Through the 15 pages of reading, or so, select three worthy quotes and annotate them. You must quote the text using MLA format and your responses must be 3-5 sentences long. You might want to think about the following questions to help your response. What attracts you to them? Why are they worthy of discussion? How do they aid our understanding of the novel.
Due Dates: B Block - Wednesday, 11/3 by midnight
A Block - Thursday, 11/4 by midnight
"He made me see things - things'" (Conrad 91).
ReplyDeleteWhy was it that the Harlequin adored Kurtz so much? What had Kurtz and the Harlequin gone through for the Harlequin to respect him so blindly? What aspects of Kurtz made him 'see things' differently? Is not Kurtz as blind as the Harlequin?
"It was curious to see his mingled eagerness and reluctance to speak of Kurtz. The man filled his life, occupied his thoughts, swayed his emotions" (Conrad 92).
Conrad had described Marlow's encounter with the station manager as curious as well. The Harlequin's reluctance seems to be coming from the fear of Kurtz, despite his love for Kurtz and wanting to tell Marlow everything of how Kurtz has 'expanded his sight.' Perhaps the fear the Harlequin felt for Kurtz was coming from the fear of being punished.
"They would have been even more impressive, those heads on the stakes, if their faces had not been turned to the house. Only one, the first I had made out, was facing my way" (Conrad 94).
Why were those faces facing in towards the house if they were supposed to be 'ornaments?' Perhaps they were facing Kurtz who needed so much adorning. It is obvious from what the Harlequin had said that Kurtz enjoys fear and respect for him to an ill level. The fact that these dead faces gazing up at him helplessly must have enthralled Kurtz from the thought of the amount of control he had over those poor savages.
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ReplyDelete"His need was to exist, and to move onwards at the greatest possible risk, and with a maximum of privation. If the absolutely pure, uncalculating, unpractical spirit of adventure had ever ruled a human being, it ruled this be-patched youth" (Conrad 91).
ReplyDeleteTo me, the pure and simple soul of the Russian seems to make a clear contrast with the crooked and pensive soul of Kurtz. The huge gap in their characters might have been the reason for the Russian's endless devotion to Kurtz. Marlow envies the Russian for his youth and courage, but chastises him for the blind faith. But perhaps, the uncalculating and instinctive personality of the Russian made it inexorable for him to obey Kurtz.
"I offered to go back with him. And he would say yes and then he would remain; go off on another ivory hunt; disappear for weeks; forget himself amongst these people" (Conrad 93).
Why couldn't Kurtz just leave Africa and everything behind? Is it because of his insatiable ivory lust, or is it because of his pride? I think Kurtz was crookedly obsessed with ivory and wilderness. Probably his continuous success triggered his obsession and audacity. Certainly, Kurtz wouldn't and couldn't leave Africa for those obsession and lust.
"I found myself lumped along with Kurtz as a partisan of methods for which the time was not ripe: I was unsound! Ah! but it was something to have at least a choice of nightmares" (Conrad 101).
Was it Marlow's pride and his abhorrence of the manager that made him side with Kurtz, or "wilderness" as Marlow claims? Marlow, although admires Kurtz for his success and ability, doesn't seem to like Kurtz much. Marlow understands the darkness inside Kurtz and senses the flaws in Kurtz's obsession. As for the wilderness, Marlow doesn't seem to comprehend it much, although he is probably the most understanding European. Marlow's admiration of the nature and disgust over the pilgrims and the manger triggered Marlow to side with the nature and prepare for the consequences.
In the 15 pages I read there were many interesting sentences that drew my attention. The 15 pages I read were basically talking about Marlow meeting Kurtz. For Marlow Kurtz has been a mystery. Through the expedition he hears people talking about Kurtz and this makes him interested in what kind of person Kurtz is. As he hears more stuff about Kurtz and as he actually meets Kurtz he starts to find out what kind of a man Kurtz is.
ReplyDelete“Save me!- save the ivory, you mean. Don`t tell me. Save me! Why, I`ve had to save you. You are interrupting my plans now. Sick! Sick! Not so sick as you would like to believe. Never mind. I`ll carry my ideas out yet- I will return” (Conrad 100).
The reason why I chose this quote was because I thought that this was an really important sentence which presented and showed us how Kurtz was obsessed over ivory. He was very ill and yet instead of thinking about his own health he could not take his thought away from having more ivory. He is also somewhat accusing the people of trying to take the ivory rather than to help him. I felt kind of sad for Kurtz. Because of the strong obsession over ivory he is blind from the other things around him.
“He was not afraid of the natives ; they would not stir till Mr Kurtz gave the word. His ascendacy was extraordinary” (Conrad 95)
Along with getting ivory Kurtz was able to gain power over the natives. The natives obeyed Kurtz and this was exactly what Kurtz wanted. He wanted to be superior over the natives and believed that they should actually “worship” and “look up” to Kurtz. The natives even did not want Kurtz to be taken away. I felt like this was ironic since Kurtz came to their land and took all the ivory away and yet he was still adored. I did not really get how Kurtz had so much power over the natives and why the natives obeyed him.
“She must have had the value of several elephant tusks upon her. she was savage and superb, wild eyed and magnificent; there was something ominous and stately in her deliberate progress” (Conrad 99)
The women that appears out from the wilderness is actually Kurtz mistress. The book itself does not directly state that this women is the mistress of Kurtz but it is kind of obvious that the women and Kurtz have an sexual relationship. The women unlike many others is dressed well with all this jewelry.She acts as though she is Kurtz` fiancee. I think that this was an important quote since the women symbolizes Kurtz wealth and success. It also symbolized the high position the women is in.
“He was not afraid of the natives; they would not stir till Mr. Kurtz gave the word” (Conrad 95). Although this quote is pretty straight forward with it’s meaning, reading it still arose a question that is: since the natives only attack on Kurtz word, then did Kurtz order the attack on Marlow’s ship? This question is later answered by the Russian trader “He informed me, lowering his voice, that it was Kurtz who had ordered the attack to be made on the steamer” (Conrad 102). It may be due to my lack of understanding of the book and many misinterpretations on other things said about Kurtz but these quotes, for the first time (neglecting any discussions we had in class), confirmed my suspicions that Kurtz might be insane.
ReplyDelete‘We have done all we could for him - haven’t we? But there is no disguising the fact, Mr Kurtz has done more harm than good to the Company” (Conrad 101). By now the reader already knows of Kurtz’ insanity. However, throughout the story whether or not Kurtz is a positive or negative character is kept very vague. I chose this quote because it for the first time truly states Kurtz as being a negative character within the company.
“Suddenly she opened her bared arms and threw them up rigid above her head, as though in an uncontrollable desire to touch the sky, and at the same time the swift shadows darted on the earth, swept around on the river, gathering the steamer in a shadowy embrace. A formidable silence hung over the scene” (Conrad 100). I’m sure I could have found 100’s of quotes like this one. I chose this quote because of how dramatically written it was, how certain I am of how un-dramatic this occurrence actually would have been if the book were real and how it epitomizes all of Conrad’s redundant, exaggerated, and over dramatic writing that bugs me so much. Other than that, there is no good reason for me choosing this quote other than that it was conveniently placed at the top of the page because I’m sure any quote before or fallowing it would have been written with the same amount of annoyingness.
1. "I looked around, and I don't know why, but I assure you that never, never before, did this land, this river, this jungle, the very arch of this blazing sky look so hopeless and so dark, so impenetrable to human thought, so pitiless to human weakness" (Conrad 91).
ReplyDeleteThis quote stood out to me because of the different approach Marlow had made in addressing the wilderness. With this line, Marlow finally seems to have come to the realization about how the 'darkness' of the jungle itself affects them, and how weakened they were by it.
2. "These round knobs were not ornamental but symbolic; they were expressive and puzzling, striking and disturbing - food for thought" (Conrad 94).
Although this is describing Marlow's reaction towards the posts, I thought it was also highlighting Marlow's opinion about Kurtz and Africa. The adjectives used express Marlow's ambivalent feelings towards Kurtz, and also towards the environment he is currently in.
3. "I did not betray Mr. Kurtz-it was ordered I should never betray him-it was written I should be loyal to the nightmare of my choice" (Conrad 104).
I thought this line confirmed where Marlow now stands, alongside Kurtz and the Russian. He's tired of the manager and the crew's greediness, and although choosing Kurtz above them may not seem to be the best of ideas, it's the only choice he has to follow what he believes as 'right'.
“I looked around, and I don’t know why, but I assure you that never, never before, did this land, this river, this jungle, the very arch of this blazing sky, appear to me so hopeless and so dark, so impenetrable to human though, so pitiless to human weakness.” (Conrad 91). Prior to this, the Harlequin had been describing to Marlow how he and Kurtz had spoke of everything including love, creating a light and happy image. Then, on the contrary, we return back to the image of darkness so I suppose this reminds us that no matter what goes on in the jungle, even something as illuminating and uplifting as talk of love will be drowned by the vast darkness of the unchallengeable jungle. These ideas of darkness make me wonder if there is any real light in this novel, civilization is our initial symbol of light however does civilization not branch off of a form of love and caring? So does light ultimately exist in the book or is it all eventually drowned by the darkness?
ReplyDelete“You can’t judge Mr. Kurtz as you would an ordinary man.” (Conrad 92). If we are not to judge Mr. Kurtz as an ordinary man how are we expected to judge him? Godlike, as the natives seem to view him? Mr. Kurtz is described as one who has demanded much respect mainly for all the ivory that has passed through his hands yet went about doing so in a seemingly nutty manner. What about him significantly sets him aside from “ordinary men”? All throughout the novel Kurtz is spoken highly of but I wonder what he did to deserve the image evoked when his name is mentioned.
“I saw him open his mouth wide-it gave him a weirdly voracious aspect, as though he had wanted to swallow all the air, all the earth, all the men before him.” (Conrad 97). I really enjoyed this quote because it really depicted that ominous side of Kurtz, he was respected for his ability to conquer however, this line brings out the greed motive as a negative quality in Kurtz rather than a dominant positive quality. It’s said that Kurtz seemed as though he wanted to take all the air, the earth and all the people before him; he was so sick with greed he wanted to take things like air and earth and people all for himself, it really highlighted how sick he was with greed. Aside from that I think this is an extremely well worded sentence that creates a crisp clear image for the reader.
“Curious, this feeling that came over me that such details would be more intolerable than those heads drying on the stakes under Mr Kurtz’s windows.” (Conrad 95)
ReplyDeleteThe reason why I chose this quote was because it talks about Marlow’s curiosity toward Kurtz. In the book, Conrad repeatedly describes how interested Marlow is toward Kurtz. Though actually, Marlow starts to disillusions him, and thinks that he is pretty self-centered
“I suppose it did not occur to him Mr Kurtz was no idol of mine.”(Conrad 96)
Since Kurtz was respected by the natives as if he is a god, Marlow had an uneasy feeling toward him. As I first mentioned in explanation of the first quote, Marlow starts to disillusions him. This quotes shows the Marlow’s thinking that he is not like the other Africans who worships Kurtz.
‘“You don’t know how such a life tries a man like Kurtz,” cried Kurtz’s last disciple. (Conrad 96)
This quote also connects to the previous quote that I mentioned. The Kurtz last disciple is one of the African that respects Kurtz. Although some of the Africans don’t like Kurtz, they need him for their leader. There fore they don’t want the Europeans to take him away. If I was Marlow, I would definitely loose my curiosity toward Kurtz.
**(Sorry, I left my copy of Heart of Darkness in my locker, so I had to use an online version of the book. Here’s the citation...)
ReplyDeleteConrad, Joseph. "Joseph Conrad: Heart of Darkness."The Literature Page. Michael Moncur, 2005. Web. 3 Nov 2010.
1. Not much insight is given on Kurtz’s persona before Marlow’s landing on his post. Upon meeting one of his worshippers, we are finally given a brief glance of Kurtz’s true personality.“I suppose Kurtz wanted an audience, because on a certain occasion, when encamped in the forest, they had talked all night, or more probably Kurtz had talked” (Conrad 54). Contrary to any prior images of Kurtz, we find that he is actually just a power hungry man, who loves attention and overpowering weaker followers. He shows power by forcing his opinion and will.
2. As Marlow engages into deeper conversations with the young Kurtz-worshipper, he finds that Kurtz is, in reality, insane. The reason for his insanity, Marlow explains, is that “…it [the jungle] had whispered to him things about himself which he did not know, things of which he had no conception till he took counsel with this great solitude—and the whisper had proved irresistibly fascinating. It echoed loudly within him because he was hollow at the core“ (Conrad 57) Kurtz was not, in fact, the amazing man of legend, but was a weak man, easily derailed by ugly human nature—the hunger for any power.
3. Throughout the book, Conrad expresses support for women’s equality, or acknowledgement of women’s true power. In a description of a native women, he mentions that “She was savage and superb, wild-eyed and magnificent; there was something ominous and stately in her deliberate progress” (Conrad 60). He compares this woman to the patient wild, which is accurate, because women have patiently waited to gain the equal rights that they deserve.
1. The young Russian trader talks about Kurtz as if he’s a sage who knows everything, caring for him in sickness. “‘They adored him,’ he said...The man filled his life, occupied his thoughts, swayed his emotions...he wanted to shoot me too one day - but I don’t judge him” (Conrad 92). This quote shows that Kurtz does have a loyal follower who, due to his naiveté, regards him as an amazing person despite the fact that Kurtz is actually an insane ivory-hungry man, even ready to kill his man for a little ivory. The Russian even said, “Mr. Kurtz couldn’t be mad” (Conrad 93).
ReplyDelete2.“I suppose it did not occur to him that Mr. Kurtz was no idol of mine. He forgot I hadn’t heard any of these splendid monologues on, what was it? on love, justice, conduct of life - or what not...Those rebellious heads looked very subdued to me on their sticks” (Conrad 95-96). This quote proves that Marlow does not see Kurtz as a great man anymore. He is just as cruel as the manager and the other Europeans in Africa, since he’d killed the savage rebels for ivory.
3. “Kurtz- that means ‘short’ in German - don’t it? Well, the name was as true as everything else in his life- and death. He looked at least seven feet long. I could see the cage of his ribs all astir, the bones of his arm waving” (Conrad 97). Kurtz, as it turns out was just a skeleton, and everything different from what everyone perceived him to be. Marlow finally got to see him in person, but Kurtz just was a dying man, hardly ever passing for a deity in Marlow’s eyes.
quote #1 "Whether he knew of this deficiency himself I can't say. I think the knowledge came to him at last--only at the very last. But the wilderness found him out early, and had taken vengeance for the fantastic invasion. I think it had whispered to him things about himself which he did not know, things of which he had no conception till he took counsel with this great solitude--and the whisper had proved irresistibly fascinating. It echoed loudly within him because he was hollow at the core."
ReplyDeleteI find this quote fairly interesting because it shows how Kurtz' health and psychological stability are slowly eroded by the surrounding environment. The dense jungle and the fact that he was living amongst a group of individuals who were so radically different from his familiar peers were slowly but surely morphing Kurtz into something unrecognizable.
quote#2 "I did not betray Mr. Kurtz--it was ordered I should never betray him--it was written I should be loyal to the nightmare of my choice. I was anxious to deal with this shadow by myself alone--and to this day I don't know why I was so jealous of sharing with anyone the peculiar blackness of that experience."
This shows Marlows discontent with not only Kurtz but also the whole project he is involved in. However, it also shows his regret for dealing with the events that happened to him within the jungle by himself. He has regret for not telling anybody about what was happening.
quote #3 "The horror! The horror!"
Although short in comparison to the previous two, I feel that this quote has just as much, if not more strength within the context. I feel that this is the climax of the story, where Kurtz finally snaps and goes off the edge. All the years of questioning himself and replacing what he originally stood for with the ways of the natives finally came crashing down on him, and his love affair with his ivory business was too much for him to bear losing. So when even the slightest altercation was aroused involving the ivory, he was so defensive of it that he was suspicious of even his most trusted helpers. He even gave up his physical and psychological health to satisfy his unquenchable thirst for more ivory.
1. “He surely wanted nothing from the wilderness but space to breathe in and to push on through. His need was to exist, and to move onwards at the greatest possible risk, and with a maximum of privation.” (Conrad 90) I guess this is the reason why Kurtz got that much attention from every person. I understand he was surely not what you called a “normal” person; what he needed was the greatest potential danger and the highest degree of the difficulties. And I thought it was odd that he didn’t want anything from wilderness which symbolized Africa because all he got came from that.
ReplyDelete2. “I gave him the ivory. What did I care! But I didn’t clear out. No, no. I couldn’t leave him. I had to be careful, of course, till we got friendly again for a time.” (Conrad 92) It is so sick that he gave the ivory he got from the chief to Kurtz because he threatened him with a gun. But what is sicker is that later he tried to be friend with that kind of nasty person as Kurtz and say that he could not leave him. I think Kurtz could make people turn into servile.
3. “I saw him open his mouth wide—it gave him a weirdly voracious aspect, as though he had wanted to swallow all the air, all the earth, all the men before him.” (Conrad 97) Conrad’s writing style is to make things go so deep to bring readers to think more of that. Kurtz only opened his mouth wide, but to elaborate more how greedy he was, it explains that he opened as if he will swallow the entire world.
‘…those heads drying on the stakes under Mr. Kurtz’s windows’ (Conrad 95). Before this quote, it is revealed that Kurtz is an idol to the natives, therefore, I believe that Kurtz put these heads up to show the natives that he felt like he was one of them himself (to earn their trust). I believe that Kurtz’s actions are a little too much to be considered sane (murdering many and displaying their heads almost like trophies or symbols), however, in the eyes on the natives, it may be considered normal or sacred (because they idolize Kurtz) which therefore suggests to me that insanity depends on different perspectives.
ReplyDelete‘…charms, gifts of witch-men, that hung about her, glittered and trembled at every step. She must have had the value of several elephant tusks upon her’ (Conrad 99). I found this quote ironic because Kurtz became so obsessed with ivory that he even threatened to shoot the Russian (his follower) from suspicion of being thieved from. The irony is that, the woman had several ivories worth of things upon her and she was also very beautiful, and Kurtz followers seemed to hate her; this suggested to me that Kurtz’s followers also became obsessed with ivory, rather than a the looks of a beautiful woman. I believe that this woman is Kurtz’s mistress due to the fact that she is well dressed, (from, most likely, his ivory); she also symbolizes Kurtz in a way: she is wild and well dressed, Kurtz himself was successful and pretty wealthy and he was also pretty wild (human heads on stakes, and control over natives).
‘“He is very low, very low,” he [the manager] said. He considered it necessary to sigh, but neglected to be consistently sorrowful’ (Conrad 100). I really enjoyed this quote because it really showed me that the manager was the antagonist of the book; he has always been jealous of Kurtz and now that he was finally dying, the manager will finally get the job he longer for. The book has been pretty much about greed, but somehow the greeds that were present in the story had different levels of goodness. Kurtz’s greed was presented in a way, by Conrad, which seemed friendly and innocent (as if he was suffering from a sickness) whereas the manager’s greed was presented in a way that seemed selfish, even though he did not kill anyone (like Kurtz with his collection of heads on stakes).
1.“Well, he wanted it, and wouldn’t hear reason. He declared he would shoot me unless I gave him the ivory.”(Conrad 92). This emphasizes the reason for why Kurts was grouped into the “ unsound” men in the company. His raging obsession towards gathering ivory leads him into losing “common” rational as he threatened the traders life proclaiming as if the ivory that the trader has rightfully received was destined to be his. Kurtz obsession has grown to the point where ivory has become more valuable than the life of a fellow man.
ReplyDelete2.. Following the previous excerptment is this statement, “ because he could do so, and had a fancy for it, and there was nothing on earth to prevent him killing whom he jolly well pleased. And it was true.”(Conrad 92)
In the dark heart of the Congos, there are no laws. The Natives are lawless and so was Kurts. Perhaps this sort of barbarism is what allowed the natives to respect and relate to a European ivory hunter called Kurtz.
3. “ He needed me! Me! I would have treasured every sigh, every word, every sign, every glance.”(Conrad 122). This may be a perception only i own due the hidden sexism implanted deep into the mind that i am not aware of, but this seems to me like a stereo-typical female statement. I believe that this might have been a subconscious display of Conrad's misogyny through literature.
Nika Koda
ReplyDelete“He declared he would shoot me unless I gave him the ivory and then cleared out of the country, because he could do so, and had a fancy for it, and there was nothing on earth to prevent him killing whom he jolly well pleased'" (Pg 50, Conrad). I liked the tension used in this quote, and how it was presented. The over whelming power, towards ivory is shown greatly in this quote. Is it sane? Or is it right to always go after the things you want.
. "I couldn't help asking him once what he meant by coming here at all. 'To make money, of course. What do you think?' he said scornfully" (Pg.16 Conrad). This is one of the ones that highlighted my essay, and the reason why this attracted to me it is because it brushed the feeling of what they are here for. It’s ironic about how bluntly and no shame is produced while saying this. This also brought the key concept of why they were here, which took off easier, with out doubt.
"I tried to break the spell the heavy, mute spell of the wilderness that seemed to draw him to its pitiless breast by the awakening of forgotten and brutal instincts, by the memory of gratified and monstrous passions. This alone, I was convinced, haddriven him out to the edge of the forest, to the bush, towards the gleam of fires, the throb of drums, the drone of weird incantations; this alone had beguiled his unlawful soul beyond the bounds of permitted aspirations" (Pg 59. Conrad). It seems as if Marlow is trying to help a beast from the pitiful pain. “Monstrous Passions” was one that may be great for starting a conversation. This also feels like he understands why he went “sane”