HOD Essay Conclusion

Societies tend to live within self-produced bubbles of isolation that prevent the truth of a brutal world from reaching themselves. However, when one isolates themself from the reality they create their own destorted reality that allows greater attrocities to happen. In Heart of Darkness Kurtz created his own isolated society within the indigenious population, where he was at the head of the societal order. Similarly Hitlar isolated his people from the true scope of his *(german name for final solution)* and as a result where powerless to act due to a lack of information . Just as Marlow refrained from telling the widow the true final words of Kurtz to protect her from the monstrocity he had become, Hitler refrained from informing the German people of the crimes 'they' were committing. The corrilation of both World World wars and Heart of Darkness highlights a weakness within society to want to beleive they are doing things properly, but are blindly being led into a real heart of darkeness. Unfortunaltely even those who want to be consious and wear of these action to help prevent them are greatly disabled by the suspense of disbelief and distrought at what such actions can create. As one American solider commented when he was leading citizens of Berlin through a nearbye concentration camp, "(they couldn't believe this was happening next to them, that they where doing this, they where allowing this. They simply had no idea").

HOD Essay Paragraph 2

Europeans refused to recognize the crimes they commited in Africa and shoved the topic into the taboo of discussion. Marlow unamasked the 'man behind the curtain' and found the horrors of European imperalism. When he returns to Europe, the renewed pressures of societies taboos prevents him from openly talking about it with Kurtz's fiance and when she fails to see the truth, his unconcious mind prevents him from relaying the informaiton in an act to prevent condemnation and austricizing himself. His recognatition of how the truth destroys socitey prevents him from telling her his true last words. By hiding the truth however he promotes the illusions that society creates to protect its true motive, profit, from discovery and inhibiting public action and outcry over the crimes committed. Before December of 1941 the majority of the United States public was unaware of the brutal slatering that was occuring in concentration camps spread throughout Germany. If people had known the truth, the United States would have entered the war earlier. An illinformed society is a violent society and a breeding ground for horrible and distructive actions.

HOD Essay Paragraph 1

During both World Wars Europe committed horrible atrosities among its own "civilized" societies, attrosities that insulted the enlightened society they claimed to be. Yet, this period of nationalism was an unusual halt in the state of war that typically existists in Europe, allowing the elites of the societal order, the creaters of what Freud would call "the super ego", to manipulate how European's viewed themselves. They believed themselves to be an elightened society of scientists and thinkers that through knowledge have become above war, above hatred, above petty violence. Within 20 years of the publication of Heart of Darkness the first shots of World War I were heard around the world and the world witnessed scientific minds warped and demented into weapons. Humanity witnessed the introduction of mustard gas, machine guns, and trench warfare. The illusion of a 'quick' war was shattered brutally shocking a horrified public. This supposedly enlightened society managed to self destruct, killing over a million of their own people, and still they continued to claim that they were bringing entlightenment to Africa. European treatment within the Congo was horouscious with indidionous peoples being brutally mutalated when they refused to obey the orders of the plantation owners. As with Kurtz in Heart of Darkness, profit was the pure motive of this violence, King Leopold II was only seeking to gain profits from growing coffee just as Kurtz was interested in the profits from ivory. The tribal ceromony in dedication of Kurtz where they worshiped him as a supreme power resonates with the nationalisitic banter that grew increasingly prevelent, like the constantly beating drum, leading up into World War I. These mutalated limbs would be desplayed around the trible villages, like the heads in Heart of Darkness, a reminder that the Europeans with their superior being was constantly watching over the tribesmen. The Europeans decided not to use their enlighting knowledge for good in Africa, to advance its people, but instead used their superior knowledge to intimidate and subjucate the native peoples. When photos were leaked of the atrosities commited within the Congo the public, shocked that their nation was commiting brutal acts without public knowledge, demanded the end of this practice. In heart of Darkness unfortunately, Marlow decides not to reveal the truth to the people. He decides that the truth is too vial, too deadly, too horrible to be spoken about in society. *(Quote from page 93)*


 

HOD Essay Qestion

How do societies inner darkness talked about in the novel create an historical forshadowing for the two upcoming World Wars.

What is Psychoanalytic Criticism? Opinion - Murfin

The relation that Murfin makes to Carl Gustav Jung's view that the "Not a disguised expression of Contrad's personal repressed wishes; it is rather a manifestation of desires the whole human race once had but repressed upon becoming civilized." I strongly agree with the true darkness relying upon the faults and desires of a society that are expressed in The Heart of Darkness. However, the human race is an extremely general term and I would narrow that down to Society. Becuase what one views as accpetible or something that should be repressed varries from people to people or location to location.

HOD Reading

In the final portion of the novel we return to Britan were ponders the memory of Kurtz. He is still uterly fascitanted by the ability of a man to loose his civility to such an extent that there was not a single bit of light to be found with in his soul. He finally meets Kurtz's fiance and they form a simple connection by being able to truely appriciate the remarkable man that was Kurtz. However, when she ask him what Kurtz's last words were he lies, "I was on the point of crying at her, 'Don't you hear them?' The dusk was repeating them in a persistant whisper all artound us, in a whisper that seemed to swell menacingly like the first whisper of a rising wind. 'The horror! The horror!' ... The last word he pronounced was - your name." Her inability to understand the obvious may have compelled the lie, but Marlow tells us that the pure darkness of the truth prevented him from telling her. That ironically sums up the message of the novel: that the truth of society is so horrifing that the simple revalation of the truth would send the world into chaos.

HOD Reading

In this portion of the novel we see Mr. Kurtz's health increasingly deteriorate as he moves farther from his post. During this time Kurtz seemlingly begins to reflect upon his time in Africa, summed up in "The Horror!" Wounders how one man can seemly sink into complete and total primevelness. A common phrase comes to mind, "Absolute power, corrupts absolutely." Mr. Kurtz's soul had been deeply corrupted by his power when in Africa, a power that gave him strength and helped him ignore the travasties around him. It is only when he is removed from this environment that we see him deterirorate from the simply memory of the atrosities and eventually dies. Before he dies he gives a packet of papers to for safe keeping.

College Reading

Currently schools require certain books to be read by students that often are not interesting to students. When a book is uninteresting it becomes much harder to read and makes the task of reading for school extremely laborious. It also taints the image of reading in eyes of students. However, if students where allowed to choose a book they want to read that falls within certain guidelines students would enjoy reading much more. 

HOD Reading

In todays reading we witness a cult like ritual that celebrates Mr. Kurtz and on a deeper level celebrates capitalism. After disappearing from the ship he wanders off into the ceremony. The need to protect the ivory displays societies need to protect the profit margin and the worldly goods that we steel from others, by killing. The forest appears dense with fog, and one can almost see the red fires flickering in the background. The setting during night also lends itself to the image of a fire like pit of Hell. In fact towards page 80 when he encounters a man that looks like he has two horns on his head, one can envision him actually meeting Lucifer. He is fully enveloped and lost in the evils of the Heart of darkness. 

HOD

The longer The characters have remained in Africa they have becoming extremely distant from society. It seems that company with other Europeans helps to prevent one from becoming insane and their actions begin to deteriorate. The loss of control over their actions

HOD Reading

In today's reading Van Shuyten was explaining to Conrad about his relationship with Mr. Kurtz. Not only as trading partners but also a deeper relationship that is illuded to, I.e. taking care of Kurtz when he was sick. We also see how Mr. Kurtz became increasingly savage, even to the point where he threatens to kill Van Shuyten. "there was nothing on earth to prevent him killing whom he jolly well pleased" (pg. 68).

Frued to HOD

Africa acts as Europe's inner desires allowing them to exploit the populace for their own short term gratification and pleasure, namely profit. The Industrial Revolution is thought as a dark period because the dirt of industry and cause the question of how a dark spciety can bring light to another dark socoety. How can a societ that has just killed millions of people in a world war bring peace, intellect, and prosperity to another wariness society

Sarcasm in Heart of Darkness

The use of sarcasm in HOD makes Conrad more personable to the reader and allows them to connect more to him and his story. It makes him seem like " the sort of person you would have a beer with".