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In Heart of Darkness, by Joseph Conrad, a man s confrontation with his dark self is both dangerous and enlightening. In the novel, the term darkness has a few different meanings. The term light also has some meanings in the novel. The darkness can mean f being uncivilized, while the light can mean being civilized. Marlow and Kurtz are good examples of living in the dark and living in the light.
Kurtz (once a civilized man) does what he pleases, however has a dark ore about it that only came about after being in the jungle for so long. Marlow did not let the jungle get to him and therefore lived a cultured life. The darkness of the story can also refer to the setting. Most of the story takes place in the jungle. The natives always feel as if they are going to be attacked, therefore leaving them on alert. The natives see how the white men are trying to be the richest ivory owners and how they would sacrifice anything for it.
The jungle has an extremely harsh climate and it tests one s mind and body. Kurtz gives into the darkness, however Marlow does not. The jungle brings out a person s true self, everyone s fa ade eventually dries out. In some way the novel is somewhat chauvinistic. In the jungle the natives are supposedly the uncivilized being, and the white are to be the civilized. The author refers to the natives as animals.
He never makes them seem as if they were equal to the whites, even if the native was educated. In making the natives live an unfair life where they can t dominate their home, is somewhat of a dark aspect. Kurtz, towards the end of his life, led an extremely gloomy life, however never was he compared to the natives. In some ways Marlow and his crew ended up the uncivilized beings because they used the inferior people s land and stole their ivory so they can become rich and live a good life back home. The whites stripped the natives of their possessions, leaving them the uncivilized.
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Research essay sample on Natives Jungle Life
