Joseph Conrad creates a gloomy, eerie, and ominous feeling during the first two pages of the book due to his tone and word choice, such as "dull" and "brooding" With the usage of such diction, the author creates the dark imagery and sets the tone for this while goes along with the title of the book. What I find odd is how the author contrasts the dark imagery by employing the usage of the river and the ocean. As he describes these two bodies of water, words such as "gleam" and "shone" help ease the dark and foreboding feel that the author creates initially. The author might have incorporated this to prevent deterring the audience from reading his book due to his introduction.
As one progresses through the book, the author dominates the story with dark imagery. Marlow starts his story of with the description of his past and how he managed to gain access to a trip to Africa. Throughout his story, Marlow mentions details that foreshadow the dangers that Marlow undertook as he set upon his “quest” For example, he talks about how the old women gaze sees everyone but she only sees half of the people again. This implies that the voyage Marlow is about to undertake has a death rate, thus making this a dangerous mission.
As Marlow stated, his voyage was taking him to “a place of darkness” and such a dangerous trip helps enhance and amplify the fear and suspicion created by the author during the start of the book. His visit to the doctor is also another example in which the dangers of the quest are highlighted. The doctor asks Marlow is he has had any mad people in his family. This seems to imply that anyone who goes on the voyage voluntarily has some sort of mental condition because of the high risks involved. Nearing the end of this section, Marlow explains his travels through Africa and how he witnesses death and famine of the blacks, whereas the white people are healthy and lording over the blacks. Marlow incorporates this in order to represent how the conditions were in African for the blacks and whites. This element greatly enhances the darkness and death imagery that Marlow has already established. It also helps the readers to understand why Africa is a “land of darkness”
Seruz, reading your post makes me think of what I was just writing about Jon's. Look at what I commented on his. I think you'll see the connection, especially in relevance to your comments about Marlow's visit to the doctor and his question about madness. What does that make us think about the effect of the "quest" (good word choice) on those who undertake it? Foreshadowing perhaps?
ReplyDelete