The Digital Wake Up Call

At the beginning of this English course I felt completely out of place and slightly incompetent. I had just returned from an 18-month mission for my church, and had immersed myself in a foreign language during that time. I was unsure if I could even write anything coherent in English.

Registering for this class I knew it would be a challenge, but I have always loved literature. I kept telling myself that anything worth it is difficult, and so I plunged into this new world. I was able to discover the diverse world of literature all on the digital platform the Kindle; a device I was completely unfamiliar with. I remember ordering it off of Amazon and to my surprise receiving it only 3 days later because of Amazon Prime membership, but that wasn’t the biggest surprise. I opened the Kindle and was amazed by its appearance as a printed book. I had never seen the screen of a Kindle, and in that moment it changed my opinion of the device almost instantaneously. (Check out chapter one of our class ebook, Becoming Digiliterate to learn more about the Kindle.)

Through reading Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad I began to see that the Kindle models traditional literary study; notes can still be taken, highlighting can be done, bookmarks may be placed and much more. It resembled a printed book, but it also enhanced note taking, highlighting, and bookmarking. Instead of tediously flipping through pages of the book I could see on one page all highlights, notes, or bookmarks I may have placed. This was very beneficial as my class collectively authored this blog and we all wrote several posts about Heart of Darkness.

Twice a week my classmates and I wrote in our class blog, ranging from blog posts about books that had impacted us to writing our own sonnets. I had read fashion blogs before, but had never actually desired to start to author my own blog. At first, it was such a stressful homework assignment that I would spend most of the day just brainstorming what to write about; it made me so nervous to post any of my personal thoughts about literature online. Literature was supposed to be something private right? Not anymore… If that wasn’t social enough my class was also assigned to have a Goodreads account.

The first time I was on Goodreads I probably spent the rest of my evening finding books I had read, and also adding some to my to-read list. I was surprised that many of my friends already had a Goodreads account as well, and I was able to see what books we had both read. I no longer had to rely on what a librarian insisted that I read, but Goodreads could recommend books based on what I had read and rated.

Through all these mediums my literary study has been enhanced. It goes deeper than just the sparknote study that I was used to, but into social sites such as twitter and youtube. This class has helped to see that traditional literary study has been changing since it begun from just an oral medium and it will continue to do so. The Kindle and any other form of digital literature are becoming just as much traditional as a printed book.

A Psychological Connection

As of recently, I've been delving into the world that is Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness. In my last post, which you can view here, I discussed the way that a double narrative and shift in time affects the way that the reader takes in the novel.
This time, however, I'm going to be getting a bit more into the psychological aspect of the novel, and the way that it affects the way the reader actually connects with this particular work. Because of this, this post is also going to be a much more personal analysis.

Jacques Lacan.
Just look at that head of hair. 

To do so I first need to explain a theory about a dead French dude named Jacques Lacan who created this thing called the Lacanian Theory. (How would it be to become famous enough that you get a theory named after you?) To sum his theory up, he believes that the moment you begin to recognize yourself in the mirror is the moment you go in search of what your identity actually is. And so when you're reading a book,  you automatically seek out different parts of that book that can apply to what your life is as a whole. Follow me there? So basically when you find all this hidden symbolism in the book that you think was obviously written just for you (when it really wasn't) you're supporting Lacan's theory.

Now onto Heart of Darkness!

One of the most common ways to work through this novel is by looking between the symbolism and the characters throughout. For the sake of length, I'm just going to discuss the narrators and the thought itself of the darkness.

We obviously have our main character/ narrator Marlow, who goes on his dark journey through the Congo in search of an Ivory trader. Strangely enough, as I was reading the novel I actually didn't connect all that much with Marlow. He wasn't much to me, he simply was. The character in this novel that I mirrored the most actually turned out to be the unknown narrator that would just occasionally throw something out there explaining the way that he was hearing and seeing the tale from Marlow. In my own life, I can be a very quiet listener. I don't often jump into conversations, and if someone else is telling a story, often the only time I'll speak up is when necessary. Because of this, this unknown narrator became part of my identity as I took in the book.

Me, pondering the existence
 of a book inside of me.

Then there's the symbolism of the darkness. What does it mean? What did Conrad intend it to mean? Is it a physical darkness? Mental? When looking at the symbolism of this and how I took it into my own life, I was also reminded of the reader response theory. This states that the reader basically becomes the author of the work in a different way. So although the darkness came to mean the darkness of the heart to me, perhaps Conrad meant it in a totally different way, and perhaps someone else who has read this novel painted the darkness in their mind in a completely different way. But because of my reader response to the darkness, I absorbed this symbolism into the person that I am, and the way that the book will impact me is strongly based upon this.

When talking about the psychology of Heart of Darkness, it can be difficult because it becomes a very subjective subject. My responses vastly alter the way that the book is mirrored in my life, in the same way it would be vastly different from the way the book would be mirrored in another person's life. There are so many different ways to view Conrad's work, but if you take the time to dive into it, you're likely to find parts that contribute to you as a person.

So tell me, what part of you is mirrored back when reading Heart of Darkness?

The Untold Story of the Native Woman

I was extremely fascinated by the only strong female character that is mentioned maybe just two times in Joseph Conrad’s entire novel Heart of Darkness.

He first depicts her from a crowd of native people, which was code in my mind that she is important and I immediately began trying to put together a story for her. After setting the scene he introduces her “along the lighted shore moved a wild and gorgeous apparition of a woman.” Conrad seldom spoke of woman and often it was derogatory and the main character somehow saw this woman in a more positive light. It is as if he welcomes us to make up her role as the story moves along.

I was immediately drawn to this woman, I wanted to know who she was and what her part in the story was, but other than physical descriptions Conrad leads us the readers to write his own novel or in other words to have our own reader-response criticism.  

Reader-response criticism is simply stated in The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Literary Theory and Criticism as, “reading is really a process of combining what is physically in print with what you make up in your mind….texts never tell you absolutely everything, and when the author doesn’t give you a particular detail, you may supply it yourself.”

I initially thought that this woman was the infamous Mr. Kurtz’s “intended;” however, as we come to understand that he left a grieving fiancé at home. Although I was wrong about the mysterious native woman being his intended I still believe that they had a romantic relationship. It is written that she was more than upset at Mr. Kurtz sickly departure from the African Congo. How empowering is it that we get to be somewhat of a writer in such an amazing novel!

Then also from this same empowered woman that somehow empowers our own thinking and mental writing we find paradox in who she is. “She walked with measured steps.. treading the earth proudly… she carried her head high” she seems to have it all together and to be perfectly balanced. However, in the very next paragraph she seems to be falling apart, “Her face had a tragic and fierce aspect of wild sorrow.” His description leaves us with the impression that such a strong and controlled woman has no control at all, and that is the wonder of deconstruction. This native woman becomes so much more alive and real to us through the irony that she is both carrying her head high but fiercely sorrowful. Conrad uses deconstruction to also allow us to be the author alongside him, and for me it is proof of her love for Conrad.

You can also see more criticism for nameless native woman here. 

My sister and I on a little trip to Mexico; trying to accessorize like the native woman. 

"her hair was done in the shape of a helmet; she had brass leggings to the knee, brass wire gauntlets to the elbow , a crimson spot on her tawny cheek, innumerable necklaces of glass beads on her neck; bizarre things, charms , gifts of witch-men, that hung about her, glittered and trembled at every step."

Culture in the Congo

We’ve already discussed Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad quite a bit on this blog if you’ve been following along with us.  I am going to keep expounding on that novel by looking at it in the context of “cultural studies.” It was pretty hard for me to pinpoint exactly what I wanted to discuss about cultural studies because I didn’t even know what it was to begin with before I read from our textbook Literary Theory and Criticism.  Basically, as defined by our textbook, “cultural studies investigates meaning in the social text of everyday life.” “Culture” is a very broad definition.  Some define culture as something that lots of people participate in, and some define culture as something that is made up of the “best” of society. I am going to be basing my analysis off of the following passage from the text of the novel:

“Hunters for gold or pursuers of fame, they all had gone out on that stream, bearing the sword, and often the torch, messengers of the might within the land, bearers of a spark from the sacred fire. What greatness had not floated on the ebb of that river into the mystery of an unknown earth!”

The passage above relates clearly to the many themes of colonization that prevail throughout the novel.  Discussed in Literary Theory and Criticism is a theory developed by F. R. Leavis and his wife.  Leavis said that Joseph Conrad is one of the most important writers for those of society to read.  He said reading Conrad could help a society “struggling against war, mechanization, commercialism, and the diminishing impact of religion.”  From the above passage, we can interpret why Leavis chose Conrad as one of the most culturally important authors to read. Conrad brings to light in Heart of Darkness the great sufferings of the people who lived in the Congo at that time.   

Also, from the Literary and Theory Criticism book, I read about “enlightenment rationality replacing myth.”  Two prominent theorists from the 1930s, Theodor W. Adorno and Max Horkheimer, said that the Enlightenment Era, which began in the 1600s, was a cultural movement designed to move people out of captivity.  But, because cultural practices became so ingrained in peoples’ minds, enlightenment replaced “rational myth.”

We see so clearly throughout Heart of Darkness the people of the Congo being oppressed by the “conquerors.”  But, we don’t see people too upset over the fact that people are starving and dying in the name of enlightenment and civilization.  Kurtz uses Marlow’s character to break the cultural norms that generally accepted the “ration myth” of enlightenment.  We see through Marlow’s eyes the horrors that actually happened in the Congo, and we feel for the people there. 

The two above theories relate in the sense that they both comment on the 

culture happening around and within Heart of Darkness.  Themes of oppression serve as a guide to comment on the “rational myth” that had replaced theories of enlightenment.  These same themes of oppression also serve as a cultural guide of “what not to do.”  After reading Literary Theory and Criticism, I have a better grasp on cultural studies and how they apply to Conrad’s Heart of Darkness.

I found a presentation that deals with enlightenment in Heart of Darkness.  Click here to view.

My picture is a bit unrelated just as Nathan's is, but this is me and my fiancé!

Whom Do We Blame?

Girls get a pretty bad rap in most societies. "You throw like a girl!" "Boys are stronger (smarter, more inclined to understand money, maps, you name it), it's science!" and similar phrases plague young girls' minds and raise them to believe that by natural, indisputable law, boys are generally better at everything except being nice and baking (I don't think I'm exaggerating). So who is to blame? All men? Nope! Women, then? I don't think that's fair. How did we get to this place? Literature provides a concrete and fascinating platform from which we can analyze the world's interpretation of what it means to be female. 

Here's a picture of me (far left) with my favorite female (my mother) and my favorite feminist (far right, my father) in Moscow, Russia after my 18 month church service in the Ural Mountains and Siberia. 

So in my last post about Heart of Darkness, I explored the ways in which we, as readers may be just as responsible for misconceptions about what it means to be "female" as Joseph Conrad, who penned the novel himself and has been highly criticized for the way in which females are portrayed. After reading a lot more about feminist literary criticism (see here for a great essay about it), Marxism, Freudism, and reader response theories, I'm looking at Heart of Darkness through a whole different lens... or a couple of lenses all at once, I guess.

Steven J. Venturino's The Complete Idiot's Guide to Literary Theory and Criticism provides thorough and accessible explanations for different literary criticism theories, and I will be referencing the kindle version (available here on Amazon) often in this post. As defined by Venturino, feminist literary criticism seeks to expose the effects of patriarchy (or a world controlled by men) and to advance equal opportunities for women (Loc 3178). Basically, feminist criticism assumes that all literary texts come from authors and historical settings that oppress women, regardless of the the author's gender or upbringing. Furthermore, a feminist critic's job is to expose the patriarchal nature of the world to the light of reality, and then to undo an oppressive view of women that has been drilled into our minds since birth, unbeknownst to us. (After all, "political and social forces can succeed best when they don't look like force at all" (Loc 3178). That's the genius of patriarchal society, it appears to be normal and natural!) 

In Conrad's Heart of Darkness, there are three female characters who basically serve to embody the traits that aren't already taken by the main characters, which are: naivety, innocence, ignorance, gentleness, and ignorant but hysteric emotion. Marlow's aunt gives ridiculous, naive advice that Marlow scoffs at, Kurtz' mistress' main character traits are her beauty, wealth, and frightening influence over Kurtz and the natives, and Kurtz' betrothed has basically no idea what's going on and is only soothed from her feminine fussiness when lied to. Critics blame Conrad for these two dimensional characters who paint female as simply the opposite of male, who power stands at the center of the universe. However, feminist theory as a whole, much like Marxism, blames society itself. 

Furthermore, according to reader response theory, it isn't Conrad or society who defines what these characters mean, but the reader. I've got a problem with that though; please tell me another way I could interpret Conrad's opinion on women based off of this novel? The characters are primarily male, and their attitudes toward women showcase annoyance--as if the women are meant to be puppetted by the men, and when they act out, they are a burden to everyone else. I used to think that Conrad might be signaling that men were a part of the problem for women's ignorance (because of Marlow's final thoughts about lying to Kurtz' betrothed), but when I look at it again, Conrad didn't put a single female character in the novel who consciously contributed something worthwhile to the plot. 

To a degree, I disagree with reader response theory that I share equal weight with the author for how his work is interpreted, because Conrad left me with little choice. For this misrepresentation of women specifically, I blame Conrad more than society as a whole or society during Conrad's life or anything else.

Woah, Nellie!

I have heard it said that a skilled writer can put the themes that will be relevant to the entirety of a text within the first few sentences. Especially good writers can do it within the first sentence. 

Today, I'll be analyzing Heart of Darkness and its themes, basing my analysis of the entire text upon the first two paragraphs of the text. Without further ado, let's get started, shall we?

"The Nellie, a cruising yawl, swung to her anchor without a flutter of
the sails, and was at rest. The flood had made, the wind was nearly
calm, and being bound down the river, the only thing for it was to come
to and wait for the turn of the tide.

The sea-reach of the Thames stretched before us like the beginning of
an interminable waterway. In the offing the sea and the sky were welded
together without a joint, and in the luminous space the tanned sails
of the barges drifting up with the tide seemed to stand still in red
clusters of canvas sharply peaked, with gleams of varnished sprits. A
haze rested on the low shores that ran out to sea in vanishing flatness.
The air was dark above Gravesend, and farther back still seemed
condensed into a mournful gloom, brooding motionless over the biggest,
and the greatest, town on earth."

Let's begin with the first two words of the first sentence: The Nellie. "The Nellie" is the name of a ship, and after a little bit of poking around I discovered that the name Nellie has a few different potential origins. The one that is most prevalent to us is its origin in Old German as an alternate of Eleanor. Eleanor, and by extension Nellie, means "other" or "foreign." Within the first two words, Conrad is encoding foreignness into his narrative about the Congo. 

From there, we identify the sort of boat that The Nellie is. It is identified as a "cruising yawl." A yawl is a two-masted ship, commonly used in the 1800's by fishermen. They were most common in the early 1800's, though they remained popular for quite a while. We can likely surmise that The Nellie is an older vessel rather than a newer one, and has likely seen some use in its time. The Nellie is also identified as "cruising." Cruising in the sailing sense usually means sailing for pleasure. So from this we learn that The Nellie is most likely owned by a rich man. If it were used for fishing, it would be called a fishing yawl. Instead, it is called a "cruising yawl," which indicates that its primary use is for pleasure. It is unusual for a member of the working class in the 1800's to be able to afford a boat simply for pleasure. At this point, both the overarching meta-themes of rich, old men is starting to shine through. An old ship, owned by a rich man who is likely to also be older if his ship is old. Both of these assumptions are later proven true about the occupants of the ship. 

Next, we'll look at the first sentence of the second paragraph. In case you don't feel like scrolling, it reads: "The sea-reach of the Thames stretched before us like the beginning of

an interminable waterway." A sea-reach is the point of a river as it reaches the ocean and begins to straighten, indicating that they are near the coast. Unsurprising since they are in a boat. Yet, they describe the Thames as an "interminable waterway" or "a navigable body of water without end." This brings to our minds one of the main focuses of the book: The Congo River. The Congo is described in terms that make it feel endless, and mysterious. 

From there, we pass through several more major themes from the book. Light and Darkness: "Limunous space" and "Mournful gloom." And we see the air of European superiority made manifest in the statment of "the biggest, and the greatest, town on earth." 

A well-crafted book prepares its readers from the very start, even if they don't know it yet. All it takes to find the symbolism and meaning deep within the prose, is to take the time to look for it. 

A picture of myself and my wife from the night we got engaged. Not related, but a great photo!

Venturing into the Woods of Reviews

When I finishing Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad on my Kindle app on my phone it forced me to write a review before I could easily access the last page! I hurried and wrote a short review because I wanted to read the ending of the book without delay…

However, I felt as if the review I wrote was quite cliché and could be improved, but this was the first time EVER that I had rated a book publicly. So to see what could be improved of course I looked up others reviews to get a few ideas of what it takes to have a helpful review.

I was surprised to see that someone had already rated my short review helpful before I revised it on Amazon! So I took that as one of my criteria, a review on the shorter side. No one wants to read a novel of a review to find out if the novel is readable. The review also should be semi-personal but not biased; it should have a good balance. I shuffled through so many reviews that were also too short like, “was alright” or “a must for any bookshelf.” I did not find that either of these did justice for the novel if they hated it or loved it, I did not know why. They needed to back up their opinion. I also enjoyed hearing about methods that others used to enjoy the book; maybe they had read the reviews, or reread it several times. 

So with those observations I took a stab in the dark of writing my own review, and then even publishing it online for my Facebook friends to see!

So here it is:

“Finely written novel with a theme of imperialism. The two main characters Marlow and Kurtz are interesting and thought provoking. It is a dark novel that takes no empathy for the loss of human life. At some points the racism and sexism demonstrated by the characters is painful; however, this portrays very explicitly the historical context and the author Joseph Conrad's own voice. I did not fully understand the book until I understood to the context of why it was written. Reviews and Spark Notes helped me understand and get lost in the book that initially made me cringe at its darkness. The novel is thought provoking, and well detailed, but leaves reader with a dark impression.”

So obviously I kept it pretty short. I discussed the theme of the book, but also showed how initially the book was hard for me to read, until I understood Joseph Conrad, both expressing my opinion with facts.

Unfortunately, I was disappointed to not receive too much of a response to my post on Facebook about the review. I know my friends read, but maybe they use Goodreads for books and Facebook for socializing? Any tips on getting more of a response on Facebook? 

However, while interacting on Goodreads and Amazon through reviews I was surprised to find so many others who were able to appreciate Heart of Darkness as I had. I needed to first understand Conrad to truly get lost in the book, and a few other reviews discussed that! I looked at their other reviews and one of my favorite ones was actually on Amazon, and she rated mostly books! It was entertaining to see what other things people have rated like guns and knives and then Heart of Darkness. I feel like it could help identify me with the person or completely differentiate. It was a fun experiment!

I still feel pretty amateur and that I am venturing lost in the dark woods of the review world, so what does it take to have a well-written review for you?

Narrating Time

Joseph Conrad's brief novel Heart of Darkness may not look like much at first glance, but with some further delving into the story, it becomes a fast paced journey through an unknown territory.

This story is about a seaman named Marlow who is narrating his previous journey through uncharted Africa in search of an ivory trader named Mr. Kutz to the men aboard the ship the Nellie alongside him. Marlow's journey is documented by an outside source and unknown narrator who occasionally brings information about Marlow himself or what's been going on as the story is being told. However, much of the journey is told by Marlow himself.

This anonymous narrator is quickly forgotten after the first few pages of the novel when Marlow takes over. One of the most clear turning points is when the narrator shifts to Marlow mid paragraph here,

"We looked on, waiting patiently- there was nothing else to do till the end of the flood; but it was only after a long silence, when he said, in a hesitating voice, "I suppose you fellows remember I did once turn fresh-water sailor for a bit," that we knew we were fated, before the ebb began to run, to hear about one of Marlow's inconclusive experiences."

This double narrative creates an interesting span in time. Marlow is taking the reader, as well as the men aboard the ship, on his journey with him. And as he's recounting the tale it's easy to get lost and forget that he's actually on board telling the tale, and not living it out at that moment.

As Marlow's journey progresses, there's an occasion quick shift back to the present time with the other seamen where something is clarified in the story or new information is presented by Marlow or the narrator. This jolt back to reality often feels strange and unprecedented as the reader is made to feel comfortable in the past, then suddenly is reminded of the harshness of the present.

In the end, Marlow says that after his timely journey, he was a changed man and had difficulty relating back into the world of civilization.

In today's evolving digital age, many people become engrossed in the digital world in the way the reader and the seamen become engrossed in Marlow's tale. They become lost.

While the internet is an engrossing place full of wonders and unknown territory, it's easy for someone to lose track of time while absorbed in the alternate world. As though taking a long journey, these people can lose themselves if they don't exercise caution. And when someone becomes lost on their journey through the internet, it's a difficult journey for them when they're jolted suddenly back into the realm of the real and immediate world.

Even when becoming lost in a good thing, such as spending hours on Amazon looking for a new book, or cyber stalking this killer new author you've found on Goodreads, it's important to remember the need to take a step back and not totally lose yourself while learning to navigate this strange new world.

By Jove! Who is Mr. Kurtz?

While reading Heart of Darkness I felt as I had taken on the amazingly descriptive and symbolic journey written by Joseph Conrad. The main character Marlow is anxious to get sailing into what becomes quite a dark expedition as depicted in the title. He ventures into the African Congo unknowingly on a quest to merely converse with the infamous Mr. Kurtz that everyone seems to idolize and respect.

Marlow initially shows his interest in Kurtz by saying, “Tell me, pray, said I, who is this Mr. Kurtz?” to which it is uncovered that “He is a prodigy, he is an emissary of pity, and science, and progress, and devil knows what else.” 

Marlow presses forward through undesirable events during the voyage to speak with Kurtz and he ponders what it will be like to finally talk to him. At some points claiming he absolutely dislikes him and other times idolizing him and therefore, often contradicting himself.

In one unfortunate event the natives of the land attack his steamboat by the command of Kurtz, but Marlow not knowing the reasoning of the attack fears the loss of Mr. Kurtz. His distressed reaction to his possible death shows his devotion to him. Marlow like all the rest is devoutly loyal to Mr. Kurtz.

Finally the Marlow’s crew arrives to get Mr. Kurtz, and he comes across yet another fanatic for Kurtz, a Russian man. Marlow is not impressed with Kurtz fan club and thinks to himself, “I suppose it did not occur to him Mr. Kurtz was no idol of mine.”

Marlow continues to uncover the cunningness of Kurtz ironically as the Russian man praises him. Marlow gathered that “the man filled his life, occupied his thoughts, swayed his emotions,” but he had not realized that he had the same exact impact on himself.

Kurtz encompasses what the heart of darkness is, egoistic, selfish, and inhumane. So many were loyal to the nightmare that is Mr. Kurtz who was only governed by his “monstrous passions.” In the end we uncover that Mr. Kurtz is nothing more than a calculating leader with high dreams to get rich and will take out anyone in the way. As it is stated in the novel, “your strength is just an accident arising from the weakness of others” such as the strength of Mr. Kurtz. Kurtz’s strength in eloquent speech made him feared and honored leading him to his power and also his death. His followers in unwavering loyalty glorified his strengths and looked upon his weaknesses as strengths as well for as they believed, “You can’t judge Mr. Kurtz as you would an ordinary man.”

I feel as the social media platform is becoming just as persuasive and cunning as Mr. Kurtz although it won’t shoot you for “rebellion” it could lead to bullying and also a loss of a few “friends.” I am sure there is a symbolic Mr. Kurtz in almost all of our friend lists or in what is now trending, and just may even be receiving recognition they may not deserve. Just as Mr. Kurtz they are adorned with titles and praises from those surrounding them, and we may feel like we must accept them. Thus defying our own personal identity turning us into a Marlow, we become trapped in all the opinions, our own opinion varying too frequently. We may often find ourselves in the mix of social media in Marlow’s shoes in that “I (we) had been striving after something altogether without a substance.”

Facilitating Ignorance

The role of women in the home, in the work place, and in the media is constantly under fire. What do we expect of women? Misogyny says they should be condescended, chivalry says they should be protected, forward thinking says they should be respected.  In Joseph Conrad's short novel, Heart of Darkness, set in Africa when european countries were at the height of their imperialism, the two main female characters are incredibly naive to the reality of the darkness of the Congo. Many readers critically interpret the shallow thinking of these two women (protagonist Marlow's aunt and Ivory Lord Kurtz' 'betrothed') as a representation of Conrad's opinion on women. However, when Marlow ends his journey down the Congo River and returns to the ignorant betrothed of Kurtz, the reader notices irony in the fact that Marlow, who once criticized the naivety of his female aunt, actually contributes to the problem. Perhaps Conrad was trying to relate a different message?

Notice how this man effectively protects the female by lovingly closing her ears.

Marlow and Kurtz' betrothed meet for the first time as Marlow returns from his dark journey, where he met a deeply affected Kurtz. As she blubbers ignorantly about what an incredible man Kurtz was, the betrothed demands to know what Kurtz' last words were. Marlow relates:

"'I was on the point of crying at her, 'Don't you hear them?' The dusk was repeating them in a persistent whisper all around us, in a whisper that seed to swell menacingly like the first whisper of a rising wind. 'The horror! The horror!' 

''His last word-- to live with,' she murmured. 'Don't you understand I loved him--I loved him--I loved him!' 

'I pulled myself together and spoke slowly. 'The last word he pronounced was--your name'" (Conrad, Loc 1409).

In attempts to protect Kurtz' betrothed from Kurtz' horrifying downfall, Marlow lies. His warm-fuzzier version of Kurtz' death adds fuel to the raging fire of the betrothed's naivety. This entire exchange highlights the irony and hypocrisy imbedded deep within countless social structures, especially the double standards of feminism.

This principle applies as we attempt to adapt to and understand the ever-changing social norms that prevail in society today.

As readers venture deeper into cyberspace, are we too, contributing to the narcissism, anonymity, and misconceptions associated with the internet? We encourage young girls to not base their self worth off of the pictures they see on the internet--"It's not real!"--but how long do we spend picking out the filter that is least noticeable but most flattering for our skin tone? We ridicule the loudest anonymous mouths on online forums, but how comfortable are we connecting our on and off line personas? I, for one, don't like the idea of my picture being connected to my Goodreads profile... why is that? We acknowledge that so much of what exists online is not completely true, but we contribute to it.

Navigating the Darkness

It's easy to get the plot of the book, a seaman named Marlow is telling of his travels through Africa. But for the life of me, as much as I read the book, I couldn't understand the allure of the book. This is when I decided to jump into the reviews and discussions a little earlier than I anticipated, and this is the moment I began connecting Marlow's strange journey to my strange journey in this unexplored area of the internet.

Connecting to other people through a book started out as an intimidating prospect. And on the flip side, connecting to the book through other people seemed even near impossible.

So when we were told to read the book "Heart of Darkness" by Joseph Conrad and use it to connect to others on the Amazon, Kindle, and Goodreads platform, I was about ready to have a heart attack.
Reading has always been a highly personal endeavor for me. Many times, I wouldn't even discuss something I read with someone like my mom. The book had become too personal, the characters were mine, and it was as though the author had become a dear personal friend. And in my mind, if I talked to someone else about these things, they would lose their value to me.

However, once I decided to overcome this and really take this assignment seriously, I was surprised to find that these other people whom I've never even met helped to drastically change the way I was connecting with the book as well as finding a new way to think about what it was I was reading at the time.

Suddenly the characters in the book were taking on new life. Other's opinions of the themes of the book made me begin to think about what was really being said behind the words, and the appreciation that this community had for this piece of literature made me even more curious as to what Marlow would do or say next. On the Kindle itself I was able to look at the most popularly highlighted quotes, many of which I would have never thought to deem important. But seeing the importance of these quotes to others created a wonder as to why they were important, and what made them so important to such a vast amount of people.

My mind started to wander, looking for new themes, or wondering what would have changed if maybe Conrad had changed even one little character trait in the mysterious Marlow, or made him take a different path. And the funny thing is, others had these same views! The views people were sharing was saying so much about them individually, until I felt as though I came to become friends with not only the author, but also the people who felt so strongly about his work as well. It was almost like finding a mutual friend that brought us together.

"They were men enough to face the darkness." -Marlow

Thanks, Marlow, I am man enough to face this darkness that is the internet. 

On the Same Boat

I wish I had read more of the reviews before diving into “Heart of Darkness,” by  Joseph Conrad.  The novel seemed just seemed too allusive and dark to me. The book definitively is both dark and allusive, but I didn’t completely understand why. I just wasn't connecting with the book. After a few pages in I decided to quickly assess what the book was all about I looked up the plot overview on spark notes, but it didn’t seem to cover what I wanted to know.  

I understood what was being told, but I was curious to know the WHY? Why had the author chose to focus in on this somewhat odd seaman Marlow to write a book about? I would have loved to sit down with Joseph Conrad and ask him personally all my why questions about his sultry novel; however, I came across my own personal gold mine of reviews! 

If I had only read the context of the book before plunging in it would have made so much more sense! I found a review on Amazon that cleared up why Joseph Conrad wrote about Marlow. It is very possible that Joseph Conrad was simply writing about his own endeavors with a few detail changes. He CONNECTED with his own "fictional character." I then found myself reminiscing on the times I had connected with Marlow as well. 

Marlow is compassionate about his profession, and is even willing to put himself in daunting situations to attain his goals. He is not speaking in his native tongue in a job interview, but in French! Although I have no desire to be a seamen I have found myself in various situations just like this. I made the connection! 

I along with many others felt that Conrad's voice was the voice of Marlow, and he was heavily influenced by the racism circulating at that time. 

This blunt racism and even sexism initially made me cringe, but through reading the reviews on goodreads I feel like I have come to better understand who Marlow and Joseph Conrad truly are.