Heart of Darkness. The way this one passage is interpreted determines how the book is interpreted.&9One interpretation is that the "horror" is death and Kurtz is realizing he is dying. Kurtz is scare at the thought of dying and is crying out in pain of the realization. Kurtz may be afraid to die in the heart of darkness. Kurtz may be afraid to die knowing that he will never see his intend again and he may feel guilty for leaving his intended for his savage life. This interpretation shows a book about lost love and guilt for finding a new life. This interpretation is one of the less diffi cult and uninteresting interpretations.&9Now here is a more interesting and complex interpretation. Some view Heart of Darkness as a racist book. This interpretation comes from the view that the "horror" Kurtz is identifying is his being brought "down" to the African ways. This interpretation sees the African ways as uncivilized and horrid to Kurtz when he realizes he was at their level.