Supporting   quotes   and   themes   -

"Your strength is just an accident
arising from the weakness of others."



"No it is impossible... to convey the 
life sensation of any given epoch of 
ones existance that which makes it 
truth, its meaning, it's subtle
and penetrating escence, it is
 immposible."



"The sea itself, which is the mistress 
of his exsistance and as inscrutable 
as Destiny."


"The horror-the horror"


"Exterminate the brutes"

*******THEMES*******
  *injustices
  -mans inhumanity to man
  -people destroying what they profess
   to enlighten
  -Work ethic or lack there of
  *Unrestrained  Lusts
  *Lure of the Abyss
  *Savage vs. Civilized
  *Internal Heart of Darkness

 
I challenge you to find ways to use 
these quotes  as support for the themes 
and to also find other quotes. 
This will help immensly on essays and
improptu's. 

Symbols   &Motifs

SYMBOLS-
These symbols are only my 
interpretation of the reading,
feel free to question and 
draw your own conclusions.
The river = life
The jungle =  the edge of 
   an abyss
Flies = represent the 
   ineffective operations of
   the pilgrims
Shoes = protection and 
   guidance
Darkness vs. Light = is 
   generally percieved to be 
   dark meaning the lack of 
   civiliztion , and light to
   mean a civilized community. 
   The opposite however is also
   shown in this novel,where
   the inside of the white man
   is dark(corrupt)and the 
   black natives, are light(good)
   inside. 
   An example of this is a 
   picture of Kurtz's would be
   wife
Snake = evil
Bird = Marlow
White and Black = are both
   symbols of death example is a 
   white sun is shinning over a 
   black death.  white man is 
   overseeing that the moral part
   of these people is dead.
MOTIFS-
There are three main motifs that
run throughout the novel, the
number three, a journey and the
reoccuring shadow.
Three-
      The number three is present
      in three different stations
      three different women,three 
      times that Conrad divides
      the novel and three views 
      of Africa,(Religous,
      political and economic)
The Journey-
      Is a motif that is supported
      by the setting of the story
      and the tone ehich the author
      uses.  The setting furthers
      the journey motif by being 
      in constant motion on the sea
      by discovering the inner 
     station.  The tone is that of
      a discovery not only of the 
     literal Belgian Congo Heart 
     of Darkness, but of the darkness
      in the readers own soul.
The reoccuring Shadow- 
      The shadow plays an important 
      part in masking both the
      literal jungle itself, as
      well as masking the darkness 
      in ones soul through civilization.



Continue your journey...

A DIFFERENT "HEART.." PAGE: More help with themes from a diff. perspective
VOCABULARY: Explore the meanings behind Conrad's word choice
CHARACTERS: Discover the personalities in Heart of Darkness
SHVETA AND SARA'S ANALYSIS: Two AP Lit students offer their input
BIOGRAPHY: The mind behind the Heart of Darkness
AP LIT. HOMEPAGE: Other works analyzed