Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness

Introducing Joseph Conrad’s Heart of

Darkness

Jozef Teodor Konrad Korzeniowski = “Joseph Conrad”

Chronology1857 • Jozef Teodor Konrad Korzeniowski born December 3 near Berdichev to Apollo

Nalecz Korzeniowski and Evelina (Ewa) Bobrowska. 1862 • May 8, Apollo Korzeniowski exiled to prison camp in Vologda, Russia,

accompanied by his wife and son. 1865 • June 6, Conrad's mother dies. Conrad in care of maternal uncle, Tadeusz

Bobrowski. 1869 • Apollo Korzeniowski and son return to Cracow in February. Apollo dies on

May 23. Conrad attends (sporadically) school in Cracow. 1873 • In May, Conrad leaves for a three-month-long stay in Switzerland and northern

Italy. First view of the sea. 1874 • On October 14 leaves Cracow for Marseilles.

Conrad at 17

Joseph Conrad at Sea1875 • Apprentice on the Mont-Blanc, bound for Martinique. 1876-1877 • From January to July in Marseilles; • from July to February 1877 on schooner Saint-Antoine to West Indies. 1877 • Acquires (with three other men) the tartane, the Tremolino which carries arms illegally to the

supporters of Don Carlos, the Spanish pretender. 1878-1879 • In February attempts suicide by shooting himself through the chest. On April 24 leaves

Marseilles on British steamer Mavis. On June 18 sets foot in England at Lowestoft. Serves as ordinary seaman on coaster The Skimmer of the Sea.

1883 • Passes mate's examination on July 4. Meets uncle Bobrowski at Marienbad. Mate on the sailing

ship Riversdale. 1884 • Second mate on the Narcissus, bound from Bombay to Dunkirk. 1885-1886 • Second mate on the Tilkhurst; August 19, receives British certificate of naturalization.

November 11, passes examination, receives his "Certificate of Competency as Master"; first story, "The Black Mate," submitted to Tit-Bits.

1887 • First mate on Highland Forest. Hurt by a falling spar, hospitalized in Singapore (experience

recalled in Lord Jim). Second mate on steamship Vidar (Singapore-Borneo). 1888 • On Melita (bound for Bangkok), then his first command on the baroque the Otago (Bangkok-

Sydney-Mauritius-Port Adelaide). Experiences described in The Shadow-Line, Victory, "The Secret Sharer," "A Smile of Fortune," and other works.

From Seaman to Writer and Father1893-1894 • Second mate on Adowa (London-Rouen-London).• Ends his career as seaman on January 14, 1894. • Uncle Bobrowski dies on January 29, 1894. • In April Conrad sends Almayer's Folly to T. Fisher Unwin. 1894-1895 • Writes An Outcast of the Islands. 1896 • Match 24, marries Jessie George. 1897 • Completes The Nigger of the "Narcissus"; • friendship with R. B. Cunninghame Graham. 1898 • Son Alfred Borys born January 14. • In October moves to Petit Farm, Kent. 1899 • In February completes Heart of Darkness. 1900 • Finishes Lord Jim. 1904 • Nostromo. Writes The Mirror of the Sea. • Wife ill, practically an invalid.

Joseph Conrad and his son Borys

Travel and Critical Acclaim1905 • Spends four months in Europe. 1906 • Spends two months in France. Second son John Alexander born August 2. 1907 • Children ill in France. Returns to Pent Farm in August. The Secret Agent. 1908 • A Set of Six. 1910 • In June moves to Capel House, Kent. Seriously ill. 1911 • Under Western Eyes. 1912 • 'Twixt Land and Sea, Tales. 1913-1914 • Chance. Writes Victory. • Leaves for Poland in July 1914; meets Stefan Zeromski in Zakopane; • caught by the war in August; escapes and returns to Capel House November 3.

Joseph Conrad and his family

War, Fame and Last Years

1915 • Victory. Within the Tides. 1916 • Borys fights on the French front. 1917 • The Shadow-Line. Writes prefaces for a new collected edition of his works. 1918 • Borys, gassed and wounded, is hospitalized in Le Havre. 1919 • The Arrow of Gold. Moves to Oswalds, Bishopbourne, near Canterbury, where he spends the last years of his life. 1920 • The Rescue. 1921 • Visits Corsica. Notes on Life and Utters. 1923 • Visits New York (April-June). • Reading from his Victory at home of Mrs. Arthur Curtiss James, May 10. • The Secret Agent, Drama in Four Acts (adaptation of the novel). The Rover. • Laughing Anne, a play (adaptation of "Because of the Dollars"). 1924 • Jacob Epstein does Conrad's bust. • In May, Conrad declines knighthood. • Health deteriorates and he is bedridden. His wife is also ill. Both sons and Richard Curle are with them. • Dies of heart attack August 3. • Buried in Canterbury.

Posthumous Publications

• 1925 • Suspense (incomplete). Tales of Hearsay. • 1926 • Last Essays. • 1928 • The Sisters (written in 1896; incomplete.) • 1936 • Jessie Conrad dies December 6. Buried near her

husband at Canterbury. • 1978 • Alfred Borys Conrad, the elder son of Conrad, dies on

November 13.*

*Excerpted and condensed from Adam Gillon, Joseph Conrad. Boston: Twayne,1982.

Imagery

J.M.W. Turner, Approach to Venice, 1844.

Heart of DarknessNorton Critical Edition, page 8

The day was ending in a serenity of still and exquisite brilliance. The water shone pacifically, the sky without a speck was a benign immensity of unstained light, the very mist on the Essex marshes was like a gauzy and radiant fabric hung from the wooded rises inland and draping the low shores in diaphanous folds. Only the gloom to the west brooding over the upper reaches became more sombre every minute as if angered by the approach of the sun.

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.

Positive Diction:Mood and Tone

The day was ending in a serenity of still and exquisite brilliance. The water shone pacifically, the sky without a speck was a benign immensity of unstained light, the very mist on the Essex marshes was like a gauzy and radiant fabric hung from the wooded rises inland and draping the low shores in diaphanous folds. Only the gloom to the west brooding over the upper reaches became more sombre every minute as if angered by the approach of the sun.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.

Positive Detailand Imagery

The day was ending in a serenity of still and exquisite brilliance. The water shone pacifically, the sky without a speck was a benign immensity of unstained light, the very mist on the Essex marshes was like a gauzy and radiant fabric hung from the wooded rises inland and draping the low shores in diaphanous folds. Only the gloom to the west brooding over the upper reaches became more sombre every minute as if angered by the approach of the sun.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.

J.M.W. Turner, Rain, Steam and Speed (1844)

Negative Diction:Mood and Tone

The day was ending in a serenity of still and exquisite brilliance. The water shone pacifically, the sky without a speck was a benign immensity of unstained light, the very mist on the Essex marshes was like a gauzy and radiant fabric hung from the wooded rises inland and draping the low shores in diaphanous folds. Only the gloom to the west brooding over the upper reaches became more sombre every minute as if angered by the approach of the sun.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.

Negative Detailand Imagery

The day was ending in a serenity of still and exquisite brilliance. The water shone pacifically, the sky without a speck was a benign immensity of unstained light, the very mist on the Essex marshes was like a gauzy and radiant fabric hung from the wooded rises inland and draping the low shores in diaphanous folds. Only the gloom to the west brooding over the upper reaches became more sombre every minute as if angered by the approach of the sun.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.

James Abbot Whistler, Nocturne

Structure: Frame Narrative

Joseph Conrad

Narrator

Marlow

Heart of DarknessNorton Critical Edition

Narrative Voice

“Between us there was as I have already said somewhere, the bond of the sea. Besides holding our hearts together through long periods of separation it had the effect of making us tolerant of each other’s yarns—and even convictions…”(Page 7).

“His remark did not seem at all surprising. It was just like Marlow. It was accepted in silence. No one took the trouble to grunt even, and presently he said very slow:

…” (Page 9).

Heart of DarknessNorton Critical Edition

Marlow’s Voice

“I was thinking of very old times, when the Romans first came here, nineteen hundred years ago—the other day…Light came out of this river since—you say Knights? Yes but it is like a running blaze on a plain, like a flash of lightning in the clouds. We live in the flicker—may it last as long as the old earth keeps rolling! But darkness was here yesterday.” (Page 9)

Techniques of Characterization

•What characters do

•What characters say

•What others say about them

Characterization through Voice“Between us there was as I have already said somewhere, the bond of the sea. Besides holding our hearts together through long periods of separation it had the effect of making us tolerant of each other’s yarns—and even convictions…”(Page 7).

“His remark did not seem at all surprising. It was just like Marlow. It was accepted in silence. No one took the trouble to grunt even, and presently he said very slow:”

“I was thinking of very old times, when the Romans first came here, nineteen hundred years ago—the other day…Light came out of this river since—you say Knights? Yes but it is like a running blaze on a plain, like a flash of lightning in the clouds. We live in the flicker—may it last as long as the old earth keeps rolling! But darkness was here yesterday.” (Page 9)

Diction and Imagery in Heart of Darkness

Diction creates Tone. Detail Indicates Imagery.

Directions: For each of the following excerpts from Heart of Darkness:

• List the diction that creates the tone and describe the tone and its implications

• List any detail that creates an image, or at least a potential image

• Explain why this image would be significant in this text.

Write all of this on a separate piece of paper, one per group. Do not write on your copy of the assignment.

“Now when I was a little chap I had a passion for maps. I would look for hours at South America, or Africa, or Australia and lose myself in all the glories of exploration. At that time there were many blank spaces on the earth and when I saw one that looked particularly inviting on a map (but they all look that) I would put my finger on it and say: When I grow up I will go there. The North Pole was one of these places I remember. Well, I haven’t been there yet and shall not try now. The glamour’s off. Other places were scattered about the Equator and in every sort of latitude al over the two hemispheres. I have been in some of them and…well, we won’t talk about that. But there was one yet—the biggest—the most blank, so to speak—that I had a hankering after. “True, by this time it was not a blank space any more. I had got filled since my boyhood with rivers and lakes and names. It had ceased to be a blank space of delightful mystery—a while patch for a boy to dream gloriously over. It had become a place of darkness. But there was in it one river especially, a mighty big river that you could see on the map, resembling an immense snake uncoiled, with its head in the sea, its body at rest curving afar over a vast country and its tail lost in the depths of the land. And as I looked at the map of it in a shop-window it fascinated me as a snake would a bird—a silly little bird. Then I remembered there was a big concern. A Company for trade on that river. Dash it all, I though to myself, they can’t trade without using some kind of craft on that lot of fresh water—steamboats! Why shouldn’t I try to get charge of one. I went on along Fleet Street, but could not shake off the idea. The snake had charmed me” (12).

Congo Free State (Belgian Congo) in 1890’s

“True, by this time it was not a blank space any more. I had got filled since my boyhood with rivers and lakes and names. It had ceased to be a blank space of delightful mystery—a while patch for a boy to dream gloriously over. It had become a place of darkness. But there was in it one river especially, a mighty big river that you could see on the map, resembling an immense snake uncoiled, with its head in the sea, its body at rest curving afar over a vast country and its tail lost in the depths of the land. And as I looked at the map of it in a shop-window it fascinated me as a snake would a bird—a silly little bird. Then I remembered there was a big concern. A Company for trade on that river. Dash it all, I though to myself, they can’t trade without using some kind of craft on that lot of fresh water—steamboats! Why shouldn’t I try to get charge of one. I went on along Fleet Street, but could not shake off the idea. The snake had charmed me” (12).

Diction and Imagery in Heart of Darkness

Diction creates Tone. Detail Indicates Imagery.

Directions: For each of the following excerpts from Heart of Darkness:

• List the diction that creates the tone and describe the tone and its implications

• List any detail that creates an image, or at least a potential image

• Explain why this image would be significant in this text.

Write all of this on a separate piece of paper, one per group. Do not write on your copy of the assignment.

“One thing more remained to do -- say good-bye to my excellent aunt. I found her triumphant. I had a cup of tea -- the last decent cup of tea for many days -- and in a room that most soothingly looked just as you would expect a lady's drawing-room to look, we had a long quiet chat by the fireside. In the course of these confidences it became quite plain to me I had been represented to the wife of the high dignitary, and goodness knows to how many more people besides, as an exceptional and gifted creature -- a piece of good fortune for the Company -- a man you don't get hold of every day. Good heavens! and I was going to take charge of a two-penny-half-penny river-steamboat with a penny whistle attached! It appeared, however, I was also one of the Workers, with a capital -- you know. Something like an emissary of light, something like a lower sort of apostle. There had been a lot of such rot let loose in print and talk just about that time, and the excellent woman, living right in the rush of all that humbug, got carried off her feet. She talked about 'weaning those ignorant millions from their horrid ways,' till, upon my word, she made me quite uncomfortable. I ventured to hint that the Company was run for profit.”

Hints for Diction and Imagery in Heart of Darkness

Directions: For each of the following excerpts from Heart of Darkness:

• Summarize the paragraph to be sure you get the gist of it.

• List the diction that creates the tone and describe the tone and its implications

• You may want to categorize the diction. Not every word is significant, so this helps you find the patterns.

• List any detail that creates an image, or at least a potential image

• You could categorize the details also. Once you have identified the categories, you can recognize major images.

• Explain why this image would be significant in this text.

Write all of this on a separate piece of paper, one per group.