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Heart of Darkness help (1 Viewer)

jamesrl91

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Hey all
Anyone no anything in regards to Heart of Darkness (Conrad) specifically in terms of Humanism and/or Colonialism?

Any help would be great

James
 

Rhanoct

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Something I typed up early in the morning for a y11 in another thread:

"It definitely does. HOD + AN reveal the primal/horrific capacities of man as one is taken out of their social context (as Marlow/Willard journey along the Congo River/forgot the other one they travel away from their social contexts of law/restrictions & gain unfettered freedom) and move deeper into the jungle/their own heart (major technique there). To back this idea up you should talk about how the environment + people they meet become more surreal/bizarre as they travel deeper into the jungle/their own hearts. I have a very good quote that shows this for HOD but I can't think of it now; for AN you should comment on the ancestral statues towards the end of the film and the mist/scene where they're being attacked and there's the amazing lighting + other cinematography. Willard's changing behaviour can also be commented on - shoots the woman.

Here are some quotes that exemplify the above:

"I saw him extend his short flipper of an arm for a gesture that took in the forest, the creek, the mud, the river, - seemed to beckon with a dishonouring flourish before the sunlit face of land a treacherous appeal to the lurking death, to the hidden evil, to the profound darkness of its heart." pg. 58

"He had taken a high seat amongst the devils of the land-- I mean literally." pg.??

"breathe dead hippo, so to speak, and not be contaminated." pg. 82

"Sometimes I ask myself whether I had actually seen him- whether it was possible to meet such a phenomenon!" pg. ??

- passage where Kurtz is physically described as ivory

- Kurtz's wild dances

Sorry that it's very incoherent but I'm tired :D pm me if you need any more help, I did HOD for y11 and am using it as a related text for y12 so I'm very fresh with it.

ps: ?? = not sure what page, I just paraphrased/googled the quote"


Um yeah, basically, willard/marlow witness the grim realities of colonialism. i actually havent been reading over HOD lately so ive forgotten the exact quotes but for HOD you can talk about how they gave the natives copper wire i think when they needed food? arrrgggg.. ill try sift through my notes to find the actual quote, it's good. For AN you can use Willard saying "we'd cut them in half and give them a band-aid".

very convoluted sorry :/


what exactly are you looking at with humanism? i'm guessing that's another way to say the nature of evil/human heart? if so talk about how kurtz drowns in the darkness of his heart/overcome with greed for power and ivory etc. constrast this with willard to show that the human's are, however, capable of remaining untainted and moral, like how willard refuses to call in the air strike at the end of AN.
 
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