In grad school, I became acquainted with Joseph Conrad in a class on Literature and Terrorism. As a result of this first reading, I felt I needed to read more of Conrad's work to truly understand his overall message in his works. Heart of Darkness was a titled I had always heard of but never picked up. Finally I did, and I found the beauty in Conrad's writing once again.
Conrad has this ability to make you think about life on a grander scale. As a result of the imperialistic nature of this text, the truth about human nature rears it's ugly head when the protagonist, Marlow, enters the African, "uncivilized" wilderness to rescue Kurtz, a highly revered man among the imperialists. Kurtz has essentially gone mad over his involvement in the Congo as a result of his experiences. Many of the imperialists believed Kurtz to be capable of changing the natives into more European in nature, when in reality, the natives completely changed Kurtz and drove him to insanity.
A majority of the story takes place on a steamboat on the brink of rescuing Kurtz. But this doesn't mean the story was boring in the least. In fact, this gave the author critical time to spend developing the setting and characterization. As a result, I was completely engulfed in the story. The most inviting aspect of this text was the honesty with which Conrad wrote about a horrific event in African and European history when ivory was the equivalent to oil these days. Conrad didn't "candy-coat" anything. He showed how dark humans can be when there is a glimpse of money of money or power in the future. While this topic may be disturbing to some, I found it to be honest, reflective and inspirational to look inside our own minds.
No comments:
Post a Comment