Heart of Darkness

One huge blatant theme within the novel was the theme of darkness. It was clearly an evil novel. It starts on the surface with the story taking place in Africa in the Congo which is better known as the heart of darkness. But when reading the story between the lines, one sees that the darkness is within everyone. A great example of this inner conflict is the scene involving the head on the stakes. Kurtz specifically places all of the head facing out except for one that faces in towards the hut in which he lives in. This demonstrates Kurtz coming face to face with darkness. All of this darkness is what ultimately leads to Kurtz's death. The darkness consumes the men within the jungle and the only way of escaping it is by walking away from it.

“The brown current ran swiftly out of the heart of darkness, bearing us down towards the sea with twice the speed of our upward progress; and Kurtz’s life was running swiftly, too, ebbing, ebbing out of his heart into the sea of inexorable time. . . . I saw the time approaching when I would be left alone of the party of ‘unsound method"

This quote is from when the steamer is on its way back from the inner station in part III. On board is Kurtz and his ivory on their way down the river or the 'heart of darkness.' The 'brown current' is reffering to the black community. However in this scene the river is ultimatly bringing Marlow back to white civilization. The whole first sentence of this quote seems to be suggesting that Kurtz and Marlow have been able to leave behind the 'heart of darkness', but it appears that it is too late for Kurtz who has already been consumed by the darkness. Marlow is also left scarred by the darkness that surrounded him on his journey. In the end, this quote is symbolic of the darkness that lies within everyone.

Out of all the novels that we have read so far this year, Heart of Darkness was definitely my least favorite. First off the book, while being short, took forever to read. This might be due to the fact that I found its wording to be very dense along with it being immensely boring. Second off, I do not like dark novels such as this. I feel that Conrad could have made the same point without all of the darkness used. Simply, this novel was terrible. I did not find it the least bit interesting to read nor did I feel the writing was good.

Invisible Man

The novel Invisible Man was such a dense book that it is hard to choose one thing to write about. One thing that was one of the biggest themes was the search for identity. The narrator constantly faces on a daily basis the problem of society attempting to mold him into something that he was clearly not. All of this tore the narrator in deciding what side to choose. An example of the narrator's ultimate struggle for identity is seen in one scene where the narrator is living with Mary Rambo. He wakes up one morning preparing to leave for his new life within the Brotherhood. As the narrator is leaving, his eyes fall upon the statue. This statue, which has been there the whole time he is living with Mary, basically sat invisibly in the corner of the room. Trying to ignore the statue, he continues on his way, but he stops when he gets angry at it. He claims the statue is mocking him. Enraged, he breaks the statue which symobolizes the inner conflict of heritage vs. giving it up for the Brotherhood. He also finds the statue offensive at how it portrays blacks with it being a coin bank (pg 319). The bank represents a greedy, obedient slave which again shows his internal struggle. When the narrator finally leaves Mary's house, he brings the statue with him so she would not get upset over its broken fragments. However, as he makes several attempts to abandon it, the statue always ends up back in his hands. This represents the guilt that he faces with leaving his hertiage behind and joining the Brotherhood. It is not until the end of the novel where the narrator's search for identity is complete.



After reading Heart of Darkness, I thouroghly enjoyed this novel. It had so much in it that can be interperted and discussed. I am very impressed with the way Ralph Ellison utilized every page to the best of his ability. Every time I turned a page I discovered something new. This kept me interested which is always good. In the end I would rate it an eight. The only thing I did not like about it was the fact that it was incredibly long. But like I said earlier, not a single page went to waste.

"Our white is so white you can paint a chunka coal and you’d have to crack it open with a sledge hammer to prove it wasn’t white clear through.”

This quote is from the liberty paints scene which I have to say was one of my favorite scenes from the book. The author did such a great job with all of the black and white references within it. The plant is basically a representation of the racial dynamics within society. This is seen between the interactions of the workers along with the paint as well. The main property of the Optic White paint is its ability to cover up blackness. This is a symbol of white power in the narrators society, like the white paint, trying to assimilate and change and hide the black identity.

One day while procrastinating reading that nights worth of homework for this novel, my dad saw the book on my kitchen table. He asked me what the book was about, and I gave him a brief summary. He then went on to tell me that it sounded like the song "The Invisible Man" by Queen. Now while thinking typing this thing up, my mind raced back to this conversation with my father. I pursued looking up the lyrics to the song and found many similarities and thought I should share the lyrics:

I'm the invisible man

I'm the invisible man

Incredible how you can see right through me

When you hear a sound that you just can't place

Feel somethin' move that you just can't trace

When something sits on the end of your bed

Don't turn around when you hear me tread

I'm the invisible man

I'm the invisible man

Incredible how you can see right through me

I'm the invisible man

I'm the invisible man

It's criminal how I can see right through you

Now I'm in your room and I'm in your bed

And I'm in your life and I'm in your head

Like the CIA or the FBI

You'll never get close never take me alive

I'm the invisible man

I'm the invisible man

Incredible how you can see right through me

I'm the invisible man

I'm the invisible man

It's criminal how I can see right through you

Hah hah hah hello

Who goes there?

Hah hah hah OK

Who goes there?

Hah hah hah hello hello hello hello

Never had a real good friend - not a boy or a girl

No-one knows what I've been through - let my flag unfurl

So I make my mark from the edge of the world

From the edge of the world

From the edge of the world

Now I'm on your track and I'm in your mind

And I'm on your back but don't look behind

I'm your meanest thought I'm your darkest fear

But I'll never get caught you can't shake me shake me dear

I'm the invisible man

I'm the invisible man

Incredible how you can see right through me

Watch meI'm the invisible man

I'm the invisible man

It's criminal how I can see right through you

Look at me look at me

Shake you shake you shake you dear