----Feeling after reading Heart of Darkness & Other Stories
There are three stories in this book, and I finished two of them. Since Heart of Darkness is Joseph Conrad’s most famous masterpiece, I spent most time reading this story. As Gene M. Moore said Heart of Darkness is a chilling story which is capable of many interpretations. Of course, interpretations are based on reading and re-reading. Since I read the story only once, I just gained some general feelings.
There are more than one significations of “heart of darkness” in the story; I just got three.
Firstly, I think “the heart of darkness” refers that British colonial exploration makes South African natives endure physical and psychological pains. Devil powers controlled the Africa, and natives there went through dark days. Look at the world map, Africa shapes a human heart, right? It looks like the heart of the earth. Before European explorers invaded the earth heart, people there live primitively, harmoniously, and freely. Colonial explorers, those pioneers landed this continent, attracted by ample resources, especially the ivory, started the colonial control. They arrested black natives, imprisoned them, forced them to work, and made them hungry, ill, dying slowly. Here is a scene when Marlow first landed the station, “A slight clinking behind me turn my head. Six black men advanced in a file, toiling up the path. They walked erect and slow, balancing small baskets full of earth on their heads, and the clink kept time with their footsteps. Black rags were wound round their lions, and the short ends behind waggled to and fro like tails. I could see every rib, the joints of their limbs were like knots in a rope; each had an iron collar on his neck, and all were connected together with a chain whose bights swung between them, rhythmically clinking…… All their meager breasts panted together, the violently dilated nostrils quivered, the eyes stared stonily uphill. They passed me within six inches, without a glance, with that complete, deathlike indifference of unhappy savages. Behind this raw matter one of the reclaimed, the product of the new forces at work, strolled despondently, carrying a rifle by its middle.” They treated black natives as criminals and labor slaves. The narrator, Marlow was appalled, so did I.
Mr. Kurtz is a famous explorer. He wrote articles for journals and made speeches in public that South Africans were savages, and it was their fate, and the destiny to be eliminated by the white. He was good at deluding and inciting others, so he had a lot of believers, even the savages. In fact, he is a devil. There are several poles in front of his muddy hut, each with a dead black man’s head on it. Withered lips, white teeth and even slight smiles are still recognizable. He called those dead black men rebels. How cruel and shameless he is! Besides, he is eager to ivory. He is avaricious even though he already has collected a lot of ivories. Kurtz was deadly sick when Marlow arrived at his station. He finally died on the board in the half way back to Europe with full of hate and horror inside. His last word is “The horror, the horror!” which may imply his horror to face what horrible things he did.
Secondly, I think “Heart of Darkness” refers to the evil features of human being, especially those civilized and greedy persons. Those invaders representing civilized and advanced worlds plundered the black’s wealth, ruined their homes, tortured their bodies, and stole their beliefs in the excuse of enlightenment and pilgrimage. They are also mean to his fellows. They cursed each other and falsely charged each other in the purpose to promote or other personal benefits. For example, after knowing Marlow came to visit the famous Kurtz, the manager and another ambitious colleague talked with Marlow in the night to let Marlow express their capabilities and loyalties to Mr. Kurtz. When the manager knew that Mr. Kurtz was sick, he began planning to malicious actions to him.
Thirdly, I think “Heart of Darkness” also refers to the lack of knowledge and development in South Africa. If South Africa is not so primitive, the black may protect themselves from being controlled and unequal treatment.
I was also impressed on Mr. Kurtz’s wife. She loves her husband, and admired him a lot, believes he is a superhero without noticing his cruelness and his avariciousness. She stubbornly believed that she knew Kurtz best in the world. What a tragedy!
