Towson's Book R+R 2

Marlow, who refers to himself as "not particularly tender", does quite often show his disgust periodically for his surroundings, yet indeed does not seem particularly emotive or passionate during the length of his trip (of which he doubts the purpose). However, upon finding the "dirty soft" confines of the book within the hut, it is as though he is reborn. He is filled with fierce pride and happiness at the image of the simple book on navigation, feeling as though he has once again come into contact with mankind, with civilization as he knows it. The worn quality of the book and the stains this brutal wilderness has inflicted on it does not remove the spell that has been cast on Marlow.

He even notes what he believes to be a cipher and once again marvels at human ingenuity (this later is revealed to be Russian). This is revelatory of Marlow's deep yearning for his own civilization, his own culture where he can bask in the evident sense of things, in the rewarding realm of logic and literacy. As he mentions before, he feels as though he were living in a dream, out of touch with reality as long as he is in the Congo. Any mark of his own society, whether the accountant's glossed appearance or this withered book, sparks his fervent admiration and nostalgia.

RR : Close Reading

In the first paragraph the first thing that Marlow notices is the heavy machinery at the top of the hill as well as the regular explosions. The contrast between the “grass [and] path leading up the hill” contrasts well with the “pieces of decaying machinery.” This explicit contrast implicitly suggests the contrast between the European industrial footprint with the local natural environment. So already we get the sense that the Company’s presence in the region is not one that benefits, meshes with its environment but one that denies the locality and imposes itself. Meanwhile the adjectives such as “carcass” “dead” “decaying” and “rusty” all serve the same purpose: to show the physical condition of the station but also the psychological. As if stuck in a timeless purgatory, the machinery has become obsolete and is slowly disintegrating with lack of use. Later in the passage he makes a reference to “the devil” as if this were hell and the devil was presiding over all the banished souls. Of course the reproach is on the devil himself: devil of “violence” “greed” “hot desire” all refer to highly appointed generals, business men and politicians in the European sphere. Of course only the devil would be able to condemn such innocent people to work for nothing.

one more thing...

a super smart and helpful lecture on the challenges (and rewards) of reading Heart of Darkness.  If you're feeling lost, give it a try.  It's great!
http://mural.uv.es/rosegar/critica1.htm

RR passage The accountant

First of all, he is one of the first men that Marlow has recognized as an actual human being that is similar to him and on the same level as him because since then, he was just describing the indigenous people and he seemed to strip away all of their human qualities from them until they appeared to be animals. And we see that when he says that he respects the accountant. He respected the fact that this man took the time every day for three years to dress the way he did and to have that appearance. But I don’t think that Marlow really saw why he was doing this.
The accountant does this everyday and has his office all neat to get away from the insanity that affects the people who come to the Congo form Europe. When he keeps his routines, he keeps his sanity. He even goes as far as to try and teach one of the native women how to press the suits. It is like the expression out of sight out of mind. The accountant does not wants to keep his routines alive because if he doesn’t, the Congo and all its insanity will come rushing in and take him over like it has so many other men who have not lasted as long as him. His job of keeping the Congo out of him also comes with being rather heartless when it comes to the natives. For example when the weak dying man comes into him office, he seems indifferent and he only complains about the man’s moaning.

Sheet of the Week 2/7

Happy Superbowl!  I hope you're eating some nachos, kicking up your feet and of course, finishing your reading for tomorrow.  There's nothing like a little Darkness to get you ready for half-time...

Anyway -- just a few reminders for the week:

For Monday, you should have read at least through p. 84, with plans to finish the novel by Wednesday.  Your final RR will be due on Thursday.  By now you should have posted your first response (or part of it) on the blog and responded to at least one of your classmates' posting.  We'll do the same for the 3rd response (don't worry about posting the 2nd; I can only read so much!) 

In the meantime, we'll talk a little more about part 2 tomorrow, then move to part 3 in the second hour and on Wednesday.  We'll also start talking about the commentary and Poisonwood questions which will be due after break.

I'm posting the passages on the Heart of Darkness/Poisonwood page (to the left).  To reserve yours, click on the page, read and put your initials by the one you prefer.  First come, first served!

Finally, follow this link for the Achebe article I've been mentioning in class.  We may not get to it till after the break, but have a look when you have a moment.  I think you'll find it scientifically interesting...

http://kirbyk.net/hod/image.of.africa.html
Till tomorrow!

RR#2 Part II Heart of Darkness

Cannibals

The cannibals are natives who were hired by the whites to work on Marlow’s steamship that had just gotten repaired and which was sailing on a two month trip to get to Kurtz. Marlow was actually impressed by the good work of the natives, called cannibals by the whites, done on the steamer as well as their patience, resistance, their attitude; not till that point showing their animalistic character. What seemed to confuse Marlow about these natives was the fact that they were maybe normal and not inhuman. This should prove to be a further step in Marlow’s detachment from the colonists’ beliefs about the natives. Furthermore, Marlow not being on very good terms with the manager and the other Europeans, he could see, from a different and closer perspective, the work of the natives on the steamer, their alertness, despite being very hungry. Marlow showed some admiration towards them after taking a closer look as well as more respect. Moreover, there seems to be a contradiction, as when the steamship seemed to be attacked, it is actually the pilgrims who acted like savages and started shooting everywhere while, on the other hand, the cannibals remained calm and did not turn against the people on the ship but instead defended them, stood by them and did not resort to violence as the pilgrims did.

Ivory

Here is my short response on the symbol of Ivory in Heart of Darkness:

Ivory may usually be found on elephants, as it is the main component of their tusks. In effect, in Africa there are a lot of elephants and at the time this novel was written, the ivory was quite important. In the passage we have read, Marlow compares the ivory to a religion that the white people are worshiping. He describes the men as: “faithless pilgrims bewitched inside a rotten fence. (…) You would think they were
praying to it [Ivory].” In fact we can say that Ivory represents the white men’s desire to come to Africa and take everything precious they have, everything that has some value in Europe or elsewhere. It somewhat represents the avarice of the white men. I think Ivory is a strong symbol as for Marlow; it represents the God most men are worshipping at the Company. It may have another meaning later in the books as Ivory may have different signification or a stronger one than just the desire of wealth.