How does marlow describe the jungle

So, if the Thames is like the Congo, then England is like Africa, which means that … white men are like black men, with a key difference: white men used to be like black men. His comment is sincere. It would come slowly to one.

They howled and leaped, and spun, and made horrid faces; but what thrilled you was just the thought of their humanity—like yours—the thought of your remote kinship with this wild and passionate uproar. Skip to content What does the jungle symbolize in Heart of Darkness? What does nature symbolize in Heart of Darkness? How does Marlow describe the jungle? What do the drums symbolize in Heart of Darkness? What does Marlow consider as having backbone Why? What does the phrase the earth seemed unearthly mean?

Who is the king of the jungle? Why did I dream of a jungle? What does the jungle is dark but full of diamonds? What is the symbol of darkness? What does the snake symbolize in the heart of darkness? How does Marlow personify nature? What did Marlow think of the natives? What color would Marlow use to describe the wilderness in the Congo wilderness? How does Marlow change in heart of darkness? Why does Marlow respect Kurtz? What does God say about drums?

What does the Thames River symbolize in Heart of Darkness? Europeans in Africa. Describe Marlow's first impressions of the European presence in Africa, captured in his observations regarding the French steamer firing into the coast and regarding the Company's lower station Contrast the Europeans' naming of the Africans as "enemies" to Marlow's view of the Africans. Consider Marlow's description of the "devils" he has seen What are the different types of "devils" he describes?

Why is he so appalled by the "flabby, pretending, weak-eyed devil of a rapacious and pitiless folly" that he sees in most Europeans in Africa? What does he mean? Europeans in the [Belgian] Congo. Consider the Europeans that Marlow meets at the Company's stations:. How does Marlow assess these men and their motives for coming to and remaining in Africa? Consider how Conrad's representation of the physical nature differs from that of Romanticist writers.

Long before he meets Kurtz, Marlow hears from others that Kurtz is extraordinary, "remarkable. By the end of Part I, Marlow develops a strong curiosity about Kurtz: why? Marlow sometimes leaps ahead of his story, as when he says that he would not have fought for Kurtz, "but I went for him near enough to lie" Why does Marlow "flashforward" in this way at times in his narrative? What is Marlow's attitude toward lies ? What is the consequence of his allowing the "young fool" to overestimate Marlow's "influence in Europe" ?

Here we are returned to the "narrative present" of the narrative frame: how does the unnamed Nellie narrator feel at this point in Marlow's narrative ? Marlow, Work and Rivets.

Analyze Marlow's statements about his "work": why is he so intent upon wanting "rivets" ? Given his surroundings, the example of the other Europeans around him, his admission that he doesn't really like work --why do you think Marlow now turns so avidly to the "battered, twisted, ruined, tin-pot steamboat" ? Part II Conrad Part II opens with Marlow stranded for some time at the Central Station, waiting for rivets so that he can fix his wrecked steamboat and do the job he was hired to do: make the journey upriver to the Inner Station, fetch the ailing Kurtz, and bring him back.

Marlow's interest in meeting Kurtz grows. Marlow and Kurtz. Marlow, unobserved, overhears a conversation about Kurtz between the manager and his nephew pp. I seemed to see Kurtz for the first time," turning his [Kurtz's] back on headquarters and home, "setting his face towards the depths of the wilderness Marlow wonders at Kurtz's motive in turning back to the Inner Station instead of returning home as he had intended.

A bit later Marlow begins to supply an answer: "Everything belonged to him--but that was a trifle. The thing was to know what he belonged to, how many powers of darkness claimed him for their own" p. What do you think had called Kurtz back to his Inner Station in the "heart of darkness"? By the time Marlow finally begins his journey upriver, he grows increasingly "excited at the prospect of meeting Kurtz" ; and when he thinks Kurtz might die before Marlow gets to him, Marlow confesses "extreme disappointment": he had looked forward to "a talk with Kurtz" --why?

What do you think is the source of Marlow's fascination with Kurtz? Why does Marlow feel that to miss Kurtz would be to miss "my destiny in life" ?

It looked at you with a vengeful aspect" They "crawled toward Kurtz" and "penetrated deeper and deeper into the heart of darkness " ; emphasis mine--note this title allusion.

What is this "accursed inheritance" that Marlow envisions? Kurtz has travelled up this river before Marlow--what has happened to Kurtz?

See also p. Marlow's Attitude toward Africans. Marlow's attitude toward black Africans is complex, but Chinua Achebe has charged that Heart of Darkness is ultimately racist in a famous essay entitled " An Image of Africa. In particular, consider the attitudes expressed on p. Why does he say that "the worst of it" is suspecting "their not being inhuman"? Why is the thought of "remote kinship" judged "Ugly" by Marlow? What is their "terrible frankness"--"truth stripped of its cloak of time"?

What does Marlow mean when he says: "The mind of man is capable of anything--because everything is in it, all the past as well as all the future"? What does it take to prove that one is "as much of a man as these [Africans] on shore"? Aware of the Africans onshore, their headman advises Marlow to "'Catch 'im. Give 'im to us" so they can "Eat 'im'" Marlow then realizes that his African crewmen "must be very hungry" , and meditates on the "devilry of lingering starvation, its exasperating torment, Yet these big powerful Africans "didn't go for us [the white men on board]" and Marlow is dazzled by the fact of their " Restraint!

What is the source of such "restraint" that earns Marlow's grudging admiration? Compare to Marlow's later judgment that his dead helmsman, "just like Kurtz," "had no restraint" : what is their common deficiency? Why does Marlow miss "my late helmsman awfully" ? What is the helmsman's "claim of distant kinship [to Marlow] affirmed in a supreme moment" ? An Annotated Book, a Warning and a Russian.

Fifty miles below the Inner Station, Marlow and his crew come upon an abandoned dwelling, an old annotated book and a cryptic message of warning. Marlow judges it "luminous with another than a professional light"--why Later we learn that this book belonged to the "harlequin" Russian Describe the Russian. What seems to be his relationship to Kurtz?

Marlow admits that there is "an appeal to me in this fiendish row [the "wild and passionate uproar" of the Africans onshore] Very well; I hear; A bit later Marlow argues with himself about "whether or no I would talk openly with Kurtz," but doubts seriously whether it would matter: "my speech or my silence Still, Marlow wants to talk to Kurtz and he must tell his [Marlow's own?

He also describes his childish fantasies of wealth and fame, including the desire for kings to greet him at the railway station upon his return. Before his condition worsens, Kurtz gives Marlow a bundle of private papers for safekeeping, in a last-ditch attempt at preserving his legacy.

The horror! These final words could also broadly symbolize the horror of Belgian and European colonialism. Ace your assignments with our guide to Heart of Darkness!