Heart of Darkness: Blog Response #3

         We all have this belief that when we die, we will reflect on our lives and take a trip down memory lane. That seems to be what Mr. Kurtz did. The readers know Mr. Kurtz’s life filled with prosperity from ivory and fame. Yet, why would he scream “The horror! The horror!” as his final words? The life of Mr. Kurtz was actually full of horrible adventures. His career which was at the peak due to his passion of ivory was the result of his evil deeds which he performed in the company of the savages. The words 'The horror!' were the reflection of his awareness of the devilish acts he performed throughout life. He had touched the “heart of darkness.” With this mind, what did Conrad want to convey to the readers?

It is first important to take notice that Mr. Kurtz himself was not THE "heart of darkness" of the entire ivory trade in all of Africa. He is only a symbolic figure of a broader concept – the brutality of the ivory trade in nineteenth-century Africa practiced by numerous European entities. This all comes down to one remaining common thread: human tyranny, injustice, and brutality. The bottom line is that, as evidenced by the symbolic and actual correlations to Kurtz, the ivory trade, and the inhumane philosophies employed in much of the illustrated ivory trade, one can begin to grasp a larger idea, and that is the concept that a "heart of darkness" can exist in anyone.

What makes the idea of a "heart of darkness" even more so concerning to the human race is that many people whose "hearts" participate in "dark" activities or lifestyles do not even realize they are doing so. Why, many may hardly even have to try. While some ivory consumers were aware of the brutal practices used in obtaining ivory, many consumers saw only the allure of a sought-after commodity, all the while unaware of the abhorrent conditions of the African laborers. Some employees in the ivory companies sought only slightly better wages---not tyranny and supremacy over other people. Marlow, when in the book he once expresses awe over the incredible hold Kurtz has upon the ivory trade, seems to temporarily shrug aside the underlying "darkness" of Kurtz.

The darkness of men's souls. Their lack of morality. The abuse of colonialism. Kurtz is an example of the very core of darkness. He is stripped of all his outter civilized layers. Yet, can anyone really point the finger at him?

Heart of Darkness: Blog Response #2

Mark Twain once said, “There’s no such thing as an original idea. Every idea worth having has been had thousands of times already.” This seems to apply to literature as well. Many authors tend to use the same type of literary device in order to convey a message. An example would be the usage of fog as a symbol. Generally speaking, fog is used to represent obscurity and distortion -- not being able to see things clearly. This occurs in both One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey and Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad.

When Marlow is on the streamer, he and his comrades encounter an endless amount of fog and mist. Especially since I just finished reading One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, the usage of fog caught my eye immediately. In both of the novels, the fog is a symbol of confusion.

Chief Bromden is known for hiding himself in the fog produced by the fog machine. It’s a place where he can go completely insane because everything is unclear. It’s an escape from reality. In Heart of Darkness, as the streamer nears the heart of the indigenous country, morals, ethics, and humanity dissolves into this fog and every men is left consumed by the greedy nature to their task. The nature of war and authority clouds their minds of their goal and brought about this darkness and haze. However, to Marlow, the effect was a little different. This particular scene seems to be a turning point with Marlow. With all the fog around, the path to take was unclear; he was unable to determine if he was guiding the steamer into open water or danger. Like I mentioned before, fog generally symbolizes confusion, and just like Bromden, Marlow falls victim to this. Since Marlow's arrival, he has been confused and unsure - dealing from the treatment of the natives, cannibals and pilgrims - what originally seemed wrong, was now being justified as right; like his original perception of Kurtz. He believed him to be this awe-inspiring, self-creating legend, when in truth, he was insecure, insane, and immoral. The fog created was almost self-imposed because of Marlow's instability as a person. Had he been firm in his own beliefs and convictions on right and wrong he would not have faced such a conflicting situation with Kurtz, but because of this, he was able to become stronger and better for it.

         It is interesting to see how two completely different types of literary works share a connection through the same type of symbol. Fog. Just a simple use of this and the readers automatically know what the character is going through. Confusion, distortion, blindness. 

Heart of Darkness: Blog Response #1

In the early 1900s, females were still known as the ones with the inferior roles to men. How does Joseph Conrad, who seems to be quite progressive in his critique of imperialism, reflect the traditional treatment of women? Does he seem to have the conventional perspective that many from his period have? Or does he have an advanced way of thinking toward the concept of females? Unfortunately, in Heart of Darkness, Conrad offers no advancement to the cause of women by following convention and minimizing the agency of females through the creation of two separate, engendered spheres. So far in Part 1, two female characters have appeared. These characters were kept unnamed and their speech limited, emphasizing the disparagement of women in the male-dominated society.

The first women that Conrad’s protagonist, Marlow, recounts are the two knitters at the Company office in Brussels. The younger one greets the men with a “cheery and foolish face” who come in for examinations before they leave for Africa. Although not so much the older woman, the younger woman is unwise in the ways of the world. She gives off a carefree attitude toward the men before they enter the Congo. This gives the young woman a sense of innocence and ignorance. She clearly has no idea that the men are getting themselves into the “heart of darkness.” If she did know what the “real world” had to offer, she would be frightened and probably would not be able to handle it. If she actually knew the true, harsh realities of the world outside of her own bubble, that innocence would forever be lost.

The second female character that the readers encounter is Marlow’s aunt. Before Marlow braves the challenges that await him in the Congo, he visits his aunt to thank her for securing the job of steamboat captain for him. Marlow remains critical of his aunt even though he could not get employment without her help (Hinkle). He views her as "out of touch with the truth" along with the rest of womankind, who are in "a world of their own" (Conrad 10). The world of women may be separate from the realm of Marlow and other males, but these worlds are certainly dependent on each other. Earlier Marlow said that the beautiful idea behind colonization masks the ruthless practice of colonialism. Well, his aunt clearly buys the idea, and in doing so establishes women as symbols of civilization’s inability to see its hollow corruption.

Marlow has a very specific and sexist attitude towards women. They play only minor roles in the novel and often live vicariously through their male counterparts. They are rarely given voices of their own and are more often seen than heard. Depicting women as unnatural entities, voiceless and agent less, to their male counterparts destroys any shot of redemption for the fairer sex, so Conrad aligns all the women in the narrative with unreality to evolve the importance of separate realms. 

"Great Nations of Europe" by Randy Newman

“Great Nations of Europe” is what seems like a cheerful song, but in reality, talks about the destruction the Europeans have caused. Randy Newman was successfully able to use irony by making contradictions between what he says and what he means to convey the message that the Europeans were not so “great” as people thought they were in the 16^th century.

To start off, the title of the song “Great Nations of Europe” is ironic. Of course, Europe at this time period was the dominant power. They had the wealth, the stability, and the advanced technology to rule the world. However, this is not what Randy Newman is actually saying – he means something else. As much as they seem superior, they are not great because all they ever do is destroy other civilizations and their cultures. They kill millions of people not just through military but through the diseases they bring and wipe out their existence completely. What exactly is so great about that? Nothing.

Another sign of irony is when Newman says “the great nations of Europe were quite holy in their way” right after he talks about how the Europeans had the Indians “torn apart by dogs” when the Church claimed they were gay. Obviously, there’s nothing holy about tearing people apart to death. What Newman was trying to actually say was that the Europeans pretty much did anything in the name of God.

            Yet, there are certainly some parts in the song that are not ironic at all. For the most part, the descriptions of what the Europeans did are not ironic. Although they are very exaggerated, Newman is saying them to be interpreted literally. One example of Newman not using irony is “They got tb and typhoid and athletes food, diphtheria and flu.” Everyone who learned some kind of history would know that what he is saying here is exactly what happened in reality. The Europeans had brought millions of diseases to the Americas and consequently had killed millions of Indians.

OFOCN: Blog Response #3

Many have faced problems about individuality and freedom once in their lifetime. They feel the need to conform to others or reluctantly follow an authority’s order. They themselves cannot speak up because they have no voice and believe no one sees them. Has that ever happened to you? Because it has happened to me. Like me, Chief Bromden, our narrator from One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest, has also experienced this. Yet, he was able to change through the presence of a very influential person named McMurphy, who showed Bromden and the other patients that sometimes it is necessary to fight against society and its oppression to keep one’s individualism and sanity. Bromden’s character change is evident through his decreasing hallucinations, his voice, and his ability to make choices.

              One of the changes in Bromden is shown through his receding hallucinations, which parallels with the mentioning of the fog machine. Throughout the story, Bromden starts mentioning less about the fog machine. Like stated in my earlier blog, the fog machine represents Bromden’s mental clarity ― the more he sees it, the more he’s hallucinating and becoming insane. However, he realizes himself that the fog machine hasn’t been working and that it probably “had broke down in the walls…and weren’t able to circulate fog and gas and foul up the way things looked” (pg. 140). This awareness allows Bromden to perceive reality like the way “normal” people could. He is now more coherent and his mind stable. He is no longer trying to escape or hide from the reality of society or his life; instead he is trying to face his own problems and to deal with them. Even when the fog does come back, Bromden chooses to avoid it. During the EST, Bromden states, “It’s fogging a little, but I won’t slip off and hide it. No…never again…” (pg. 248). He chooses to stay away from it and this determination to not get controlled by the fog demonstrates the amount of courage Bromden gained throughout the novel. He won’t hide anymore. Although he is now more vulnerable than ever, it allows the readers how much more confident and courageous Bromden became in facing reality as well as how stable he has become.

              Another evidence that Bromden has changed throughout the novel is his frequency in talking. In the first half of the story, Bromden pretended he was deaf and dumb. He did not say a single word at loud and allowed people to talk bad about him in front of him. He had no voice. Voice in this novel represents control, power, and strength. Just like Nurse Ratched lost her voice and thus, lost power and control over her patients, Chief Bromden regained his voice and thus, got back his personal strength, confidence, and control over himself. His process of pretending he couldn’t talk, to WANTING to talk, to actually talking, and eventually singing and/or laughing is proof that Bromden is no longer the coward he was before. He is able to speak his thoughts now and is heard from the others. He is an individual and isn’t “invisible.”

              By far, the biggest change McMurphy had brought upon the patients and especially Bromden was the capability to make choices. McMurphy symbolizes the capability for choice while Nurse Ratched represents the opposite ― she does not allow anyone in her ward to make their own decisions because she wants to have the control. One’s ability to make choices (rational choices) is what determines a person from being a “normal, rational” human being from a person in a mental institution. Chief Bromden realizes this. He realizes that he can also make choices without being afraid. Thus, wanting this ability to be rational, he does several things such as raising his hand to vote for the World Series, deciding not to take the red capsule before going to sleep, and being one of the people to go fishing. Finally, as a way to protest as well as fight for what he believes in, he decides to fight with McMurphy (during the incident between George and Washington during the shower), he mercy kills McMurphy, and he runs away from the ward. Through this, Bromden was able to regain back his sense of individuality and humanity. He is not “a product” of the Combine. He won’t conform to society, or in his case Nurse Ratched’s ridiculous orders. He will do what he himself wants and with this, he was finally “free” (pg. 280).

              When I moved to New York, the New York culture was completely different from the culture in Spain. In order to make friends and fit in, I did what everyone else did and followed to their society rules although I did not agree to many of them. I soon realized I was just trying to conform and by following others, I was losing a sense of myself. Through courage and confidence, I regained back my uniqueness and did what I believed was right. I made my own choices and did things based on what I wanted. This is what Bromden went through. He went through a very significant character change that made him from being a scared, invisible, emotionless coward to a courageous and confident human being who could make his own choices.

OFOCN: Blog Response #2

Many authors attempt to use symbolism as a way to add depth and meaning to a story. When chosen well, it can convey an intricate idea with just a single object that allows the novel to be interpreted in more than one way. One of the central symbolisms in One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest is the machinery. Similarly, Charles Dickens also uses this machinery imagery in his novel the Tale of Two Cities. Both authors utilize it as a way to express the dehumanization of the society.

The main metaphor in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest is the machine. The metaphor appeared early on in the story and was mentioned frequently by the narrator Bromden. Bromden sees society as a giant farm machine, the Combine, which harvests grain crops and gets rid of the excess. He sees this same machine representing the mental institution as well. This machine representing the dehumanization of individuals can be seen primarily in two places: the description of Nurse Ratched and Bromden’s nightmare. When Nurse Ratched first appears in the novel, Bromden describes her in machine-like terms. When she is approaching the black boys, “she blows up bigger and bigger, big as a tractor, so big I can smell the machinery inside the way you smell a motor pulling too big a load” (p. 5). Moreover, all of her physical features seem to be that of a machine – “precise, automatic” and “smooth, calculated, and precision-made.” Nurse Ratched is the perfect product of society. She has lost her individuality; her personality is no longer there. She is just a robot who goes on with her life. In addition, Bromden once dreams about the hospital being a slaughterhouse where the hospital workers kill the patients. In his dream, Blastic was the victim. The scene that most caught my eye was when Blastic was disemboweled. Instead of blood (what a normal human being should have inside), “a shower of rust and ashes” spilled out of his body. There is nothing human inside of him, but just leftovers of machines. This illustrates how the hospital did not just take his life away but his individuality and humanity away. Kesey uses machinery imagery to symbolize society and how it suppresses individuality as well as taking control of human souls.

 Likewise, in the Tale of Two Cities, the guillotine plays a significant role. The machine that is used to behead people is first introduced when the revolutionaries take over the Crown – when the revolutionary chaos gets institutionalized. The guillotine symbolizes the dehumanization of humans as they mercilessly behead them one after the other. They don’t perceive them as meaningful human beings anymore; therefore, human life became cheap. The guillotine made the killing more emotionless, mechanic, and automatic and showed how the people at that period had lost their moral compass.

Ken Kesey from One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest and Charles Dickens from Tale of Two Cities were successfully able to use machine as a way to express the dehumanization of society. Whether it was about the person’s individuality or morals, the automatic, emotionless ways of the Combine and the guillotine allowed the readers to perceive the characters not as human beings but as soulless “objects.”