Heart of Darkness †Metaphorical or Physical Journey? Essay

The worth of any physical journey can be measured by the value it has to the traveller by the psychological, virtuous and philosophical penetration gained during the course of travel. This is specially valid for a trip of such immense significance as the one undertaken by the vote counter in Joseph Conrads Heart of Darkness, Marlow, as he travels along the Congo River in Africa. The symbolic importance of the Congo River is paramount finishedout the novella however, it is equally important to consider the role of the river on which the tale is told the Thames, the nitty-gritty of the nation that dominated colonial expansion. Both rivers offer a platform of observation of their respective(prenominal) societies allowing Marlow to remain independent from these cultures and thus maintain his own moral compass.On a surface level, the Thames appears to be the epitome of tranquillity and civilization, as Marlowe describes it as world calm, waiting for the turn of the tide and being the centre of the biggest, and the greatest, town on Earth. However, Conrads multi-layered writing undercuts this view, as many descriptions of the Thames sire mortuary connotations, implying a feeling of death on the river. For example, Conrad describes a mournful gloom, brooding motionless, the feeling of stillness coupled with the sober tone creates a corpse-like atmosphere. Even the images of sporty that Conrad employs argon more or less negative in their more subtle meanings. He describes the torches of light (a metaphor for Western Civilization) as being exactly a flicker, which implies that the faade of culture and humanity is ephemeral in nature.The first words Marlow uses describe his surroundings as and this excessively was one of the naughty places of the earth, reminding listeners of the dark past, which is only partially and insubstantially covered. He then goes on to describe the robbery with violence and the aggravated murder on a great scale which the Romans had committed in ancient Britain. Whilst the present reality demonstrates an apparent conquering of the darkness, Conrad implies a different message, as he mentions the toying of the castanets (another name for dominoes made of ivory), which refers to the abominations committed by King Leopold II in the Congo Free State, as he exploited the lives of African to however his own commercial enterprise. This associates the Thames, which has supposedly defeated its darkness, with an inherent evil, as it is at the centre of a culture obsessed with the conquest of the earth under the pretext of weaning the ignorant millions from their ways.At the end of the novella, the primary narrator, who is listening to Marlows tale, begins to perceive the Thames leading into the heart of an immense darkness, showing how the report card has shaped his own moral, psychological and philosophical views. The mortuary images used to describe the Thames are repeated later on as Marlow recounts his visit t o the company offices in Brussels, which he describes as a exsanguined sepulchre. The word whited implies a degree of artificiality in Brussels apparent pristine condition, whilst the word sepulchre has further associations with death. It is in any case a biblical allusion to the Book of Matthew 2327, in which Jesus exclaims Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites For you are like whited sepulchres, which on the outside look beautiful, but inside they are full of the bones of the dead and all kinds of filth. This allusion shows how the very European Marlow, has recognized a deep hypocrisy in his fellow countrymen, as the symbol of white (one of purity in Western civilization) is simply a faade to hide Europes inherent evil.This motif of white is repeated throughout the novel, in particular in Brussels where Marlow mentions the starched white affairs of the Company uniforms, and near the end of the text describes the corpse like Intended as having a pale brainiac, ashy ha lo and a fireplace of monumental whiteness. Marlow who is described as being in the pose of a meditating Buhhda sees a different connotation to the white (just as white is associated with death and mourning in Eastern philosophy). Whilst Marlow sees and experience this hypocrisy first hand in Europe, on the Congo River, he observes an almost cinematic stream of images of temptation and sordidness, with the River acting as a moral buffer for him, as his perceptions of humanity and morality change.This change in Marlows nature happens through the characterization of Africa as a living hell which Conrad (through Marlow) achieves by continual allusions to the Inferno in Dantes Divine Comedy, which details the effigys own journey into the centre of the earth and through the nine circles of hell. This is most effectively achieved when Marlow admits to his listeners I felt as though, instead of going to the centre of a continent, I were about to set off for the centre of the earth. This i s paralleled when Marlow visits the company Offices and describes his assignment as going dead in the centre (again invoking deathly overtones), which also explicitly references Dante. Like Marlows morals and philosophy, the allusion is developed throughout the journey, as Marlow observes the chaotic wanton smash-up caused by the Europeans, and describes it as being in the gloomy circle of some Inferno, and showing how the river, acting almost as a slideshow for European corruption, helps change Marlows view of the morality of the Colonialists, who have dark Africa into a living hell.The allusion to Dante, whilst certainly the most obvious, offers only an observation and a result, not a cause for the corruption. The allusion to the Book of Genesis on the other hand, provides insight into why there is corruption present on the Congo. When Marlowe first describes the river, he likens it to an immense snake uncoiled, which references the Devil in the form of a snake, bid Eve to take a quince from the Garden of Eden. This allusion is more causal in its purpose, as it demonstrates the reason why the Europeans who have integrated into Africa (especially Kurtz and the station Manager) have been corrupted by the crude allurement of the unspeakable rites and satanic litany afforded to them by the jungle.Whilst Marlow is offered these things during his journey, morally he is able to maintain his distance, continuing as righteous through a continual commitment to pragmatism and action. This is evidenced by his almost obsessive need for rivets to repair his boat so that he may stick his journey on the moral insulation of the Congo River, shielding him from any immoral temptations offered whilst ashore. On the other hand, people like Kurtz who have the river, find that the moral veneer provided by the faade that is European civilization is quickly stripped away when they go ashore for a howl and a dance.Marlow explains this phenomenon of primitive reversion among the c olonialists via the effect that he perceives the river to have, saying that travelling down the river was like travelling back to the earliest beginnings of the world with the fascination of the abomination corrupting the Europeans, especially Kurtz, who is debased to an animated image of death carved out of old ivory. Significantly, the current symbolically make the journey into the heart of darkness difficult, era the journey back is easy and rapid. In conclusion, the journey undertaken by Marlow on the Congo River, as well as his story telling on the Thames, oft deeper significance than simply physical and geographical journeys, changing his perceptions of the morality and psychology of men. Conrad uses Marlows insights to influence the reader to share in the enlightenment gained by the narrator.