Sunday, October 25, 2015
The Title of Darkness
After finishing Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness, I started to wonder why Conrad chose his title. His choice was bold and I knew it must have a powerful meaning. My first thought was more on a literal meaning. Heart of darkness refers to the African jungle that the majority of the story takes place. The Congo is centrally located in Africa, so the word "heart" refer back to literal place of the jungle. The darkness part of the title could come from the sun that cannot penetrate through the jungle's foliage and mists. On a more metaphoric level, darkness could mean that the men in the wilderness are blinded by their surroundings and situation. This relates back to the natives in wilderness that follow Kurtz without understanding his morals and principles. The title reflects the British imperialism and its influence over the natives in the Congo.
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Hey thanks for sharing, I agree. In some ways, the title is accurate and sometimes, it's also not reflecting how the people who are in the book are acting. I liked how you mentioned different aspects like literal and metaphorical because ultimately, this book is all about larger meanings.
ReplyDeleteLike Pat, I appreciate that you addressed both the literal and metaphorical meaning of the title and how they connect to each other
ReplyDeleteI also agree. I never thought of looking at the title literally and like that you included that description here.
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