Exploration into the Symbolic Meaning of “Heart”in Heart of Darkness

Exploration into the Symbolic Meaning of “Heart”in Heart of

Darkness

【Abstract】HeartofDarkness is one of Conrad?s most important and greatest novels. The thesis stresses on the writing style of the work. Firstly，it analyzesthe symbolic meaning of the “heart” in Heart of Darkness. Secondly，it analyses the distinctive style of narration. From the analysis，this thesis try to pointout that if individuals can?t avoid the avariceand greediness in their heart，theythemselves would be swallowed by their greediness.【Key Words】Joseph Conrad heart of darkness symbolic meaning avarice greedinessTo some critics，Heart of Darkness could be viewed as Joseph Conrad’s masterpiece，which brought him an enduring reputation as a major writer. Heart of Darkness is a jungle story about a young man named Charles Marlow，who traveled up the Congo River into Inner Station of the Trade Company of Ivory，always cherishing the glorious dream of finding out the “blank” spot on the map that he had noticed since his childhood. But he wa s also accompanied with another aim，that is，to save a sick agent named Kurtz who was known for his eloquence as well as his capacity of collecting ivory. But what he saw and heard on the way and in his destination made his journey a nightmare that brought him nothing but the moral disillusionment. Through the analysis，this thesis finds that the significance of the story lies in that it?s a journey through which Marlow witnessed the “darkness” of “heart” and failed to find out his true self at the end. Th is thesis focus on the symbolic meaning of “heart” that generated the “darkness” but also been ultimately swallowed by the “darkness”. Heart of Darkness is a story closes toConrad?sown experience，and we do admit that Marlow was Conrad?s mouthpiece，and Marlow made us see the greediness and brutality of the white colonizers that he witnessed，and feel his suffering of the nightmare-like Congo Journey. We don?t think that Kurtz turnedwild simply because he was attempted by the wilderness. On the contrary，hi s tragedy revealsthat “avarice is usually the root of evils”，which explainsthe reasons of the inevitability of individual tragedies under the control of the civilized but depraved social system.In my eyes，Conrad showed the readers the most important messages in Heart of Darkness by means of many images.Form studying the story，we agree that “heart” is the most important image in the story. Only by analyzing the “heart” ，can we understand the themes of this story and its apocalypse in our times. 1The geo-political meaning of “heart”Africa is a desolate but alluring land. In Marlow?s eyes，his journey toAfrica made him feel its darkness---the natives? foolishness of not knowing what ivory and wealth meant to them and their native land，and their ignorance of not knowing what civilization was，andthe value of science and technology to human being?s progress. It seemed that the attraction of Africa lied in two factors：one was its backwardness，as Marlow stated ：”Going up the river was like traveling back to t he earliest beginnings of the world，when vegetation rioted on the earth the big tress were kings.” The other was the inferiority of the natives by born，which reflected in their deep-rooted bad