HOD: Light vs Dark

I thought I'd start us off with a few passages. I'll be back to do some analysis, later, but this will help us start off.

"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" (1).

"It was difficult to realize his work was not out there in the luminous estuary, but behind him, within the brooding gloom" (1).

"And at last, in its curved and imperceptible fall, the sun sank low, and from glowing white changed to a dull red without rays and without heat, as if about to go out suddenly, stricken to death by the touch of that gloom brooding over a crowd of men" (2).

"'And this also,' said Marlow suddenly, 'has been one of the dark places of the earth'" (3).

"They were men enough to face the darkness" (4).

"It had ceased to be a blank space of delightful mystery -- a white patch for a boy to dream gloriously over. It had become a place of darkness" (5). -- I think this quote would be interesting to analyze further. We would normally think of mystery or undiscovered land as darkness, but in this passage, Conrad describes it as the opposite. It also fits into the whole imperialism=bad theme.

"Darkness, knitting black wool as for a warm pall, one introducing, introducing continuously to the unknown, the other scrutinizing the cheery and foolish faces with unconcerned old eyes" (8). --I think in this quote it might be interesting to look at how the darkness of knitting, bringing order to the disorderly yarn, is similar to the darkness involved in imperialism.

"We penetrated deeper and deeper into the heart of darkness" (30). -- Omg, they said the title I wonder if that means the quote's important or something.

Feel free to post other passages, I'm still reading and I'm sure I missed quite a few. I also think we should look at darkness as it pertains to race, the irony that a hot and sunny climate is compared to darkness, and darkness as a metaphor for evil, misunderstanding, and limited perspectives. And of course, imperialism.

What is our statement about dark vs. light?

I was thinking: Conrad uses contrast between dark vs. light in order to help reinforce his idea that often we become deceived by accepted notions of truth and the world, when in reality truth may exist where it was never expected.

Here's some quotes I found as well:

"After all, that was only a savage sight while I seemed at one bound to have been transported into some lightless region of subtle horrors, where pure, uncomplicated savagery was a positive relief, being something that had a right to exist--obviously--in the sunshine" (58). Sunshine=deceptive "truth", lightless region=truth that we don't want to acknowledge

"...Before the faith that was in her, before that great and saving illusion that shone with an unearthly glow in the darkness, in the triumphant darkness from which I could not have defended her--from which I could not even defend myself...Her fair hair seemed to catch all the remaining light in a glimmer of gold" (75). Refers to Kurtz's lady back home, how she is in illusion of light/truth, when darkness is surrounding her & Marlow.

"But with every word spoken the room was growing darker and only her forehead smooth and white remained illumined by the unextinguishable light of belief and love" (74). Again^

"She came forward all in black with a pale head, floating towards me in the dusk" (73) ^Again

"One evening coming in with a candle I was startled to hear him say a little tremulously, 'I am lying here in the dark waiting for death.' The light was within a foot of his eyes" (69). Kurtz no longer sees the false light of truth, only "The horror!" of darkness.

"'Mistah Kurtz--he dead.' All the pilgrims rushed out to see...There was a lamp in there--light--don't you know--and outside it was so beastly, beastly dark. I went no more near the remarkable man who had pronounced judgement upon the adventures of his soul on this earth" (69). ^again

"Kurtz discoursed. A voice! A voice! It rang deep to the last. It survived his strength to hide in the magnificent folds of eloquence the barren darkness of his heart" (67-68).

"When I woke up shortly after midnight his warning came to my mind with its hint of danger that seemed in the starred darkness real enough to make me get up for the purpose of having a look round. On the hill a big fire burned, illuminating fitfully a crooked corner of the station house. One of the agents with a picket of a few of our blacks armed for the purpose was keeping guard over the ivory, but deep within the forest red gleams that wavered, that seemed to sink and rise form the ground amongst confused columnar shapes of intense blackness, showed the exact position of the camp where Mr. Kurtz's adorers were keeping their uneasy vigil" (63).

"His voice lost itself in the calm of the evening. The long shadow of the forest had slipped downhill while we talked, had gone far beyond the ruined hovel, beyond the symbolic row os takes. All this was in the gloom while we down there were yet in the sunshine, and the stretch of the river abreast of the clearing glittered in the still and dazzling splendour with a murky and over-shadowed bend above and below" (58-59). Speaking of Kurtz's weird, young Russian follower, who is obviously deceived by Kurtz's facade of grandiosity and power (in sunshine), while reality of Kurtz is "murky" and dark.

The contrast between the light skinned pilgrims and the Africans is something we can touch on. Light is seen as pure in the beginning by Marlow. But later he realizes that "sunlight can be made to lie, too." This goes hand in hand with the reader bring exposed to the morally wrong deeds most of the white pilgrims commit. White and light starts off being seen as pure and good but this vision is soon corrupted. This change also represents Conrad's depressing theme for the book. This book certainly isn't meant to be uplifting and the fact that light often gives way to dark in this novel signifies that.

Well, in my opinion, what makes Heart of Darkness unique from other works of literature is that light and dark are not portrayed with traditional and rigid definitions. 

In Lord of the Flies you see the dynamic of light=good and dark=bad, but Heart of Darkness definitely tests that notion. In LOTF, the conch represents innocence and the last shred of unity and hope for Ralph. The imagery here is quite clear. The boars head, by contrast, represents the darkness present with human nature. There is no confusion that the whiteness of the conch represents that clarity and purity, whereas the darkness of the head/flies represents something much more grim and heinous. In this example the boundaries are quite literally set and the light/dark imagery isn't particularly complex. 

Initially, Heart of Darkness sort of plays into the traditional use of light and dark imagery by creating a storyline around the brave white European adventures who seek out the coveted ivory amidst the dark forest and whatever evils lay within. Africans are also thought to be savage. However, as the novel progresses, Joseph Conrad deconstructs this notion by showing how the lines are blurred. The ivory, which once was so precious and alluring, becomes a source of corruption and greed in men's hearts. The white men he initially respects become contemptible and barbaric. Thus, the lines are blurred. There is not that stark juxtaposition between light and dark....As Marlow says, "sunlight can be made a lie too". 

Here are some quotes that can be particularly useful to share with the class: 

(erm I can't find the sunset quote so I'm going to post this and edit later k bye) 

steph has done it again. I can say with confidence that we concur. And when we're discussing "subtle horrors," it is absolutely essential that we keep in mind the historical and racial context. Upon further analysis, we can conclude that "light" is, indeed, the opposite of "dark." This point of analysis reveals the perplexing nature of Marlow's internal struggle.