Is there a significance with the repetition of words?

ntnewps · 04-27-2007, 12:34 PM

Throughout the first part of Heart of Darkness I have noticed a great amount with the usage of repeating words. I can not figure out the signicance of this writing technique, and ask if anyone else has figured it out or has noticed it.

latimeri · 11-10-2007, 12:32 PM

what wods you found there been repeating?

crazefest456 · 12-02-2007, 01:59 AM

umm... I have noticed this repetition in his short story "Youth", with:
"...pass the bottle"
It obviously meant that the narrator and his companions were drinking together, but at the end of the story, I learned it held a deeper significance to the camaraderie of ship-men who had 'gone through it all'..

justjoannie · 02-04-2008, 07:16 PM

lol We're studying Heart of Darkness in class, and we figure he just loves the words "brooding" and "inscrutable." English was his third language, and I guess he just liked certain words. Just like Jane Austen liked the word "tolerable"--she used it at least once on every page. Maybe they're "fad" words or something. Repeating words can mean something--like crazefes said. I think Conrad did want the general tone to come out as really dark and unfathomable. Anything can be the reason, as long as you can back it up, right?

sliver72 · 07-23-2008, 10:43 AM

I agree, I tihnk he just likes certain words. I have also noticed that H.G Wells does the same thing in War fof The Worlds within the first few chapters. Maybe its a 19th Century novel thing!

04-27-2007, 12:34 PM	#1
ntnewps Registered User Join Date: Apr 2007 Posts: 2	Is there a significance with the repetition of words? Throughout the first part of Heart of Darkness I have noticed a great amount with the usage of repeating words. I can not figure out the signicance of this writing technique, and ask if anyone else has figured it out or has noticed it.

02-04-2008, 07:16 PM	#4
justjoannie Shelnut Survivor Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Schizophrenic weather takes place here Posts: 2	lol We're studying Heart of Darkness in class, and we figure he just loves the words "brooding" and "inscrutable." English was his third language, and I guess he just liked certain words. Just like Jane Austen liked the word "tolerable"--she used it at least once on every page. Maybe they're "fad" words or something. Repeating words can mean something--like crazefes said. I think Conrad did want the general tone to come out as really dark and unfathomable. Anything can be the reason, as long as you can back it up, right? __________________ Forgive me if I'm having a blonde moment.

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11-10-2007, 12:32 PM	#2
latimeri latimeri Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: from place to place Posts: 16	what wods you found there been repeating?

12-02-2007, 01:59 AM	#3
crazefest456 Yes! Join Date: May 2006 Location: Somewhere around nowhere Posts: 1,707 Blog Entries: 6	umm... I have noticed this repetition in his short story "Youth", with: "...pass the bottle" It obviously meant that the narrator and his companions were drinking together, but at the end of the story, I learned it held a deeper significance to the camaraderie of ship-men who had 'gone through it all'..

07-23-2008, 10:43 AM	#5
sliver72 Registered User Join Date: Jul 2008 Posts: 1	I agree, I tihnk he just likes certain words. I have also noticed that H.G Wells does the same thing in War fof The Worlds within the first few chapters. Maybe its a 19th Century novel thing!