Themes+-+Nabil

Themes though the whole text
1. Sensory descriptions throughout – provide a sense of cohesion 2. Darkness being symbolism, perhaps for the darkness we’re all afraid to address? (man’s true inner self is a heart of darkness) 3. Hypocrisy of imperialism a. “Trade” – rhetoric of colonialism  i. Actually exploitation  ii. Marlow’s aunt talks about, “civilisation of the natives” ->? Torture/determination of the natives 4. Madness as a result of imperialism – Africa causes mental disintegration a. Kurtz’s madness is relative within the context of “the company”. 5. Absurdity of evil – ridicules situations Marlow encounters contextualises the novels a. ie: the man with bucket with hole b. blasting the hole for no reason 6. Observation and eavesdropping a. Marlow watches the world around him and tries to makes sense. b. Show the impossibility of direct communication. 7.<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> Interiors and exteriors – Marlow’s attempt to penetrate the inner station symbolises his attempt to reach into the “heart of darkness”. 8.<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> Darkness everything cloaked in darkness – difficult to know what it means (metaphorical) the inability to see (fog also symbolises this). 9.<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> His journey down the Congo is the journey of man’s soul and therefore goes darker and darker in darkness. 10.<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> Dehumanisation of natives a.<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> They are left to rot when they are not needed anymore. They are part of the metaphorical background to the novel.