I have to say that its a relief to be done with this book. It just dragged on and on. There were some points that were interesting and that I could stand. But then there was another long string of boring. To finally meet Kurtz and to know his true nature is also relief. No more speculation about Kurtz on Marlow's part. We get to hear about Kurtz through someone else. It's kind of interesting how the Russian, who has seen Kurtz though so many bad times and basically been thrown to the side when Kurtz wants to go out and claim "his" ivory. He said something that interested me: "Ah, it was worth waiting for!-sometimes." Why is this guy so infatuated with Kurtz?
Gotta say, the thing with the heads on posts, gross. Kurtz really is crazy. Something like that really shows the negative aspect of imperialism. Kurtz embodies all of those negitives. He's greedy and narcissistic, and only wants what is best for him, he doesn't care what happens to anyone else in the process. I didn't find it to surprising that he died, and I even rolled my eyes because Kurtz is so melodramatic.
Marlow's illness could be a number of things. He could have caught something when on the river. But I think it is more the shock of Kurtz's true nature. He probably comes back digusted by what he has seen and the disgust shows itself though the illness.
It wasn't a terrible book, it just read terribly.
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I agree, this whole book was completely dramatic and dark and just long. I mean there is great symbolism and alternate perspectives to same situations but it was just too much. It's funny because though Marlow is the one focused on throughout the book and the one we are given the most information about, Kurtz is the real heart of it. He was the entire purpose of the book and it was all in that last part, crazy. Everything led up to his discovery and truth.
ReplyDeletei did meet kurtz's true character in the part three. I think part three shows more detail about the character development.
ReplyDeleteI agree that Marlow was sick because he met Kurtz, and was exposed to such a terrible person. But it could also be the whole situation. Marlow could have gotten sick with himself, and his choice to make that journey just to meet a rapacious man. Though the darkness did not overtake him, it did still affect him. This illness could be a slight side effect from going into the darkness.
ReplyDeleteI like what you said about how this is not a terrible book, that it was just read terribly. There was so much elements to this book that it can seem overwhelming. There may be a time where I might appreciate this book but for it's just good to have it done with.
ReplyDeleteThe only thing that came out of this book was that we could analyze everything so much because NOTHING was clear when you read. It didn't have parts of ambiguity, the book was a definition of it. To stress this even more, I had no idea that Marlow was sick, I was wondering why he was saying that they almost buried him too. I did enjoy the discussion, analyzations and different perspectives though.
ReplyDeleteI agree as well this book was very dramatic, dark, and long. I don’t care for this book and I’m jus happy were done with it. I agree with Chloe that that it’s crazy that the whole purpose of the book was Kurtz and we had to wait all the way till the end to meet him and get the truth.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with you that Kurtz embodies all the negative aspects of imperialism. like cloe said, Kurtz was the whole point of the book because conrad wanted to show the negetive impact of imperialism through Kurtz's character. conrad shows that imperialism has a negetive impact on everyone, the conquered and the conquerer, thats why he portrayed Kurtz as mad and unhapppy.
ReplyDeletei so agree the book was way to boring and complicated to understand most of the time. i felt that the book was way to dark and sad for my taste.
ReplyDeleteUghh, when we met Kurtz I was not satisfyed at all. I was ready to meet a hero. I thought he would be someone worth this whole part 1 and part 2, but I guess not. Maybe it's just my opinion but I thought Kurtz was slightly lame.
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