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Title details for Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad - Available

Heart of Darkness

by Joseph Conrad
Copyright Group
ebook
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Heart of Darkness tells the story of Charles Marlow, an English man who journeys into the African jungle. The difference between Conrad's novella and other classic adventure fictions, like Defoe's Robinson Crusoe, is that Heart of Darkness goes beyond classic motifs of discovery and exploration to explicitly deal with questions of racism, exploitation and colonization. Marlow's mission in the story is to transport ivory and to take Kurtz, an experienced ivory trader, back to Europe. The events in the African jungle are sandwiched by two scenes aboard a ship anchored in the Thames where Marlow reveals the details of his adventures to a group of friends. The darkness of the bloody happenings that Marlow witnesses during his journey parallels the fall of dusk on the Thames as the story is being told. In Africa, Marlow is mainly disgusted with white men's shallowness and mischievous behavior with natives. The readers ultimately understand that the darkness of the title does not only stand for the horrors in the African wilderness, but mainly for the cruelty of the colonizer's heart. Indeed, the symbolism of Heart of Darkness centers around the mystery of human inclination towards wickedness.

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Publisher: Deadtree Publishing

OverDrive Read

  • ISBN: 9781780007342
  • Release date: March 14, 2013

EPUB ebook

  • ISBN: 9781780007342
  • File size: 102 KB
  • Release date: March 14, 2013

Open EPUB ebook

  • ISBN: 9781780007342
  • File size: 101 KB
  • Release date: March 14, 2013

Formats

OverDrive Read
EPUB ebook
Open EPUB ebook

subjects

Classic Literature Fiction

Languages

English

Levels

Lexile® Measure:950
Text Difficulty:5-6

Heart of Darkness tells the story of Charles Marlow, an English man who journeys into the African jungle. The difference between Conrad's novella and other classic adventure fictions, like Defoe's Robinson Crusoe, is that Heart of Darkness goes beyond classic motifs of discovery and exploration to explicitly deal with questions of racism, exploitation and colonization. Marlow's mission in the story is to transport ivory and to take Kurtz, an experienced ivory trader, back to Europe. The events in the African jungle are sandwiched by two scenes aboard a ship anchored in the Thames where Marlow reveals the details of his adventures to a group of friends. The darkness of the bloody happenings that Marlow witnesses during his journey parallels the fall of dusk on the Thames as the story is being told. In Africa, Marlow is mainly disgusted with white men's shallowness and mischievous behavior with natives. The readers ultimately understand that the darkness of the title does not only stand for the horrors in the African wilderness, but mainly for the cruelty of the colonizer's heart. Indeed, the symbolism of Heart of Darkness centers around the mystery of human inclination towards wickedness.

Expand title description text
Classic Literature Fiction