A Warrior-like Motherland
The struggle between nature and the mechanistic world of european culture in HOD is a theme of the novella that is so powerfully communicated. Conrad really blends themes and creates fantastic imagery when Marlow first describes the African coastline as a "colossal jungle, so dark-green as to be almost black, fringed with white surf"(10). We have already established Conrad's theme of "light vs. dark" in the novel, and in this description it is applied to Africa as the formidable expanse of the unknown and supposedly ignorant. The white surf symbolizes the conquering of the sea by the light from Europe, making Africa pretty much surrounded with light. Marlow has made hints to the European struggle to domesticate the African mainland before, talking about how explorers and colonizers had gone out "bearing the sword, and often the torch, messengers of the might within the land, bearers of a spark from the sacred fire"(2). It is clear that, at least in the beginning of the novella, Marlow is sure that his trip to Africa in search of enlightenment is just a continuation of the quests of his fellow Europeans for the spread of enlightenment throughout the world. As the novella progresses, Marlow begins to see that the real business of the white man in Africa is to "rape the bride" of her riches for the betterment of the European economy, much like what Lea realizes in Barbara Kingsolver's The Poisonwood Bible. Marlow also begins to see, however, that Africa is very reluctant to cooperate with the desires of the white man, the land itself creating natural inhibitors for invaders. Another look at the dangerous surf and black, writhing coast of the African mainland makes Marlow think that "Nature herself had tried to ward off intruders"(11). The sun is another threat to the European mission of conquest. Fierce and ever-present, it represents the truth and enlightenment that Marlow searches for in its ability to penetrate any surface and invade any and all spaces in Africa with its light. The heat of the African sun alone is often enough to drive Europeans mad and to their demise, as Marlow learns on a boat trip that the death of a Swede was more or less because "the sun was to much for him, or the country perhaps"(12). The African landscape is a burial ground for machinery, as Marlow sees abandoned boilers and rails looking "as dead as the carcass of some animal" and a wild destruction of "imported drainage pipes for the settlement"(13) in a ravine. All of this imagery shows Africa's rejection of the industrial tools and ideals that have been transplanted by European culture. The geography of Africa makes it so the land cannot be used as that of Europe and America, and the foolishness of the white men to come to Africa and try to establish the same dominion over the land as they have in their homeland, instead of respecting the way the relationship of the natives to the land, ultimately amounts to a grave yard for all that which cannot be used for survival - the key concept in Africa. All of Africa's natural obstacles can be seen as a response to the cancer that is the dominion of European culture. The struggle for the continent's survival is so intense that even some of the starving, shackled and enslaved natives die in Africa's healing process. Just when Marlow begins to see the entire country as a wasteland of dried up inhabitants and resources, he travels futher into the heart of darkness to witness its vibrance and rebirth. Marlow notices, for example, that the land in the Inner Station is "unearthly. We are accustomed to looking upon the shackled form of a conquered monster... there you could look at a thing monstrous and free"(32). In this part of the heart, the earth and its people are full of life and power unexplainable to the Europeans there. Even in an area closer to Mr. Kurtz, Marlow is astounded at the visibility of the war-like elegance of the African culture and the "dim suspicion of there being a meaning in it which you-you so remote from the night of first ages-could comprehend"(32). In this part of the land even exists a "wild and gorgeous apparition of a woman"(55) who seems to Africa, with all her superb African charms and savage attire, an "image of its own tenebrous and passionate soul"(56). This woman is filled with a dignity, anger, desperation, and power that Africa itself possesses, and she leads all the natives in the final push of the white man "out of the heart of darkness, bearing us down towards the sea with twice the speed of our upward progress"(62). Sometime later Marlow looks back on his time in Africa and realizes that, despite all the ravages of European influence on the land, the final moment was "of triumph for the wilderness, an invading and vengeful rush"(68). Though Africa, due to a perpetuative system that robs the land of its own riches, will never truly have an economy that benefits itself first, there is a spirit in Africa that endures. The land simply devours the death and is reborn from the rubble, giving it an eternal beauty and strength that Conrad incorporated into his novella. :ladysman:
Important Passages (30-47)
"Trees, trees, millions of trees, massive, immense, running up high; at their foot, hugging the bank against the stream, crept the little begrimed steamboat, like a sluggish beetle crawling on the floor of a lofty portico" (Conrad 31).
In this quote, the Europeans are portrayed like tiny, insignificant creatures compared to the massive and ancient Congolese forest. The forest is patiently waiting for the Europeans to leave so it can "eat itself" (Poisonwood Bible) and reverse the effects of the "fantastic invasion".
"Let the fool gape and shudder - the man knows ... But he must at least be as much of a man as these on the shore. He must meet that truth with his own true stuff - with his own inborn strength. Principles won't do" (Conrad 32).
This is one of Marlow's redeeming moments of enlightenment. Marlow begins to see that all men are equal, regardless of skin color. He realizes that in the Congo, where survival is the main goal, beliefs, clothes, etc. do not matter. Every living organism on Earth fights to survive, which is something that unites all living things: "No fear can stand up to hunger, no patience can wear it out, disgust simply does not exist where hunger is; and as to superstition, beliefs, and what you may call principles, they are less than chaff in a breeze" (Conrad 37-38). The more Marlow experiences in Africa, the more he begins to reject the belief of European superiority.
"The wilderness had patted him on the head, and behold, it was like a ball - an ivory ball ... it had taken him, loved him, embraced him, got into his veins, consumed his flesh, and sealed his soul to its own by the inconceivable ceremonies of some devilish initiation. He was its spoiled and pampered favorite" (Conrad 44).
This foreshadows that Mr. Kurtz's greed and obsession with ivory completely took over his mind and actions, and he probably uses the Africans to serve himself and his selfish ways like the average European. This is kind of like the opposite of Ruth May's dying and becoming one with nature in the Poisonwood Bible. In a sense, Kurtz's humane side has died, and he has become one with the European shadow of darkness over Africa.
pages 47-61 quotes/comments
"‘Why did they attack us?’ I pursued. He hesitated, then said shamefacedly, ‘They don’t want him to go.’ ‘Don’t they?’ I said curiously. He nodded a nod full of mystery and wisdom. ‘I tell you,’ he cried, ‘this man has enlarged my mind.’ He opened his arms wide, staring at me with his little blue eyes that were perfectly round.” Pg.51
The Russian boy describes Kurtz as an amazing human being, one who has achieved feats that seemingly could not be done by man. Before this, the Natives have been described as completely different from whites; a culture that cannot be understood. When the Russian boy mentions that the natives attacked because they don't want Kurtz to leave, it shows that Kurtz has established a great bond with the natives of Africa; something that seemed like an impossible feat.
"This man suffered too much. He hated all this, and somehow he couldn’t get away. When I had a chance I begged him to try and leave while there was time; I offered to go back with him. And he would say yes, and then he would remain; go off on another ivory hunt; disappear for weeks; forget himself amongst these people—forget himself—you know.’ "
pg. 56
This quote shows how unfortunately attached Kurtz became to Africa and his search for ivory. Even while suffering from illness, Kurtz still get up from bed and goes deep into the Forrest alone in search of Ivory. It also shows how much Kurtz has immersed himself in the African culture. This quote tells about how he would completely forget who he is and become one of them in his trips.
