Analysis reading: Joseph Conrad, Heart of Darkness
I need to notify my professor what is the thesis for the one of the following textbook. I let the writer choose whatever textbook wants to write about but I need a response before Friday for the thesis
3/26/2014 ENGL212
Critical Analysis Paper
Length: 6-7 pages (correctly formatted—check syllabus) Due date: Monday. April 28 (submitted on Canvas before class)
Acceptable texts: 'Charlotte Bronte. Jane Eyre 'Joseph Conrad, Heart of Darkness lames Joyce, "Calypso" 'Christina Rossetti, "Goblin Market" Virginia Woolf, Mrs. Dalloway
Assignment:
In the close reading paper, you selected a short passage and interpreted It In this final paper you will do a critical literary analysis of a text as a whole. This analysis will identify a theme in the text, articulate a debatable thesis about that theme, and argue that thesis using specific textual evidence and analysis of that evidence. Important: your reading must still be anchored In attentive close reading, but now you will have to connect readings of two or more passages over the course of the
text.
Select your text and start thinking about your theme and thesis immediately. For jhisnaper, you are required to get approval for your theme and thesis no later OTfli 4/1 gather by email or by coming to office hours (M/W 12-lpm). The more ipeafie-ycfu are about your theme, potential passages, and argument, the more 1 will be able to help you. Successful papers will include a strong (and debatable) thesis, supported by evidence and analysis, and leading to a logical conclusion that is in line with the thesis.
Again, no outside research will be allowed for this paper. This paper is meant to show your analytical and critical skills in engaging with literature, not your ability to research.
Tips:
1. Don't summarize! I know the text The paper is short, so don't waste your time on anything other than proving the claim you have set up in your thesis.
2. Quote and analyze exact quotations from the passages. Examine every word. Look them up in the Oxford English Dictionary and see what they denote or connote. Why did the writer choose these specific words—or these specific combinations of words—as opposed to other similar words?
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Joseph Conrad, Heart of Darkness.
The novel Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad is an exploration of ambiguity, moral confusion and hypocrisy. It explores the idea of the choice between the two evils. In the novel, Marlow is an idealistic who is forced to align himself with the malicious and hypocritical colonial bureaucracy or Kurtz who is openly malevolent and rule defying. As the novel progresses, it is clear that judging either alternative is wrong. Evil versus good is brought out from the story as one of the major themes.
Marlow witnesses many situations which are part of a bigger problem like “the world going insane†as he views a lot of ridiculous situations. He saw different things such as a man trying to carry water in a bucket with a hole. He later sees native laborers blasting a hillside without a goal in mind. These unrealistic things he witnesses involve life-or-death issues and insignificant silliness. This shows moral confusion in the society with the mundane and the serious being treated similarly. It is also of concern that homicidal megalomania from Kurtz's and the leaky bucket proved a similar reaction from Marlow.
The book by Joseph Conrad gives a unique perspective to the nature of evil which is present in the mind and hearts of men. The novel shows the struggle the narrator goes through to keep his sense of justice and morality as he continues to discover the dark secrets of Kurtz and the conspiracies that the trading company was part of. The story shows the perception of the narrator on good and evil continue to blur. It later makes him result to futile efforts so that he could do good deeds.
The person telling the story in the novel comes to discover that there are places where good does not exist. The only option left is a variety of lesser evils. As he travels into the “heart of darkness†in the African continent, he finds it hard to differentiate between wickedness and benevolence. The narrator is different from other characters as he successfully escapes the malevolence that consumed the minds and heart of men. The narrator was able to identify in the end that Kurtz unjustifiable brutality and was what made him go down the path of darkness. The narrator also realizes in the end that light is not symbolic of good in people as it can often change to darkness.
In the beginning of the hgarrowing journey, the narrator assumes that evil comes from the atrocities which men are capable of. The narrator views and describes other Europeans. He says:“I've seen the devil of violence, the devil of greed, and the devil of hot desire; but by all the stars! These men were strong, lusty, red-eyed devils, that swayed and drove men - men, I tell you.â€
He uses this statement to describe the people who had taken the African-Americans as slaves as devils. This is the ultimate manifestation of evil as can be seen by his choice of wording in the statement. This statement is an example of how the narrators perception of evil and good had began to blur. This is because the same people who the narrator thinks are evil think that they are doing good deeds for the African-American people. In the novel, the slave drivers are not the only people who do not show compassion for the slaves. The accountant is also seen as a heartless man as he talks about hating savages. He even further says that he hates them to death. He uses the word “savages†to refer to the people who are African Americans and his statement shows that he lacks compassion towards them. Ehen the African-Americans are dying, the accountant find their agony as annoying as it is distracting when he works. This is a good portrayal of the theme of evil. If someone cannot show mercy to a human being who is dying, they are therefore full of evil.
In the book, the narrator's perspective on the nature of evil can be seen. Conrad says that sunlight can be turned to lie too. This shows that the narrator thinks that light does not always mean purity and good. Light can be a tool which helps make way for darkness. The narrator's view is that the sun rises and the sun sets. As it rises, there is light and good. When the sun sets, it results to darkn...