Contrasts in Heart of Darkness

Lit A: We will be looking at the section after the Manager and before Ms Chua's lecture section last week. (should be touching on Kurtz)

Keep looking out for contrasts -- the white men vs the black men, nature vs man, reality vs illusion, ambiguity vs clarity

Observe how Conrad plays with these contrasts. Contrasts serve to highlight a point through difference, but Conrad uses what we assume of these contrasts in ways which are unexpected, to bring about subversive or ambiguous effects. (e.g. he can discuss the same subject, i.e. the black men, contrasting them to the white men in different approaches -- i.e. the vitality of the black men, also the black men as "shadows") The categories for these contrasts and the portrayal of things change, reflecting Marlow's processing of experience.

Think about the connotations of a journey, pilgrimage. What does Marlow find? What does Marlow confront? What does Marlow know (especially with regard to the motif of sight, of seeing)? What do we know? As Marlow physically journeys into the Congo, he also discovers more of himself, the heart of his darkness, the heart of mankind/civilization's darkness that's in everyone of us, especially manifested in the guise of light.