The Light-dark Metaphor in Heart of Darkness, by Joseph...

Throughout his narrative in Joseph Conrads Heart of Darkness, Charlie Marlow characterizes events, ideas, and locations that he encounters in terms of light or darkness. Embedded in Marlows parlance is an ongoing metaphor equating light with knowledge and civility and darkness with mystery and savagery. When he begins his narrative, Marlow equates light and, therefore, civility, with reality, believing it to be a tangible expression of mans natural state. Similarly, Marlow uses darkness to depict savagery as a vice having absconded with nature. But as he proceeds deeper into the heart of the African jungle and begins to understand savagery as a primitive form of civilization and, therefore, a reflection on his own reality,†¦show more content†¦In a word, Marlows delineation of the British imperialists implies that he understands civilization to be logical and rational, while he understands primitive social organizations to be backward and crude. As Marlow proceeds deeper into the heart of the African jungle and begins to understand savagery as a primitive form of civilization and, therefore, a reflection on his own reality, the light-dark metaphor shifts. For example, when Marlow goes wandering in the jungle, he has contrasting experiences in the sunshine and in the shade that are ironic in light of the established metaphor. Contemplating the colonialists in the jungle, he remarks: Ive seen the devil of violence, and the devil of greed, and the devil of hot desire; but, by all the stars! These were strong, lusty, red-eyed devils, that swayed and drove men - men, I tell you. But as I stood on the hillside, I foresaw that in the blinding sunshine of that land I would become acquainted with a flabby, pretending, weak-eyed devil of a rapacious and pitiless folly. How insidious he could be, too, I was only to find out several months later. That the blazing sunlight would proffer to Marlow the realization that the civilized colonialists were littleShow MoreRelated The Metaphors of Conrads Heart of Darkness Essay1417 Words   |  6 PagesThe Metaphors of Heart of Darkness      Ã‚  Ã‚   Within the text of Heart of Darkness, the reader is presented with many metaphors. Those that recur, and are most arresting and notable, are light and dark, nature and Kurtz and Marlow. The repeated use of light and dark imagery represents civilization and primitiveness, and of course the eternal meaning of good and evil. However, the more in depth the reader goes the more complex it becomes. Complex also are the meanings behind the metaphors of natureRead MoreThe Heart Of Darkness By Joseph Conrad1166 Words   |  5 Pages 1 Dr. Olumide Ogundipe ENGL 103-X04 7 Dec 2016in The Use of Darkness in Heart of Darkness Everyone claims to be equal, and nowadays people are working hard to create equality regardless gender and race. 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