Hey there. I read what you wrote in one of the communities I look at all the time on livejournal. Your comment was in response to Conrad's Heart of Darkness, and I was wondering if you could help a senior AP kid out and elaborate a little on what you said about Conrad being sort of a god, and Marlow worshipping Kurtz, etc? When I sit down to write my paper, I just get stuck on what I should say. My beginning isn't too great either. I hope I'm not bothering you. You really just seem to know what you're doing. Any help/ideas/thesis would be awesome.
the basic idea of heart of darkness is that every man has the desire to be god. kurtz has become the god to the people on the congo, and even marlow begins to obsess about him more and more the further he travels down the congo. the forest represents the human psyche, and the further he goes down into the forest, the further conrad goes into the human mind (hence the title heart of darkness, although the title also represents a political statement against imperialism as well as representing the dangers of tempations, but i tend to buy into the human mind/psyche theory the most) the point is, our instinct and our real selves are savage at heart. civilization is just a cover up for what we really are in reality. women are used to represent civilization. a little bit sexist, but conrad saw women as naive and civilized and therefore represented society as a whole. kurtz's last words were "the horror! the horror!"... very important words. kurtz has become the epitome and truth and humanity at the base instinct, and all that he has seen can
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Oh thank you so much for your insight! This helps immensely. It was excellent help, and I might use you again if I ever get stuck in a paper jam...you are so awesome.
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had a good time yesterday, we should do it again.
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sooooooo scared of that!
i just got a pint taken......
sooo scary!
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It's all about the karma baby,
Kate
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Kate
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