The novel Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad was
written to portray the evil or darkness that can thrive in one’s heart. It is
one of the most influential texts in literature not only because of the message
that can be taken away from it, but also because of the many controversial arguments
it has brought up since it was published in 1899. For example, people have
debated over whether or not Heart of
Darkness should be considered a gothic piece. In my opinion, the ominous
tone of the text created by the imagery of darkness and the frame narrative
structure make the novel Heart of
Darkness be considered a gothic novel. Similarly to the gothic novel Wuthering Heights, Heart of Darkness is a frame narrative. The authors’ use of frame
narratives give personal accounts from the characters of situations. For
example, Marlow in Heart of Darkness gives
his account of his experiences while traveling through the imperialist Congo.
When describing the sights that he comes across at each station, he uses words
that are dark and quite eerie, “Going
up that river was like travelling back to the earliest beginnings of the world,
when vegetation rioted on the earth and the big trees were kings. An empty
stream, a great silence, an impenetrable forest. The air was warm, thick,
heavy, sluggish. There was no joy in the brilliance of sunshine” (Conrad 101).
The author uses imagery to emphasize Marlow’s feelings that yield a metonymy of
gloom and horror. Although Heart of
Darkness does not contain a typical setting or the supernatural events of a
gothic novel, Conrad’s overall syntax creates a feeling of darkness that is
consisted throughout the novel, enabling Heart of Darkness to be considered a
gothic novel.
I agree, Ashlyn. Through out Heart of darkness, Conrad describes the setting as very dark and ominous. The use of dark and unknown settings is an important trait of gothic novels. Marlow spends most of the novel on the Congo River, where it is dark and foggy. This fog creates a suspenseful mood common to gothic literature. Before Marlow and his ship are attacked, it is an eerie fog that comes and encloses the ship. The frame narrative is also effective in creating the mood of a gothic novel because Marlow draws directly from his experiences, giving more ethos to what he tells the reader. If the story were not a frame narrative, the story would lose some its dark tone. It is important for the reader to see how Marlow has changed from his experiences on the Congo to when he sees the River Thames going towards an immense darkness.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree, Ashlyn! I hadn't thought of Conrad's syntax as adding to it's classification as a piece of gothic literature. I also thought your point of the ominous tone was very interesting. The more I thought of the tone, the less I thought of it as dark and more ominous because Marlowe tells the story as if he is an all knowing person rather than a man just retelling a story from his youth. Overall great post, Ashlyn!
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