Please help me I am in trouble

[water song]

I need your help because I notice that the members here are sooo cooperatives.

I have exam in the nove"Heart of Darkness" by Joseph Conrad
It is very very difficult and even the (dean) who teaches us the subject knows that but she is very hard with us.
My request is the answer of the following questions:
1.Heart of Darkness is an autobiographical novella of Conrad's life.Discuss.

2.One of the most important themes of this novella is (inherent good and inherent bad) .Discuss.

3.Discuss the roles of the characters (Marlow and Kurtz) with statments.
Plz ..... don't delay I am waiting ..

THANK YOU SSSSOOOO MUCH

[water song]

uuuppp
where are ypu members?????????!!!!!!!!!

[AimusSage]

Perhaps you can start by telling us how far you got with the questions on your own.

[water song]

AimusSage

Thnak you so much for your light in my thread
I am really thankful to you ..

This is what I could find but still it is not enough for our dean!! she wants something specific relating to the novella itself

regarding
Heart of Darkness is based in part on a trip that Conrad took through modern-day Congo during his years as a sailor. He captained a ship that sailed down the Congo River. Conrad gave up this mission because an illness forced him to return to England, where he worked on his novella almost a decade later. The presence of ill characters in the novella illustrates the fact that Heart of Darkness is, at least in part, autobiographical. . Many speculations have been made about the identity of various characters, such as the Marlow, or Kurtz. Also, journey to the Congo in 1890 was Joseph's inspiration to write Heart of Darkness

and...........

The evil which lies within all of us has a third and final way of showing itself. This is exemplified through this novella.The usual meanings of light and darkness are reversed in this novel. Instead of white and light representing positive aspects, they represent evil. The white men come to Africa in search of ivory. In the process they destroy the natives and their culture. Negative references to white and light are continuously made throughout the novella.

I appreciate any reply but soooooon plz

[water song]

up to help

[BJV]

Perhaps it's far too late to respond, but I just saw this post. You might want to look into what was known at the time as, "The shocking Bartelett (sp.) incident." Major Bartelett was the real-life model for Kurtz. He was an English officer who accompanied H.M. Stanley on one of his later expeditions (post-1871). He apparently gave way to excesses while in the bush and was consequently murdered by the natives who could take his cruelty no longer.

Realizing that "Heart of Darkness" is based in no small measure on fact, changes Conrad's approach and my perspective on the novella.

[John Dorian]

I interpreted the novela differently. I thought the references to light as darkness was not an oxymoron, but a reference to how darkness can be found even in light and light in darkness. It is meant to obscure the ultimate intentions of mankind, since it is common knowledge that nobody is perfect, and mankind falls far from perfection. In that way, good is evil since on Earth, there is no pure good.

[shaysta89]

I need your help because I notice that the members here are sooo cooperatives.

I have exam in the nove"Heart of Darkness" by Joseph Conrad
It is very very difficult and even the (dean) who teaches us the subject knows that but she is very hard with us.
My request is the answer of the following questions:
1.Heart of Darkness is an autobiographical novella of Conrad's life.Discuss.

2.One of the most important themes of this novella is (inherent good and inherent bad) .Discuss.

3.Discuss the roles of the characters (Marlow and Kurtz) with statments.
Plz ..... don't delay I am waiting ..

THANK YOU SSSSOOOO MUCH


I know its too late but I'll say it anyway.

Heart of Darkness is not autobiographical. Even though there are bits and piece which can be related back to Conrad's own life. The novel basically reiterates Schopenhauer and Kant's view of the noumenal and the phenomenal - how man is just a small part of the universe. The universe is considered the big wilderness that is going to take back what we have intrued upon. You can read up one of Marlow's quote on this. I don't have the text with me here but I'm fairly sure there's a quote about the vast wilderness that is the african jungle and how it was going to claim back what it lost through the intrusion (i.e. Imperialism)

I don't think inherent good vs inherent bad is a theme. If you read independent essays on Conrad, you'll realize that man had a very negative view about mankind. He thought man was generally corrupt in nature and there lies an inherent darkness in all of us which, exposed to the right circumstances, will surface. e.g. Anarchy in Africa brought out the worst in Kurtz - thought to be the idealist, the champion of men. His collapse and moral degradation drives home Conrad's view that even the best of the best are no match for the wilderness.

Conrad had an equally low view about civilization which he felt was a feeble pretence and a folly (For this you have to do your own research on Conrad but I am reiterating from my A Levels study materials). Which is why you'll realize his take on the black people is less harsh even though he doesn't romanticize their cannibalistic attitudes. He sees them as a part of the natural process. They are where they should be. There is no pretence among them unlike the Pilgrims. Which is why you can see he was almost sympathetic to the way the black slaves were treated, how Marlow gives that dead guy on board the steamer some dignity by tossing him overboard rather than letting the other black fellows eat him up. Then again, please don't mistake it as Conrad being supportive of the cannibals. He sees them as the lesser of the two evils.

Conrad's take on the imperialists is nothing short of degrading and insulting. He calls them papier mache mephistopheles, faithless pilgrims and a whole lot of other insults (I can't rattle them here without the book). However, he reserves respect for Kurtz, because Kurtz is in a totally different league. He is smart thus his capacity of evil is far grander. The Pilgrims were content with looting Ivory from the natives while Kurtz, his lack of restraint drove him to form his own little empire (I'm sure you know what I'm talking about...so I won't go into the details).

Lastly, it is very important for you to realize that Marlow = Conrad. Conrad disassociates himself from Marlow by the break in narration in a few sections. It has been suggested by many HoD scholars that perhaps the secondary narrator on board the ship resembled Conrad more.

I know you asked about Marlow as well and I don't want to give you off any wrong information even if your test date is over. So I'll save comments on Marlow and Kurtz for another post. :)