The Ideas of Reality and Perception in Heart of Darkness

Drawing upon our readings and class discussions, write an essay that focuses on a specific idea or textual effect in any one of the novels we have read (if you wish to reflect on any two novels, you may). Your essay should develop a coherent project that shows your understanding of the issues we have been analysing in class, and makes thoughtful use of the works of literary and cultural theory we have been reading. The Heart of Darkness explores reality and perspective in several interesting ways; these include amongst others the interplay of reality and objectivity, the use of otherness to define one’s own identity and the construction of that otherness in direct association with one’s perceptions of oneself. This†¦show more content†¦To quote Achebe’s article An Image of Africa once more, in â€Å"Western Philosophy (there is a need) to set Africa up a foil to Europe, as a place of negations†¦with which Europe’s own state of spiritual grace will be manifest.†.(337) This commentary is highly insightful yet it fails to recognise that in Heart of Darkness, Conrad uses Africa not as a foil to portray European greatness but as a mirror in which to portray Europe’s degradation. Aimà © Cà ©saire tells us that â€Å"colonization works to decivilize the colonizer, to brutalize him in the true sense of the word, to degrade him, to awaken him to buried instincts†¦Ã¢â‚¬ (173) Conrad shows us through the metaphorical Kurtz how the European self-image is false one and how the process of colonisation brought the discrepancies between the European’s perspective of themselves and the reality of their essence to the surface. The opening passage of the novel, situated still in the heart of European ‘civilisation’ tells us of the early colonists who had â€Å"gone out on that stream, bearing the sword, and often the torch, messengers of the might within the land, bearers of a spark from the sacred fire.†(5) (The idea of Europeans bringing a ‘light of civilisation’ to the continent that has known it longer than any other is of course ludicrous.) Similarly we are informed that Kurtz was a member of â€Å"the gang of virtueà ¢â‚¬  (25) sent from the continent to as an â€Å"an emissary of pity, and science, andShow MoreRelatedConrad s Heart Of Darkness1138 Words   |  5 PagesThe modernity of Heart of Darkness is exposed/reflected through the growing belief/awareness of new anthropological and psychological theories with unprecedented insights into the human condition. 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