What do you see in Heart of Darkness?

[Anonymous No.12199013]

I read it at the beginning of the year and wasn't able to take much away from it, seemed like Conrad was definitely a skilled writer but none of the content resonated with me. What kind of value did you guys see?

[Anonymous No.12199455]

>>12199013

Haven't read Heart yet, but I've been on a Conrad binge the last few months, starting with Youth, moving to End of the Tether, and now halfway through Lord Jim.

I think he has one of the best prose styles I know. He can get caught up in his own pontificating, but at it's best it comes across as strong and alive, and there's a satisfaction to knowing that Conrad lived the life that he wrote about.

Youth in particular is glorious to read; line after line of magic.

[Anonymous No.12199483]

>>12199013
I share your feel OP. Read it not too long ago. I didn't get the whole
>Colonialism is bad!
thing like I was expecting. I got more of a Man v. Nature vibe.

[Anonymous No.12199553]

>>12199483
the whole idea is that nature is neutral and only inserting man into it creates the darkness, by cutting him off from civilisation and routine, making him slowly go insane in the process

so pretty much
>the Heart of Darkness was inside you all along

also there is definitely a huge colonialism is bad theme, the whole thing is clearly shown as being driven by greed under a thin veil of supposedly "educating savages" (the absurdity of this is shown for example by the native worker who, despite being supposedly "educated" believes that the boat's engine is a demon that eats coal)

Kurtz is the epitome of colonialism, he talks very eloquently about high ideals, but is in practice a monster driven by greed and a primal desire for domination

[Anonymous No.12199572]

>>12199013
It is the retelling of the Faust-myth in a secular society.

[Anonymous No.12199806]

>>12199553
>the native worker who, despite being supposedly "educated" believes that the boat's engine is a demon that eats coal)

what part of the book is that? I've read and read Heart of Darkness four times and never caught that

[Anonymous No.12199813]

>>12199806
it's during the middle bit when they sail on the river to get to Kurtz

[Anonymous No.12199824]

>>12199013

In broad strokes it's about how in Darwinian nature, man is capable of great evils. The moral structure that we overlay life with does not exist in nature. Since this is the case, HoD traces the "evil" that man can do to the extreme. It's a journey into the psyche of man, which is why there are so many dream-like elements to the book. Reaching Kurtz is reaching the center, getting a look at how we are capable of doing such evil that it causes Kurtz to say "the horror".

I know that there is the whole colonialism analysis that is often done in college. I'm sure it's valid. After watching Apocalypse Now, though, I think that the psychological analysis is more interesting. In the film, it uses the structure of the book, but illustrates the idea through war. In war, like Darwinian nature, it is the survival of the fittest. In such brutal conditions, one can see the heart of darkness--the way we really are deep down.