Conrads Heart Of Darkness Essays - Joseph Conrad, Congo Free State

Conrads Heart Of Darkness Conrad's Heart of Darkness Conrad's novel, Heart of Darkness, relies on his knowledge of history in order to describe its protagonist, Charlie Marlow, and his struggle. Marlow's feeling in the novel, as he goes to the Congo, rests on how he visualizes the effects of what is going on around him. Meaning that his attitude will be change during his experiences and his thoughts will change with everything that he learns. Marlow's change as caused by his exposure to the historical period in which he lived is important to his views of the situation, especially with his view of Kurtz. Marlow is asked by the company, the organization for whom he works, to travel to the Congo river and report back to them about Mr. Kurtz, a top notch officer of theirs. When he sets sail, he doesn't know what to expect. When his journey is completed, this little trip will have changed Marlow forever. Heart of Darkness is a story of one man's journey through the African Congo and the enlightenment of his soul. It begins with Charlie Marlow, along with a few of his comrades, cruising aboard the Nellie, a traditional sailboat. On the boat, Marlow begins to tell of his experiences in the Congo. Conrad uses Marlow to reveal all the personal thoughts and emotions that he wants to portray while Marlow goes on this voyage of a lifetime. Marlow begins his voyage as an ordinary English sailor who is traveling to the African Congo on a business trip. He is an Englishman who has never been exposed to any alternative form of culture similar to the one he will encounter in Africa, and he has no idea about the drastically different culture which exists out there. Throughout the book, Conrad, via Marlow's observations, reveals to the reader the naive mentality shared by every European. However, after only a short period of time in the Congo, he realizes the ignorance he and all his crew have. We first recognize the general na?ve attitude of the Europeans when Marlow's aunt is seeing him for the last time before he embarks on his journey. Marlow's aunt is under the assumption that the voyage is a mission to wean those ignorant millions from their horrid ways (Conrad 760). In reality, however, the Europeans main objective is to earn a substantial profit by collecting all the ivory in Africa. Suspense picks up when Marlow becomes closer to meeting Kurtz. He hears Mr. Kurtz being refereed to as that man. Although Marlow hasn't met Kurtz yet, he has heard of his greatness from the people who were in the company back home. He now realizes that by these men calling him that man, they strip him of all his attributes. When one hears Kurtz, they think of a very remarkable person. These men are now, by not referring to him by his name, denying Kurtz's accomplishments. Marlow lacked this authority to name. Mr. Kurtz is the Chief of the Inner Station. He is a universal genius, a prodigy, an emissary of pity science and progress. It is Kurtz who will teach Marlow what a name is, for one simple reason. The man presented himself as a voice...of all his gifts, the one that stood out preeminently, that carried with it a sense of real presence, was his ability to talk, his words---the gift of expression, the bewildering, the illuminating... (Conrad 760). Indeed, Kurtz gives Marlow everything Marlow is looking for. However, he does it in a very unconventional way. Kurtz teaches Marlow the lesson with his last words. The horror! The horror! (Conrad 795). These last words are Kurtz's own judgment, judgment on the life that he has lived. He has evaluated his life, and he has pronounced a judgment upon the adventures of his soul on this earth (Conrad 795). Marlow sees Kurtz open his mouth wide---it gave him a weirdly voracious aspect, as though he wanted to swallow all the air, all the earth, all the men before him... (Conrad 795). Kurtz takes everything in. He takes his life, and puts it all out on the table. Kurtz's last words are his way of teaching Marlow the essence of a name. A name

Assassination essays

Assassination essays Today, in the early afternoon, the heir to the Austrian throne, Archduke Franz Ferdianand and his wife were assassinated. The culprit, a young man named Cavrilo Princip has been captured by authorities. Last night, Archduke Franz Ferdianand, heir to the Austrian throne, prepared for his visit to Sarajevo, capital of Bosnia. The visit to Sarajevo was going against the strongest advice of his superiors, mostly because, today, June 28, 1914, is a Serbian national holiday. They gave him this advice because Austrian nationalists viewed his visit as an unwelcome reminder of the occupation of Austria. The Archduke had been warned about a planned assassination attempt against himself, but he would not be deterred. This morning before he left to go to the city, he watched army maneuvers, which he hoped would better prepare him for any emergency that presented itself later in the day. We followed the Archdukes six-car cavalcade on its well-publicized route towards the city. As we approached the city, a small bomb was hurled by one of the so-called assassins. As the bomb landed it exploded, injuring one of the drivers, who was later hospitalized for his injuries. The brave Archduke finally awoke to how serious the situation was and finally took some precautions. He changed both the routes and times of the future ceremonies. He found a replacement driver, but the driver was never informed of the changes. When the cavalcade departed, all of the cars drove off except for the one carrying the Archduke. The unfortunate incident happened when the driver went to reverse he backed into one of the assassins. Cavrilo Princip slowly and calmly stepped onto the cars side running boards and shot the Archduke and the Archduchess pointblank. Princip was captured by the authorities and will be put on trial at a later date. ...