Heart Essays (3329 words) - Charles Marlow, Kurtz, Heart Of Darkness

Heart Of Darkness By Conrad Author: Joseph Conrad Setting: The storyteller, Charlie Marlow, sits on the deck of the Nellie recanting his journey to the Congo and his perception and encounter with Kurtz and Kurtz's intended. Plot: The telling of a remarkable horror tale to the inner darkness of man, Kurtz/Marlow, and the center of the earth, the Congo. Charlie Marlow gives the accounts of the double journey to the passengers on the deck of the Nellie as she is held still by the tides. Key Characters Charlie Marlow "Deviant" [narrator (Conrad) to the reader 1] We are given a visual picture of a ship, the Nellie, going out to sea on the Thames. The narrator describes the Director of Companies, like a pilot; the lawyer, by his possessions; an accountant, by his action of bringing out dominoes. But when the narrator describes Marlow he distinguishes him with a name and a physical description. The narrator seems to idolize this man, Marlow. Just the same way Marlow idolizes Kurtz. Marlow is physical posture symbolizes Buddha. Marlow is different from the rest of the passengers. Quote: 'He had sunken cheeks, a yellow complexion, a straight back, an ascetic aspect, and, with his arms dropped, the palms of hands outwards, resembled an idol.' "Architect" [narrator (Conrad) to the reader 3] The reader has been told of the Nellie going down the Thames to the center of the earth, but the ship has stalled or held back by the tides. This makes the passengers prisoners of the tale that is about to unfold from Marlow's lips. This compares with Rime of the Ancient Mariner, in that the mariner mesmerized the wedding guest with his inner journey on the outer seas. Charlie Marlow is inspired by the darkness of the surrounding ships of war to recant his journey to the Congo. The narrator says that most seamen have simply stories, but not Marlow. Marlow's tales are like the way a Russian nesting doll works, open the doll and there is another doll inside. The meaning and the characters are in the surrounding layers of the intended destination, Kurtz and the Congo. This gives us the structure of Marlow's story telling-his legacy. Quote: 'But Marlow was not typical (if his propensity to spin yarns be expected), and to him the meaning of an episode was not inside like a kernel but outside, enveloping the tale...' "Visionary" [Marlow to passengers of the Nellie 3] The narrator is telling of the past travelers of the Thames 'the dark "interlopers" of Eastern trade, and the commissioned "generals" of East India fleets'. Fortune seekers and conquerors of times before are related to the ivory trading and powering over the natives of the Congo. The sun is setting the reference of the coming of a dark tainted journey. Speaking of the Thames, Marlow calls it only one of the dark places. He is giving an introduction to his tale of the Congo. The vision of the Thames as one of the dark places is that in the end the dark shadow of Kurtz still follows him even to Kurtz's intended's place through the lie of Kurtz's last words, her name. Quote: '"And this also," said Marlow suddenly, "has been one of the dark places of the earth."' "Loner" [narrator to reader 3] Marlow has just spoken about the Thames-one of the places of darkness. Just as the ancient mariner was destined to take his fateful journey alone so is Marlow. Marlow journeys into himself and wanders the sea unlike the other seamen who have land bound homes. Quote: 'He was the only man of us who still "followed the sea."' "Rebel" [narrator to the reader 4] Marlow is telling the passengers to comprehend the journey of a young Rome conquer garbed in only a toga pushing inland to the savagery of the center. Parallel to Marlow's journey to the Congo armed with only his good moral intentions of bettering the natives. Marlow is preaching to the passengers, but is in a meditative position. His English dress and Buddha demeanor conflict in a rebellious state of contrast with their perspective norms. Quote: 'he had the pose of a Buddha preaching in European clothes and without a lotus flower' "Avant-garde" [Marlow to the passengers of the Nellie 6] Marlow since his youth wanted to explore the uncharted land of the Congo. When younger the map had nothing on it, but now there was the snake of the river that had charmed him. Conrad is paralleled with Marlow in his dream to be

politics of the panama canal essays

politics of the panama canal essays During the Spanish-American War the warship Oregon was summoned from the West Coast. The trip took two months to travel 14,000 miles around Cape Horn to the Atlantic. (The American Journey 741) How was the United States supposed to defend it shores if it took ships that long to get between them? The United State had to build a canal through Central America; national security depended on it. The Politics of the Panama Canal are confusing. This confusion includes the building, the economics and the operation of this facility. The canal, began in 1881 and finished in 1914(Dolan 55), has caused one country to fail, another to triumph, and another to gain its independence. There was a need for a canal through the isthmus of Central America. The big question was who would step up and build it. France had just lost the Franco-Prussian War against Germany. The country felt that it had lost some prestige in eyes of other nations. There seemed only one certain way to restore its glory, undertake and complete the most challenging engineering feat in history. Build a canal through Central America and link the worlds two greatest oceans. (Dolan 53) The French chose Panama to build its canal because it was far narrower than Nicaragua, its closet competitor. They obtained permission from Columbia to lay the waterway. (Dolan 53) A private company was founded in 1879 to raise the needed capital to undertake the construction. Appointed president of the company was Ferdind de Lesseps, who had guided the construction of the Suez Canal. (Panama) The French abandoned the project in 1889, due to a lack of funding. (Dolan 59) Now it was time for the Americans to get involved. But there was one problem; they had signed a treaty with Great Britain that said, if one or the other decided to build a canal then the two countries would work together. This treaty was called the Clayton Bulwer Treaty. In 1901 the treaty was ...