Upon beginning this book, I began to feel a sense of unending boredom, accented by dark and gloomy diction and tone. However, I kept reading, in hopes of simply making it through the assigned reading. But then I started to notice elements of Dante’s Inferno, along with foreshadowing, in Marlow’s incredibly long dialogue. Marlow begins his long speech referencing the Romans. At first, this reference seems miniscule, of no importance. However, after remembering the subject of the story, imperialism, I noticed the incredibly obvious foreshadowing. Marlow states the Romans were “conquerors.” This all important reference foreshadows the imperialism that will take place in Africa.
As Marlow continues his narration of his journey in Africa and trip up the “immense snake” of a river, allusions to Dante’s Inferno become apparent. The river is continuously referred to as a snake, an animal often associated with Satan. Furthermore, Marlow compares his journey down the river as if “instead of going to the center of a continent, [he was] about to set off for the center of the earth.” This statement strongly correlates with Inferno, as Dante is forced towards the center of the Earth in order to explore the circles of Hell. As the tale of the journey down the river continues, more allusions to Inferno appear. Marlow describes his arrival on Africa as though he “had stepped into the gloomy circle of some inferno.” Also, Marlow describes the Africans there as “half coming out [of the ground], half effaced within the dim light, in all attitudes of pain, abandonment, and despair.” This quote establishes Africa as Dante’s Hell. The Africans are essentially souls trapped in Hell, with Marlow exploring as Dante. The Africans are in unending pain and torture, and even appear to be in the ground, similar to a circle of Hell. After finishing these last few pages, I truly felt the pain of the Africans, especially since I had read Inferno in its entirety. Not only are they being treated poorly, the Africans are put in unending pain meant for sinners. This allusion truly characterizes the terrible nature of imperialism and further foreshadows the presence of imperialism in the story as well as Marlow’s possible role in imperialism.
Jacob, I went through that same thought process about the section on the Romans when I first read HoD. Keep thinking about the Inferno as you keep reading and Marlow keeps journeying, but do remember that HoD is not necessarily a one-to-one allegory of the Inferno.
ReplyDelete