The heart of darkness by Joseph Conrad was a very uneasy and depressing book about a man named Marlow. Marlow is lost his mother when he was very young and never saw his father again after he was sent to live with his mother's brother. After many years Marlow found himself bedazzled by the sea and becomes a introspective sailor and gets hired to travel down the Congo river, but is warned to be cautious because the natives killed the last sailor that tried to past down the river the last time. He takes on many detours traveling down the river and sees the brutalities of people in company stations. But Marlow loves the sense of danger and continues on the path. Marlow finally reaches the main company and is stuck there for many months and over time becomes obsessed over Mr. Kurtz the person he was suppose to meet and sees the natives enslaved and worked to death as they drop one by one. Over time the boat is repaired and the two start to journey together along with a cannibalistic crew, there manager, and three to four pilgrims. They were going up river to go to the inner station, Kurtz station. On the way to the station the crew undertakes a thick fog and gets ambushed by wild natives, being pelted with arrows that pierced the clouds as if they were bullets. The pilgrims pulled out there rifles and fought back. One of the crew members grabs a rifle and shoots but is struck with a spear and bleeds out on the boat will everyone just watches him slowly die spilling his blood uncontrollably. After the crew member dies Kurtz writes a report about the savage customs and what happened on their journey. Then the boat is wrecked again and Marlow finds out that Mr. Kurtz is extremely ill and soon dies from the illness but before death he gives his report to Marlow. Marlow then returns to Europe and distributes the report to give to the administration of savage customs. A year has passed by now and Marlow has talked with Mr. Kurtz cousin about his last words " The horror, the horror" and now knows that he was talking about his fiancee and talks to her about kurtz finally words. This book took place around 1899 or so when Belgium was independent from the Netherlands. This book was written to show what humans are truly about. I know that doesn't really make sense so i'll explain, basically the book is about how mankind is degrading because of all the flaws we have. For instance the character Kurtz goes from a conquere to a slave driver over time. The book shows that mankind isn't what everyone thinks. Most people believe that mankind is perfect but this book shows that humans are monsters that are selfish, evil, cruel, and ignorant. The people of this world are judgmental and racist making fun or enslaving different races just because of their skin color. This book shows how peoples heart become consumed by darkness and slowly sink so low until there is no chance of coming back into the light. It shows us that we are not perfect and make alot of mistakes and do terrible things to others of the same species for enjoyment, and labor. This book is fantastic and terribly depressing, but the book makes you think about questions that you wouldn't have asked before like "can humans only cause pain towards each other" or " why do we always fight and try to bring down somebody else when we are suppose to be helping each other." It makes you think about a change in the world so people can finally understand each other and stop fighting over ignorant stuff and killing innocent civilians. It makes you think about a peace between the people across the world that will never be obtained. But even if peace does not happen the book makes you change to become a better person that will show kindness to others and reach out to others instead of causing pain all of the time. I recommend this book to everyone that liked the book "The Catcher in the Rye" and to others that like to read depressing books. I can relate to this book because I have always felt that i had a heart filled with darkness. I was casted away into this world with no friends or family and was a target for others to use then just throw away when the job was done. I have felt true happiness and can rarely keep a smile for a long period of time. I felt depressed and lonely wanting a friend to talk to or someone to care for me but no one came. I then turned my back on the world caring for no one but myself and ended up walking on a path of darkness that led me down a long and depressing road where i ended up becoming like everyone else and spreading pain to everyone i saw to try and get back at the people who made me the monster i was. But I soon realized that it made me no better than them and the only way to change is to forgive them and to keep moving on. I now feel like Marlow, lost and confused and hurt. But I keep walking because I can make a difference in this world now. With the friends i have today and the people that support me I found out that the heart can slowly change and let light in even in the darkest corridor light can find a way in and set the heart free from worries.
This highly detailed novella was about a man named Marlow on his life changing hunt to find a missing man that became over- assimilated in the African culture and his crave/lust for ivory. His name was Mr. Kurtz. This book took place in the heart of Africa, which is the Heart of the Congo. This book was a bit over detailed and did not get its meaning across very well. The novella was unnecessarily extended without a twist, or climax. I do not reccomend this book to other scholars. I would rather learn about imperialism in Africa by reading a textbook.
Brilliant book. Lean. Spare. Right down at it. He uses a trip, up river, to discover mankind, or at least, one way men can be. It builds and builds and moves and moves. I suppose some would say this is a "man's" book, but I disagree. We all take that trip upriver,sometimes, and sometimes we see things about ourselves we don't like and recognize as such. Why are we here? To own. To conquer. To make oneself king of the heap. Lord of the lowlands. It's a consumate work of art. And it's narrative is it's art. One can make of this story what one will. That's the best art. Where it transcends even its creator. It is a special thing that lets one neatly slide a corner of reality into it, and it's illuminated by the art. And it is good art when each person who sees and experiences it has his or her own special "take" on it... what it represents. So, read Heart of Darkness, and you tell me.... what is this strange trip, this quest up-river... and duck!!!! that was an arrow that just missed your heart.
—Suzi
Dear Joseph ConradThis book was very confusing to read at first. It used a strong vocabulary that my class and I didn’t really understand until we looked up the words. The settings and plot didn’t make sense sometimes but after reading the pages repeatedly, it made sense. This short story had a lot of meaning once I got into it. I bet it was a challenge to think of the ending to this story. I can’t believe Marlow lied to Kurtz’s girlfriend! I understand why though since it wasn’t clear that Kurt
—Eliza Brittni
Reading this novella is a torment. Not only it is hard, its content also tortures readers. Marlow and Kurtz, they were similar. The only difference between Marlow and Kurtz was that the darkness failed to take over Marlow. Kurtz was a talented, eloquent, powerful man. These merits somehow was the origin of his fall. If, he was an idiot, he could never be able to use his advantages to control the inner land, the heart of darkness. It is dangerous for a man have too much power for too long, Kurtz holded his power for too long, that is why I think Marlow saw a tyrant, not the remarkable Kurtz people talk about. Kurtz was an interesting character.
—Pgao
