Hey guys! i thought it would be good to start a HoD thread so we can continue our class discussions online. This way we can explain our thoughts on things like themes, symbols, foreshadowing, etc. Even though this book is only 72 pages long, it is packed with many subjects for discussion.
One topic we have discussed in class is the great amount of mystery in Marlow's story. I discovered in tonight's reading "Watching a coast as it slips by the ship is like thinking about an enigma. There it is before you--smiling, frowning, inviting, grand, mean, insipid, or savage, and always mute with an air of whispering, Come and find out" (10). Not only does this passage reveal the mystery in this foreign land, but it also reveals traits Marlow possesses. Even though he has had many warnings and bad feelings about this trip, he cannot wait to discover this new land. He has no clue if it will bring warmth or coldness, but he is dieing to find out.
Another topic is the comparison of light and dark throughout the journey. A passage that extends this thought is "a little white smoke would disappear...There was a touch of insanity in the proceeding, a sense of lugubrious drollery in the sight; and it was not dissipated by somebody on board assuring me earnestly there was a camp of natives-he called them enemies!--hidden out of sight somewhere" (11). Although the white people are the ones firing at the land, the natives are considered enemies. By the way Marlow reports this information, one can tell that he diagrees with this conclusion. Also the white smoke, is coming from the white people, showing the color symbolism we have discussed in class.
These are a few topics to start us off, but please add your own.