Finally the book is complete and over with. It didn’t turn out to be so bad. The beginning was definitely impossible to get through but it picked up throughout the middle and end. It got really interesting and I actually couldn’t stop reading at some points because there was the sense of suspense and expectation as if something big was always about to happen.
One of my favorite sections in part 3 was on page 138. Marlow is talking to the man who is describing the way the wilderness has affected Kurtz. The wilderness is personified as being able to show a person different sides of them and open up new doors for them. I don’t even know if the heart of darkness is solely the river at this point, it might be only the wilderness or both. This page just adds to the impact of the wilderness and how powerful it is and the affect it can have on people. I feel like it’s this force that can take control of you and open your eyes to new things and show you things you’ve never seen before. In relation to Kurtz, it ruined him and turned him into something greedy and vile. He saw the darkness in the wilderness. As for Marlow I feel like he got something positive out of it, he realized that the natives weren’t really that different from him and that this wilderness they are all so scared of is something natural and real, more so than anything they live in.
Then also on the bottom of page 138 Marlow yells at the man saying he doesn’t want to hear about what rituals Kurtz takes part in. I felt like Marlow was really coming into his own and finally letting it out and not being pressured by everything else. He was able to maintain his morals and values and everything he has gone through only made him stronger. He is getting closer to being the Marlow that we know from the beginning of the story.
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I like how you bring up what happens on page 138. Marlow was surrounded by white men who are not like him at all. I'm glad Marlow got angry and did not want to listen to the rituals Kurtz takes place in. As you said, it does show that he still has his morals and values. I think he found himself on this journey. He realized that he is not the greedy man he thought he might have been.
ReplyDeleteI agree... Marlow's "enlightment" was definatly portrayed. He was finally doing what he wanted and proving to be an individual. He found himself.
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