Heart of Darkness Literary Research Paper

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Heart of Darkness

A Literary Research Paper

Presented to

Ms. Grace O. Dial

In Partial Fulfillment

Of Requirements in English 10

by

Jethro Akio M. Ngo

B-9

10-6

Grace Christian College

April 14, 2020


In this paper, every OPINION from someone else has been

acknowledged in a parenthetical citation. I realize that the

mere presence of a parenthetical citation does not avoid

plagiarism. If I have used the exact words, phrases, clauses, or

sentences of someone else, I have enclosed that information in

quotation marks. If I have summarized the opinions of someone

else, I have not enclosed the summary in quotation marks; but I

have stated those opinions in my own words. I have also

introduced the summary and used a parenthetical citation to

acknowledge the source.

ALL FACTUAL INFORMATION (common knowledge or uncontested

knowledge), though not credited with a parenthetical citation,

has been stated in my sentence structure. I have not used anyone

else‘s organization of the factual information.

Signed: ___________________________________
Outline

Purpose Statement: This paper aims to discuss about the

hardships and strife of Joseph Conrad’s life.

I. Author’s Biography

A. Childhood

1. Real Name is Jozef Teodor Konrad

2. Born on Dec. 3, 1857

3. Born in Berdychive Ukraine

B. Family

1. His father was Apollo Korzeniowski, a political

activist

2. His mother was Ewa Bobrowska

3. Father was arrested and his family was exiled to

Vologda

4. Both parents dies of tuberculosis

C. Profession

1. Wanted to become a sailor, so he left home and went

to Marseilles at age sixteen

2. Used to earn 2,000 francs of allowance every year


3. Served in the British merchant navy

4. During 1890, Conrad led a steamer going up to the

Congo River

5. He went to Australia, Singapore, India, and Africa

6. Stopped being a sailor at age thirty-six

7. Married Jessie Emmeline George and had two sons

D. Literary Career

1. Started his literary career in 1895 with his first

novel, Almayer's Folly

2. Wrote Lord Jim(1900) and Heart of Darkness(1902)

3. Became successful as an author, making more novels

such as Nostromo (1904) and The Secret Agent (1907),

A Personal Record (1912)

4. Became an influential writer to the late 19th writers

and early 20th

5. He continued to be successful and wrote Chance

(1914), Victory (1915), and The Shadow Line (1917)

II. Book Analysis


A. The summary of Heart of Darkness

B. Analysis of the Characters

1. Kurtz – A trader of ivory in Africa

2. Marlow – A thirty-two year old sailor who always

live at the sea

C. Analysis of the Themes and Settings

1. Theme

a. Imperialism

b. Colonization

2. Settings

a. Thames River

b. London

III. Heart of Darkness is about a narrated voyage up the Congo

River into the Congo Free State in the Heart of Africa.


Author’s Biography

“Facing it, always facing it, that's the way to get through.

Face it” A quote that is said by Joseph Conrad since he always

faces problems at life., Therefore, This paper aims to discuss

about the hardships and strife of Joseph Conrad’s life.

Joseph Conrad, born in Berdyczow, on December 3, 1857, in

the city of Ukraine. Real name was Jozef Teodor Konrad

Kozeniowski,.His parents were Polish nobility, his father worked

as a writer and translator, and was a political activist to free

Poland from Russian domination, he was arrested and his family

was exiled to Vologda. In seven years, both of Conrad’s parents

died of tuberculosis and he was sent to live with his mother’s

brother in Krakow and also studied there (Sexton).

At the age of sixteen, he wanted to become a sailor, so he

left home and went to Marseilles, France to become an

apprentice. Eventually, he slowly became an apprentice,

Bobrowski gave him 2,000 francs of allowance every year and got

Conrad In touch with Delestang, which his ships were the ones

Conrad sailed at. Conrad likes to gamble and he earned gambling

debts he has not paid for, due to that, he attempted to commit

suicide but failed to do so, because of that, his uncle had to

help him pay his debts and relocated him to England. For the

next sixteen years, he served in the British merchant navy and


eventually became a British citizen, then that is the time when

he eventually changed his name to Joseph Conrad (Sexton).

In 1890, Conrad led a steamer going up to the Congo River,

and this adventure soon inspired him to write the book, The

Heart of Darkness, which shows the struggle he went through

going to the Congo River. He also went to Australia, Singapore,

India, and Africa (Sexton).

At the age of thirty-six, he stopped being a sailor and

settled in England, married Jessie Emmeline George, a daughter

of a bookseller, and eventually had two sons (Biography.com

Editors).

Conrad started his literary career in 1895 with his first

novel, Almayer's Folly, an adventure tale set in the Borneo

jungles. He also wrote Lord Jim, the story of an outcast young

sailor who stops having a scared attitude and eventually becomes

the leader of a small South country (Biography.com Editors).

Heart of Darkness (1902) is a story describing a British

man's expedition deep into the Congo of Africa, where he meets

the brutal and strange Kurtz, a European trader who has made

himself as a ruler of the native people there. Lord Jim and

Heart of Darkness have the signature elements of Conrad's

writing: faraway settings; dramatic conflicts between human


characters and the brutal forces of nature; and themes of

individualism, the violent side of human nature, and racial

prejudice (Biography.com Editors).

Conrad continued to be successful as an author, making more

novels such as Nostromo (1904) and The Secret Agent (1907), A

Personal Record (1912). Many of his major works first appeared

as calibrated pieces in magazines, followed by the publication

of the complete novel.

As his career continued, Conrad also collected salary

through reprints of his novels and the sale of film rights for

several books (Biography.com Editors).

There is a strong influence on aspiring novelists and it is

thanks to Conrad. He was a man of loyalty; he said: “those who

read me know my conviction that the world, the temporal world,

rests on a few very simple ideas; so simple that they must be as

old as the hills. It rests, notably, among others, on the idea

of Fidelity.” Corruption, emptiness, and all things evil are

solvable by faithfulness, according to Conrad’s personal belief.

But what will happen once fidelity is submerged, the barrier is

broken down, and the evil without is acknowledged by the evil

within? At his greatest, that is Conrad’s theme. Feminist and

post-colonialist readings of Modernist works have focused on

Conrad and have confirmed his centrality to Modernism and to the


general understanding of it (The Editors of Encyclopedia

Britannica).

Conrad’s style also makes him one of the great novelists of

the late 19th and early 20th centuries. His plots are affluent

and compound frequently leaving a limited story in favor of a

recursive one, which adds depth and suspense to the story. He

didn’t learn English until he was nearly in his twenties, and he

frequently speaks with a heavy accent, although he had problems

with it, he mastered the vocabulary and the rhythms of the

language so thoroughly that the landscapes and the cityscapes

that he renders, often in beautiful detail, come to life

(Sexton).

After 1911, Conrad continued his impressive stride as a

novelist and short story writer. Critics agree that his best

work was behind him, although opinion on the merits of some of

his later novels, Chance (1914), Victory (1915), and The Shadow

Line (1917), is divided. Conrad certainly remained a popular

novelist, whose works sold well, and who, despite heavy costs

and owes that resulted from a sometimes extravagant lifestyle,

became a wealthy man. Sales were helped by the stories’ exotic

settings and spirit of romantic adventure, which appealed to an

ever-growing late-Victorian readership (Sexton).


Before his life came to an end, he wrote his last novels

called “The Arrow of Gold” and “The Rescue”. On August 3.1923,

Joseph Conrad suffered a heart attack and died in Canterbury

England (Biography.com Editors).

Literary analysis

In the book Heart of Darkness, Marlow works for a business

company that searches for ivory. As he travels down the Congo

River, Marlow listened to a story of a man named Kurtz; Marlow

is clueless about why they are talking about Kurtz which leads

him to have a big interest in Kurtz. Throughout the story,

Marlow wonders how he believes that all people should have

control over their actions. And on the other side, Kurtz is

unable to control himself and his obsessions with ivory, and the

cannibal natives are showing restraint from eating the crew

members aboard the ship. Marlow’s trip to the Congo becomes a

mission to save Kurtz from his obsessions with the ivory while

leaving deep inside the jungle with other natives.

Character analysis

Marlow
Marlow is the protagonist of the story, Heart of Darkness. With

the help of a relative, he was able to join a company in

Brussels to work in the Congo, the heart of Africa. Even if he

was employed as a seafarer, he doesn’t find much work in his

field but the companies wanted to get some treasures from the

African hinterlands. In spite of Marlow’s work ethic and moral

values, he still sees the locals being used or even killed. Most

of the story is about Marlow wanting to go to the Congo and find

Kurtz. Marlow calls all of the exploits from the western

companies the darkness of the heart.

Kurtz

Although Kurtz is not the main character of the story, the story

revolves around him. Kurtz is in charge of the main station in

the Congo River, he mixes up with the local tribes and

establishes himself as their leader, being destructive with

their lives through rituals. Although he goes there under the

appearance of the civilization, he also does the ivory trade.

Marlow hears very interesting facts about him that he is half

French, half English, and is also a genius. However, the

Harlequin does not believe in his role in the slave trade. Kurtz

dies on his boat, his last words “The horror!”

The Manager
Works at the Central Station and manages the companies at the

Congo. The manager is responsible for the breakdown of Marlow’s

steamboat. He produces uneasiness around him keeping everyone

unsettled so he can easily control them. He fears that Kurtz is

conspiring to steal his job. He owes his success to a strong

constitution that allows him to survive all his competitors.

The Brickmaker

The brickmaker meets Marlow at the Central Station, is a

favorite of the manager, and is a corporate spy. Even though he

has the title of a brickmaker, he does not make bricks. He is

petty and conniving and assumes that other people are too. He

only cares about how he improves and thinks that Kurtz is a

threat. He gives info to Marlow about Kurtz.

Kurtz’s African Mistress

Kurtz’s African Mistress is a fierce woman wearing jewelry;

appears on the shore when Marlow’s steamer arrives at and leaves

the Inner Station. She dresses in bright colors. She’s an

influence on both Kurtz and the natives around the station. Like

Kurtz, she is also a mysterious one; she never speaks to Marlow,

and he never learns anything more about her. She is very


protective of Kurtz and leads a chant on the bank of the river

when Kurtz leaves the Inner Station.

Theme

Power over others

Using your own power as an advantage to control other people and

seize them. The book showed how the Europeans overpowered the

African countries and controlled them. The Europeans took over

the countries of Africa and settled down there and controlled

the people. Europeans also take over other countries just

because of the rich resources the other countries have. Marlow

has seen such things as this in Africa and admitted that it was

wrong to take other people's countries.

Abuse and Greed

The Europeans are greedy people; they are greedy for ivory in

Africa. The Europeans abused the locals just to get what they

want. The Europeans tortured the locals and even starved them to

death. The Europeans took all the riches of the Africans like

ivory, which was the item that made the Europeans greedy. The

Europeans forced the locals to labor and made them work for

them, even if they did as so, the Europeans still were abusive

as ever.
Experience

The book showed a lot of new experiences from Marlow. Marlow had

a big adventure of going to the Congo River and experiencing a

lot of new things. Going down the river, he learned a lot about

the ivory, a mysterious guy named Kurtz, and the Europeans

taking over other countries in Africa. Experiencing new stuff

can also be a “learning experience” for people and can learn

lessons and new wisdom. Everyone gets an experience, whether you

almost get eaten due to cannibalism, or getting tortured; we get

an experience and get to tell the story.

Setting

The book begins on the Thames River in London in the latter

part of the nineteenth century where Marlow and the other five

members of an English trading company: the director, the lawyer,

the accountant, Marlow, and the unnamed narrator were having a

conversation. The following setting goes to the Congo River

where Marlow wanted to meet a mysterious guy named Kurtz, who is


an idealistic man of great abilities, the central station, is

where the manager oversees the company and where Marlow learns

that his steamboat was wrecked long ago, but even if it was

broken, Marlow set off to find items to fix his steamboat. A

central station is basically an object that slows down the

progress of Marlow’s goal, but at the central station, he also

learns a lot more about Kurtz from other people. The next

setting goes to the inner station, this is where Marlow finally

got to meet Kurtz but not immediately, when he arrived at the

inner station, he met a Russian trader who appears to be a

harlequin, the Russian trader told Marlow all about Kurtz, he

told Marlow that Kurtz is currently ill, he also told Marlow on

how Kurtz made himself a god of the locals. The last setting

goes to the place called Brussels, where Kurtz intended live

there, and Marlow told her that Kurtz died and that his last

word was her name.

Symbolism

Ivory

Ivory is the item that symbolizes the greed of the

Europeans. Since ivory is rich in Africa, the Europeans go to

Africa and take it from them even if it takes force. Ivory


showed the greediness of the Europeans and their passion to get

ivory. The Ivory can make men fight others just so they can get

what they want. Ivory is the item that gives men the ambition to

get the item and makes them work for it.

Congo River

This symbolizes the journey of one person. This is where

Marlow takes his journey and experiences struggles going through

the river. Congo River shows that the journey of one person will

not always be smooth. The Congo River can show you a lot of

things that you can learn in life and learn a lot more about

yourself as you go through path. This is simply the decisions

that you make on how you choose to go down the river or path you

are taking, with or without help, alone or not alone.

Nellie

Nellie is the name of the boat that Marlow was on with his

fellow comrades. Nellie symbolizes the way you travel and the

friends you have. The Director of Companies, who is also the

captain and host, the Lawyer, the Accountant, and the unnamed

Narrator, are all friends with Marlow, and just by their titles,

we know that they hold a big position. Being friends with such
people can give you big advantages in life where if you needed

help, you can ask your friends. This just shows that you can

also get such information when you have friends with a big title

too.

Conclusion

Heart of Darkness is also based on real-life situations in the

past. The story shows how the lives of the people were and the

struggles they went through due to the colonization of other

countries. The story shows the attitude of foreigners when it

comes to what they want and how they treat other people from

other places. Everyone experiences a lot of things, go through

situations, have bad times, but is always a decision if you are

willing to go further or give up. The story of Heart of

Darkness is a representation of the author’s struggle in his

life and what he has went through.

Works cited:

Wolf, Kelsey. The Heart of Darkness literary analysis. May 19,

2011. Prezi .

https://prezi.com/wsahg9xr4uag/the-heart-of-darkness-literary-an

alysis/
Course Hero. "Heart of Darkness Study Guide." 28 July 2016.

Course Hero.

https://www.coursehero.com/lit/Heart-of-Darkness/symbols/

Moran, Daniel. CliffsNotes on Heart of Darkness. 15 Apr 2020

</literature/h/heart-of-darkness/heart-of-darkness-at-a-glance>.

The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica. Jozef Teodor Konrad

Korzeniowski. Encyclopaedia Britannica inc. February 07, 2020.

Encyclopaedia Britannica.

https:\\www.britannica.com/biography/Joseph-Conrad.

Biography.com Editors. Joseph Conrad Biography. A &E Television

Networks. April 2, 2014. The Biography.com Website.

https://www.biography.com/writer/joseph-conrad

Sexton, James. British Literature: Victorians and Moderns. BC

Campus Open Textbook Project.

Courses.lumenlearning.com/englishlitvictorianmodern/chapter/biog

raphy-11/
Merriman, C.D. Joseph Conrad. The Literature Network. Jalic Inc.

2007. online-literature.com/Conrad/

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