The title, Heart of Darkness, has many possibilities of meaning, one very obvious meaning is the possibility that Africa is a center of darkness, the heart of darkness. It is uncivilized and certainly not tamed. When Marlow ventures into the heart of Africa along the Congo river, he is entering the heart of darkness. However, even more so, there is a much stronger meaning that can be derived from the title. This realization comes with the fact that in a way the wilderness reflects the own heart of humanity. Marlow finds that the line between his own civilized personality and that of the wild people is very thin, and quite literally the fact that all human hearts have the same core. Before entering into the journey, Marlow has quite the interesting visit with a doctor. The doctor measures Marlow's head and displays his scientific interest in the psychological state of outsiders that venture into Africa. Marlow's own experiences cause him to find that, as Hugh Mercer Curtler writes in his piece, "Achebe on Conrad: Racism and Greatness in Heart of Darkness," that, "one thing Marlow admires about civilization is its promotion of restraint." Civilization, in a sense, is simply the restraint of natural human functions. The title may be referencing the point that every human has the potential to be savage.
I also touched base with the idea of the title relating to the heart of the jungle. I found it very interesting that the entire novel could be so strongly bonded with the setting of the not only dangerous, but savage heart of the jungle. The heart of humanity was something that I had not considered before reading your blog. I agree with your points though; it is almost as if Marlow is in the heart of humanity, but he has to decided what the right "heart" thing to do is. Every human does indeed have the potential to be savage, simply because it is locked within.
ReplyDeleteFranklin, your analysis of the title is so thorough and well thought out! The most obvious assumption to be made is about the darkness of Africa's civilization, and your analysis about that concept makes a lot of sense and goes deep into what the title truly means. The jungle is also a very significant aspect of why the title is named Heart of Darkness, so it's good that you pointed that out. I was a little surprised that you didn't break up race as you did the other possibilities for why the title is
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