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Essay / Research Paper Abstract
A 3 page essay that discusses Joseph Conrad’s short novel Heart of Darkness, which is one of the most “provocative and controversial literary works” of the dawning twentieth century due to the fact that it was the first novel to question “dubious social Darwinist attitudes,” which were used to rationalize the “brutal facts of Empire-building” (Mitchell 20). At the close of the novel, the reaction of Marlow to the death of Kurtz is framed within the context of the African culture and the Congolese and the reaction of Kurtz’s fiancé. Examination of this aspect of the novel demonstrates not only Marlow’s reaction to Africa and Kurtz, but also his perspective on European culture and the role of women. Bibliography lists 2 sources.
Page Count:
3 pages (~225 words per page)
File: D0_khcondk.rtf
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Unformatted sample text from the term paper:
the fact that it was the first novel to question "dubious social Darwinist attitudes," which were used to rationalize the "brutal facts of Empire-building" (Mitchell 20). At the close of
the novel, the reaction of Marlow to the death of Kurtz is framed within the context of the African culture and the Congolese and the reaction of Kurtzs fianc?. Examination
of this aspect of the novel demonstrates not only Marlows reaction to Africa and Kurtz, but also his perspective on European culture and the role of women. While the
novel is narrated by Marlow, it revolves around Kurtz, a highly educated man who came to Africa as a company employee in order to procure ivory, but also to extend
a humanitarian vision that encompassed bringing European civilization to the people whom Kurtz, and Europeans as a whole, categorized as savages. Rather than changing the nature of the jungle, however,
the jungle changes Kurtz, as he finds that without the restraints of civilization on his behavior, he becomes entranced by power and the darkest of impulses in the human soul
are given free reign. When Kurtz dies, the last words that Marlow hears from him is a "cry that was no more than a breath: The horror! The horror!" (Conrad
147). Marlows initial reaction is in keeping with the African environment and the darkness that has touched his life, as it did Kurtz. He indicates that to find the values
of civilization that have grounded his life to be no more than veneer overlaying darker impulses almost sends him, like Kurtz, over the brink into darkness. Marlow says that because
he had "peeped over the edge" and into that psychic abbess, he understood "better the meaning" of Kurtzs stare, which "could not see the flame of the candle" but could
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