you have entered dark woods.

The opening scene is very reminiscent of the Odyssey which calls attention to the adventurous. As Marlow is the only seasoned seaman that is brought to the beginning he is almost made out to be like a guide of sorts, like Virgil maybe? He seems very thoughtful and contemplating. The way that Conrad describes the river that he is currently on reminds me of the River Phlegethon where the damned were punished for spilling the blood of the innocent, which is probably a foreshadow as to how the white people treated the African people.

As Marlow begins to tell his story, he is already setting the story like he is a guide to another realm… almost as if he is taking the people on a journey? Teaching them a lesson through the pain of others, much like Virgil did with Dante. Marlow begins talking about the company that he worked for that he had gained access to through some rather unsavory (for that time) means. When Marlow arrives in Africa, the major allusions begin. When he walks into the waiting room, which is almost like the limbo described in the Inferno, the old woman says nothing but stares at him and gave him a strange feeling of foreboding. “The swift and indifferent placidity of that look troubled me… She seemed uncanny and fateful…not many of those she looked at ever saw her again.” (pg.8). The old receptionist reminds me very much of Charon channeling people across the river, and when with her partner seem to be the sisters of fate, which spun the yarn of fate for every person, that the Greeks often concerned themselves with.

There is much more that could be discussed involving the last couple of pages, alas I have reached my word limit.

Zachary Corona.

gloomy days

This book is FILLED with dark, gloomy imagery and a somber tone. It is more evident in the beginning, with the author using the words "brooding gloom" multiple times. I believe this stress of gloom in the beginning of the story sets the pace for the rest of the story; I do not think it is going to get much cheerier sadly. While reading this it constantly reminds me of rain, because when I think of the word gloom I immediately think f rain and dark clouds. I feel like this affects how I read it because whenever the speaker is telling his story I already imagine it as a dark and rainy day due to the imagery laid out in the beginning of the story.

The random thorough description of the Romans is probably important, I put a sticky note by it because it didn't seem to fit with the flow of what was going on. That made me think that its going to come back somehow metaphorically or literally, which you won't know until you keep reading.

The descriptions of the completely malnourished slaves feeds into the gloomy imagery. You feel despair and hopelessness for these individuals while reading it. I feel the author used these descriptions to contrast the lifestyle of the accountant. The slavery imagery really adds tot he darkness of it all.

HoD Post

It is already evident that Joseph Conrad had a vendetta when setting out to write this short novel. His diction and continual yield to drawn out detail indicates that this story is one of great depth and trivial symbolism. Conrad depicts a time of exploration and colonization within Africa through the use of dark imagery and symbolic diction. The character Marlow describes the African land as a place of "... utter savagery... that mysterious life of the wilderness that stirs the forest, in the jungles, in the hearts of wild men." It is clear that the new continent is a land without clear restraint; a "savage" land full of life, yet is in some way dark and sinister.
It is also clear through character interaction and background information found within the text that the European influence in Africa is somewhat controversial within the mind of each individual settler. Throughout Marlow's personal story he indicates several times that the political, economical, and moral reasons for settling colonies and exploring further into the the continent are certainly unclear in many aspects. He describes the European treatment of the natives and the violence that surrounds the issues of confronting local tribes. The haze of darkness that surrounds the line of work within the story is not discussed directly; simply indicated through diction as "it had become a place of darkness" during the course of discovery.
I found it interesting that Conrad had Marlow's character continually return to the topic of the river and its symbolic representation of a deceiving snake. The river seems to be a place of comfort and stability for the explorers. It is the light that enters the darkness. Yet, it is continually referred to as a snake, subduing the sailors into the darkness of an "inescapable enchantment." This indicates the significance of the river as the passage to which the theme revolves around.

What darkness covers our land!

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”

Katie Philpott HoD Post

The first thing which struck me as I started Heart of Darkness was Conrad’s use of dark diction and a gloomy tone. This is evidenced by his description of the air as “dark…condensed into a mournful gloom, brooding over the biggest, and greatest, town on earth. Such a gloomy tone is to be expected in a book entitled Heart of Darkness. Surprisingly, the tone does seem to change in the next page. Through the author’s descriptions of the river Thames as serene and beautiful, his obvious love and admiration for the river is almost tangible.
I certainly feel that Marlow’s seemingly random description of the Roman occupation of Britain and how the land must have seemed to them savage is very important. It serves a greater importance than just a trivial rant. I think, and this is only a guess, that it may foreshadow how he feels when he visits Africa.
The underlying danger of such a quest into the Dark Continent is symbolized in several ways. First, it is through Marlow’s recounting of the manner in which the captain, Fresleven, was found. The ferocity of the natives and their subsequent disappearance is both mysterious and dangerous. The second way in which it is symbolized is through the uncanny old woman who sits knitting in the drawing room. Her scrutinizing gaze holds everyone who passes through, and the fact that only half of the people she views will ever see her again adds to the danger of their quest.
Marlow’s encounter with the physician and his desire to measure Marlow’s head for science seems to me to imply racism. He seeks to understand the difference that would make some people wish to go to the Dark Continent and also to see how the size of their skull changes after encounters with the natives. The most obvious form of racism is the deplorable way the black “criminals” are treated. Their condition at the hands of the white man is atrocious. This is highlighted through the contrasting images of the black slaves and the white accountant. The slaves are practically dying from mal-nutrition while the white accountant is happily fed and decadently clothed.

Heart Of Darkness Pg. 1-15

In the first fifteen pages of “Heart of Darkness,” the ocean is constantly referred to as a river, maybe because it seems to be never-ending. Sailors know what the river feels, and they think of it almost like a woman they love and take care of it. They only ever want to sail on the huge ocean that lays ahead of them, it is their life and their passion. Marlow mentions his aunt frequently and other women as well, speaking of them highly, being full of wisdom and intelligence.

When Marlow was younger he decided he wanted to sail, so his aunt helped him find a job. What came next he was not expecting. He began sailing on a large steam- boat, and began hearing about men constantly dying of fever and other illnesses on the ships, and in the countries they were going to. This scared him, he was young after all. He hitched a ride from another ship nearby to get to his base, and the captain did not seem to like that company’s intentions.

When Marlow got to set foot in these other countries he witnessed prisoners, disease, and death. He goes in the opposite direction from where these terrible things are happening, overwhelmed and scared. Marlow has a strong passion for the sea and sailing, but this may be too much for him to handle. He was watching men die and couldn’t handle it anymore, when he ran into the Company’s chief accountant, a very clean man, which made him feel happy and secure.

- Megan Burch

Heart of Darkness, pg. 1-15

So far, Joseph Conrad's "Heart of Darkness" has used so many adjectives to describe the river, the ship and the people that I genuinely have developed multiple headaches. I noticed that on the cover, it indicates that this version is the unabridged version, which in turn makes me curious as to how many piles of adjectives the abridged version uses.

I have noticed several recurring themes throughout these fifteen pages, the main theme being religion. From the very first page, there are allusions to Jesus such as, "...and, with his arms dropped, the palms of hands outwards, resembled an idol" (page 1). In keeping with the religious attributes of this story, the deal that Marlow describes making in order to join a ship reminds me vaguely of the stories of making deals with demons at crossroads. The whole situation seemed very sketch to me, from the way the two ladies out front kept looking at him like they could see inside of him to the way Marlow described meeting the man in charge of the company for which he was signing up. By how he described him, I mean the utter lack of description the reader is provided.

The next theme I noticed was not really a theme, but more along the lines of a reference. The reference was to Dante's Inferno. "It seemed to me I had stepped into the gloomy circle of some inferno...an uninterrupted, uniform, headlong rushing noise filled the mournful stillness..." (page 14), seems to reference the wind that was rushing through certain circles of the Inferno that Dante had described. The dark-skinned people that Marlow keeps seeing being hit or forced to work while he is describing his time in this jungle-type place also remind me of the sinners in the Inferno, being forced against their will to take part in some kind of pain or general unpleasantness.

Finally, the "...his books, which were in apple-pie order" (page 15) line makes little sense to me. Normally one would hear A to Z order, but in this case Marlow is using "apple-pie order" instead. I'm not one hundred percent sure as to why, but I think the order in which apple pies are set down at a baker's shop would be that the freshest are closer to the customers, so it could be that the man's books are arranged so that the newer ones are more easy to reach, as opposed to having them all in alphabetical order.

-Sarah Meirose

Heart of darknesssssssssssss^6

As i started reading Heart of Darkness i could tell instantly that it did not have a bright or happy tone. It rather seems to be dim or lonely, or maybe even sad. I think i understood the tone to be this because when i think of a boat out at sea back in that time period, i imagine the seamen being very lonely and depressed without their families ( but that was just what i thought as i was reading the first page). I found a few pieces of vivid imagery one being the first paragraph of the novella talking about the waves and the sails which made it seem majestic. The other being on the very top of page three talking about the flames of different colors which made me think of myself on a boat looking into the city ashore and seeing those lights. By saying that, it almost seemed like they desiring to be ashore where the flames and such are. I personally didn't see anywhere where it said what the word "darkness" they refer to is, but I'm guessing it might be something to describe war or maybe just the obvious being night time because the story did describe the transition from day to night. I did find that there are many references to bright or colorful lights that seem to contrast that darkness that is mentioned. But most of this section is consumed by Marlow's recollection to his friends of how he became a seaman.

make up dante discussion

I tried to depict the meaning of the pictures in the packet before i read the first three cantos and saw that there are many layers before you reach the ultimate hell. It seems to me that hell is in the center of the earth, and that you reach there going through smaller and smaller circles that look like rings in the first picture. The fist cantos consist of Dante walking and having an epiphany that he is at midlife, now growing towards the second half of his life, not knowing whether he will go to the heaven or hell. As he walks thorough a dark wilderness he is found by Virgil who then becomes his guide down through to hell. At the beginning of the third canto Virgil and Dante reach Hell's gate where they come across a strange inscription. From this inscription it seems as though God created this Hell for the people who chose not to follow in the right path, specifically form the lines that start with "through me" being God. Then the inscription goes on to read " high maker and love primal" to prove that it was God who gave you that chance to go to heaven.

make up poem discussion

This poem is about a woman describing how the passing of a loved one affected her. She is describing what should be and not be happening out of respect for this loved one. She obviously has a lot of love for this person because in the first paragraph she says " stop all the clocks" which is a huge thing that everyone uses, showing how much this death actually means to her. It seems almost as if this death has cancelled everything else out in the world, her thinking nothing else is more important but that what is right here in front of her, which is this painful loss that she has endured. The second stanza provides evidence of how important this is to her personally such as the airplanes spelling his name. The third paragraph shows what the lost was meant to her, "her north", meaning she would be lost without him. The final paragraph tops it all off by describing how much she is crushed by this death, "For nothing now can ever come any good", showing how much this loss had hurt her.