Throughout Heart of Darkness there have been some sections or passages that leave me really confused. Yes, yes, I know that sounds really lame, and "confused" might not be the perfect word to describe how incredibly dumbfounded I am at points, but seriously--some parts of this book leave me with no clue as to what is being described or what is going on.
Take page 109 for example.The big passage actually starts on the bottom of 108, and it doesn't even specifically state who is talking. I just have to assume that the speaker is Marlow, narrating his trip on the river to find Mr. Kurtz. But wait! They haven't told us that yet, so we don't understand what he is doing. He then talks for about 3/4 of 109, about things that I just don't understand. It's this type of odd writing that my brain dies on, because context clues are sort of non-existent. I just don't get it.
Sure, I understand that he is describing a scene from his boat, and he is describing the African men he sees from the boat, and he describes them as human...and then says they aren't, and then goes into this two paragraph chunk of stuff that I don't understand, and then compares the men to a dog. Or maybe I'm missing something?
Monday, March 18, 2013
Monday, March 11, 2013
Juicy Quote
"They were conquerors, and for what you want only brute force--nothing to boast of, when you have it, since your strength is just an accident arising from the weakness of the others. They grabbed what they could get for the sake of what was to be got."
There are two parts of this quote that really grab my eye. The first is the part where "strength is just an accident arising from the weakness of others," really prods at the idea that the men in the Congo (white men, of course) felt the "power" they had there because there was no real resistance. This would be increasingly easy to see upon analysis by someone visiting there...like Conrad...
The second is the "for the sake of what was to be got." Because essentially, that really sums up the point of a white person's influence in the Congo. Because there wasn't really a downside to exploiting the Congolese (at least, to the white folk).
There are two parts of this quote that really grab my eye. The first is the part where "strength is just an accident arising from the weakness of others," really prods at the idea that the men in the Congo (white men, of course) felt the "power" they had there because there was no real resistance. This would be increasingly easy to see upon analysis by someone visiting there...like Conrad...
The second is the "for the sake of what was to be got." Because essentially, that really sums up the point of a white person's influence in the Congo. Because there wasn't really a downside to exploiting the Congolese (at least, to the white folk).
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