Kurtz Marlow
Justify (or
significance of) the title ‘Heart of Darkness’ by Joseph Conrad.
OR
‘Heart of Darkness’ is
essentially a story of darkness at different levels. Give your opinion.
Joseph Conrad’s novel Heart
of Darkness is quite significant and meaningful so far as its title is
concerned. It is certainly the story of darkness at different levels- physical,
intellectual, moral, spiritual, subconscious etc. It is the story of dark
personality like Mr.Kurtz and diabolical possessions.
The title basically
refers to the dark African continent. Literally it means the inmost region of
the territory which was in those days still in the process of being explored
and the inhabitants still led a primitive life. By Conrad’s time many parts of
Africa had been explored and depicted on the map; even then Africa was still
known as the Dark Continent.
While portraying the
dark continent of Africa, particularly the Congo, Conrad gives a picture that
is suggestive of physical darkness.
The edge of the colossal jungle, so dark green as
to be almost black, fringed with white sulf ran straight like a ruled line,
far, far away, along a blue sea whose glitter was blurred by creeping mist.
Everything in the novel
is overshadowed by darkness-the sky is overcast by dark clouds, the Congo River
is invisible in the dark fog, all kinds of evil forces are hidden behind the
dark bushes and thick foliage. Even the hearts of men are under the influence
of darkness of evil. The atmosphere of the Central Station is that of decay and
death. When Marlow reaches this station, he finds an undersized railway-truck
lying on its back with its wheels in the air-
The thing looked as dead as the carcass of some
animal.
The title of the story
also suggests inner darkness. Physical darkness of Congo is only suggestive of
the physical aspect of the novel, which is incomplete without the thorough
investigation of the deeper meaning. Marlow’s exploration of the Congo can be
studied as his exploration of the inner recesses of his own mind. According to
critics, this novel may also be considered as a journey into the heart of
Mr.Kurtz.
So sensitive, so civilized-who at the savage centre
of the jungle, sees into the darkness of himself, and dies.
Heart of Darkness is
certainly a study of Marlow’s or Conrad’s own inner mind. Marlow’s account
gives us a glimpse of his own mind.
The mind of man is capable of anything because
everything is in it, all the past as well as the future.
In order to endure the
dark realities of human life, a man should possess an inner strength. What he
needs is a deliberate belief. At yet another point in the novel, Marlow tells
us of the effect of his own mind of the savage sight of human skulls hanging
from the tops of the posts fixed on the ground outside Mr. Kurtz’s residence.
Towards the end of the novel, Marlow tells us the working of his mind when
several persons come to him ne after the other claiming the packet of papers
and the photograph which Mr. Kurtz has given him for safe custody, and he also
reveals to us the working of his mind when he meets Mr. Kurtz’s Intended.
She took both my hands in hers… for belief for
suffering.
All these instances
enable us to have a direct glimpse of what Marlow thinks about and reacts to
various situations.
Apart from the above
mentioned, there are various other things that are suggestive of the darkness
of evil in the story. For e.g. the natives of Congo are representative of
primitivism. Kurtz came to Africa with the mission to civilize these natives
and to dispel the darkness of their uncivilized life. Rather, this turned
futile and led to destruction. We can call, as the darkness in the form of
unspeakable rites. The natives took for granted Mr. Kurtz as their man-god.
They performed the rites of sacrificing young men for the sake of keeping him
healthy and strong and does not led Mr. Kurtz to leave. The skulls on the post
were of those sacrificed. Further, the meeting of Marlow with the manager and
later on with Kurtz makes us more aware of the prevailing darkness in this
aspect. Walten Allen rightly observes,
The Heart of Darkness, title is at once the heart
of Africa, the heart of evil- everything that is nihilistic, corrupt and
malign- and perhaps the heart of men.
Therefore, the title of
the novel is quite appropriate. The darkness, the blackness both in literal and
metamorphic sense overshadows the plot.
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