Wednesday, April 23, 2014
Heart of Darkness Thesis
In my essay I want to talk and show the readers how Conrad displays darkness thoughout the book. Throughout my paper I want to answer my thesis which is, How does Conrad display the darkness contemporary features to the readers throughout the book Heart of Darkness? The first quote I would use to show the darkness that is displayed by the river is “Going up the river was like traveling back to the earliest beginnings of the world” (105). I would explain by saying how in the start of the book the only darkness that was identified was slavery. As Marlow goes up stream, more darkness is displayed, for example the sickness that the people conjure that Kurtz have. The second quote I would use would be “He allowed his 'boy' -- an overfed young negro from the coast -- to treat the white men, under his very eyes, with provoking insolence." (90) I would go into this saying the evil shown here is how Conrad displays the readers to look at the African Americans as animals. The last quote I would use to display to the readers how Conrad signified darkness through out his novel is “The offing was barred by a black bank of clouds, and the tranquil waterway leading to the uttermost ends of the earth flowed sombre under an overcast sky - it seemed to lead into the heart of an immense darkness.” (164) This quote shows the darkness through the weather that is displayed throughtout the book.
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You used really good quotes that will work great with your thesis. Its interesting how you talk about the darkness only being the river first, but then it gradually gets stronger throughout the story. The quote you are using about the boy servant would be really good to talk about. In the quote, I thought it was interesting where it says “provoking insolence”, the manager allowed servant boy to do or say things that would make the other men mad. The men could not do anything in return because the manager holds power over the other men and the young boy is his servant. I like your comment about the slaves being considered animals. They were viewed as not having a personality, thoughts, or feelings. Its cool how you noticed the quote about the weather showing darkness, Conrad uses very descriptive words and it is almost as if the weather could be setting a mood in that part of the story. Overall I think these are really good ideas and quotes you are using to show the darkness throughout the story. I think you should also add in how you are going to be answering your thesis question. You did a good job!
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