Heart of Darkness is definitely a novel that is uniquely written. While reading the novel I found myself re-reading certain parts to make sure I had the right understanding. I'm glad that I read King Leopold's Ghost first, because it gave me a vivid idea of what was going on during that time.I was intrigued by the character Marlow. Through all the situations that he came across, I felt that he was alway alert and attentive to was was going on around him. He went into his mission not knowing much of anything about Kurtz. As the mission progressed he began to get the true picture of who he was. One particular passage that got my attention, was when Marlow saw the picture that Kurtz had painted. The description that Conrad gave me a feeling of something evil. He even referred to it as sinister. Reading this passage and the part in King Leopold's Ghost really let me see how much of a horrible person Kurtz was.
I didn't really understand the whole rivets thing, maybe someone else understood it better than I did. I also enjoy his symbolic referrals. One in particular, was how he referred to the river as an Snake uncoiled. I thought that was an interesting discription. Overall, I think this was a wonderful novel.
4 comments:
I did a quick little search since it is late and I didn't want to think. The rivets hold things together, and the fact that they are not present out in the Congo and can't be delivered shows a broken land and system.
Nice blog. I feel like you and I had the same feelings about the painting Kurtz painted. I also found it interesting that peter did the research on the rivets to compare them to holding the land together. Overall, nice blog. I love your pictures and your link from sinister!
I completely agree with you, the book was written very well.
It's certainly a book that succeeds at what it aims to succeed at. While it may be a bit dense, it can't be said that Conrad didn't reach his rhetorical goals.
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