Part III Regarding WOMEN

[lrempalski]

I think the sketch of the woman represents the Europeans bringing civilization to Africa. The candle represents what the Europeans are bringing to Africa and what they would see as light being brought into darkness. The woman in the piece is blindfolded to represent that the Europeans don't fully understand what they are getting into and they cannot 'see' the perspective of the native people. The woman's face appearing sinister above the light of the torch shows the corruption and evil that lies within many of the colonists, such as Kurtz.

[Patrick M]

The painting refers to a reoccurring theme of men in the novel looking down on women. It begins with Marlow he sees women as naive and out of touch with the world. Clearly Kurtz holds a similar view as shown from the blindfold which doesn't allow the painted woman to see anything around her. This is also shown at the end of the book when Marlow talks with Kutrz's Intended. She knows nothing about what was going on in Africa since Kurtz must of not even written her about it. Also the painting shows the surrounding darkness which the women do not see. Marlow's aunt has the idea that in going to Africa he will help and enlighten the natives when it's actually quite different.

[rluehrs]

Both Kurtz’s Intended and his African mistress function as blank slates upon which the values and the wealth of their respective societies can be displayed. Marlow frequently claims that women are the keepers of naïve illusions; although this sounds condemnatory, such a role is in fact crucial, as these naïve illusions are at the root of the social fictions that justify economic enterprise and colonial expansion. In return, the women are the beneficiaries of much of the resulting wealth, and they become objects upon which men can display their own success and status. The painting that is shown symbolizes the truth about the whole story. He paints a women holding a torch to symbolize the truth literally right infront of their face because of the type of people they are, they still dont see it.

[Greeneyk]

The way the painting by Kurtz is described creates the idea that Europeans are going into Africa ill-prepared and are bringing civilization with them. However, the torchlight create a "sinister" look on her face which suggests that the "civilization" they are bring is false advertisement and are rather bringing their desire for greed with them. Overall, the painting hints at the impending failure of European imperialism. It is appropriate for Kurtz to have painted this painting in that he is the typical European in Africa searching and mistreating those in order to retrieve more ivory.

[cdowning]

The painting gives a very ominous feeling that was painted by none other than Mr. Kurtz which makes sense when we have the opportunity to learn more about Kurtz in part 3. The painting is of a woman not a man so much like Marlow Kurtz does not hold the highest regard for women. This is because similar to who Kurtz is really is the painting is very somber and suspicious. The effect of the torchlight insinuates there is a little bit of light, but not much like the situation in Africa where people do not truly know what is going on. So people can look at think about what is going on, but unless you are actually there it is not possible to see everything going on.

[AlexK]

The woman in the picture could represent European women who are blind to the situation in Africa. They have no idea of the cruelty and bloody murders, which take place in Congo, and even if they could receive the information about them, they wouldn't do so, because it would ruin their peace (this is represented by the woman having a bandage on the eyes rather than being blind). This is appropriate for Kurtz to draw this picture, because he is actually the one who's really well informed about African "expedition".

[nicksandoval]

The significant theme or idea that the painted figure may symbolize how the Europeans came to Africa and the imperialism. The Europeans came to Africa with much more knowledge and power than the natives who lived there, and part of their mission they claimed was to civilize the natives. The superior knowledge and power of the European civilization is represented by the lit torch in the painting. However, the African wilderness is a completely different environment for the Europeans and some are not prepared for it, like the man with the patches that Marlow meets before Kurtz. This is represented by the blindfold. It is fitting that this painting was done by Kurtz because he had big plans to civilize the natives and do good things in Africa but he also wasn’t truly prepared because he went insane and eventually died.

[taylorolson1123]

In this novel, the women are described to be naïve to the real world. Conrad depicts them as out of touch with reality, innocent, and good. They ultimately represent the fate of imperialism. “A small sketch in oils...representing a woman, draped and blindfolded, carrying a lighted torch. The background was sombre- almost black. The movement of the woman was stately, and the effect of the torchlight on the face was sinister.” I think this quote represents the blindness the women in this story have to the darkness and evil of the world. And they will soon enough face a harsh reality.

[taylorspruth]

The women mentioned in this novella are depicted all in an errie way. As if they are hiding something from the rest of mankind. Marlow mentions in the novel that the woman may not know anything about what is going on in the jungle. That the men are just going into the jungle to go "civilize" the africans. The first glimpse into the western civilization type of woman is Marlows grandmother. She is rich, and lives a well furnished life. She believes that the sole purpose of Marlow going into the jungle is to help the poor, needy, savages. Then we meet the knitting woman knitting black, dark, death, like the heart of darkness.Those woman are mentioned twice in the novel and constanly hold an errie appearance and appear in dark parts of th novel. Then finaly we meet Kurtz's love, the cousin. The woman who knew more about Kurtz than anyone else, the woman who knew Kurtz befor his "madness" took over his being.

[maxwellspearson]

The fact that the woman is blindfolded mat represent the fact that women are ignorant. We know Conrad depicts woman as helpless and ignorant a lot through out the novella. Woman have this pure vision of what is going on in the world. We can see this when Marlow's aunt thinks he is going to Africa to help the blacks. This is a mans world and women are just simply going through the motions. Kurtz is perfect for painting this because he is viewed as a bad guy a sexist and a racist. He is a businessman trying to get results fast and simply doesn't care who he hurts to get what he wants

[sidshah]

The woman in the painting definitely represents the African people as it is being blindfolded and carrying a torch. I assume the torch would represent the "light" that Conrad has previously expressed many times in the novel to be the opposite, and would lead us to believe that it is the evils of imperialism and shows what the whites are doing to the Congo's people. The sinister look on her face represents the opposition the African's have to their education and civilization. They are in strong disapproval of whatever the whites bring to them and would rather retreat into the sombre background of black peace than to come into the light. The fact that Kurtz painted it shows that he is maybe aware of the corruption in the whites in Africa.

[Amn Chaychian]

The significance of the painting by Kurtz is that he thinks that Europeans have brought light to darkness(Africa) by colonizing and trying to civilize the continent. The torch represents the light and the blindfolded woman represents how native Africans obey white Europeans blindfolded without defending themselves against imperialists.

[wesleyr237]

The most significant theme that this painting represents is the interpreted blindness that women turn towards the events that happen around them. It shows the reflected short-coming of men and how the darkness that is created from them is largely cut through from the idealistic morals of the modern day woman. The painting largely depicts how the surrounding life of modern day society casts a shadow of the people required to interact with it and it makes complete sense that Kurtz of all people in the story would've been the one to create it as he would be the one "casting the shadow" with the revealed evil traits shown from Kurtz.

[fitbyaddie]

In the novella, women are seen as ignorant. Everyone thinks that they need to be protected from what is going on in real life. When Marlow visits his aunt, it is clear to the reader that he thinks that women need to be shaded from harsh realities. At the end when Marlow visits Kurtz’s “intended” he lies to protect her from the truth.

[Easy]

The painting clearly suggests the relationship between Europe and Africa, wher ethr woman is Europe and the torch she caries represents the enlightenment or civilization that the y hope to bring. the blindfold is key because it shows that Europe is going in blind, not really knowing what is happening, which is possibly a very dangerous combo, and a blind person with a torch will likely start a fire that they cannot put out.