Song Of Solomon: Material Inequality

I picked up my copy of Song Of Solomon, by Toni Morrison. Since I hadn't heard about this book before I had no expectations about this book. Upon reading the first few pages I found a theme that was clearly expressed. Morrison shows the racial conflict between white people and black people through the characters. One of these actions is described as, "The North was new to him and he had just begun to learn he could speak up to white people" (Morrison, 7). Through this sentence we can learn that the concept of black people being equal to white people was rather new. Since the rules regarding this equality are rather new, the separation between races still reigns over society. With these new laws, the separation and inequality between races will decrease greatly. The racial inequality will constantly appear throughout the development of the book, especially because the society in which the book takes place joins these two cultures.

The relationship presented between Macon Dead and everyone else in the story characterizes hatred. He doesn't seem to love his family. Money, the only thing that interests him, guides his life. According to Morrison: "[She] was the one person in the world he hated more than his wife in spite of the fact that she was his sister … Letting their bunchy solidity calm him. They were the keys to all the doors of his houses" (17). Morrison reveals Macon's materialistic beliefs since the only thing that calmed him were the keys to his houses. These keys symbolize his possession. If he posses these houses he will feel good about his life. Before this argument is shown to the reader, she shows that Macon has some problems with his sister. These problems have an unknown origin but the reader can infer that they regard money. Macon's ambitious dependence on money probably created these problems. Morrison depicts Macon as a materialistic person just after explaining his relationship with his sister, showing how money defines their relationship. Macon's dependence on money will be present throughout the book as well as his relationship with his sister.

 

Heart Of Darkness And King Leopold’s Ghost: The Strongest Will Reign

I have always wondered how the natives reacted to the first colonizers to step on their land. I have always thought of a violent reaction since humans tend to react aggressively in hostile and uncomfortable situations. Imagine seeing many figures descend from strange vessels. These figures difference greatly from what you are accustomed to see. They dress strangely and their skin's color is different. If they come and start to invade your space without permission, they will most likely be attacked by yourself and your compatriots. The arrival of the Portuguese to the Congo is described as: "The Manikongo who was then on the throne greeted the Portuguese warmly. His enthusiasm was probably due less to the Savior his unexpected guests told him about than to the help their magical fire-spouting weapons promised in suppressing a troublesome provincial rebellion" (Hochschild, 9). I can easily imagine myself as the Manikongo and seeing these strange creatures that had the ability to kill people without touching them directly. If they promised me this power, fascination would overcome me and have welcomed them warmly.

The power of technology clearly shows itself in the colonization period. Whoever had the upper hand in technology dominated the other civilization. Conrad shows this clear idea when he expresses how the colonizers enslaved the natives and were able to exploit their ivory. The colonizers had clearly the upper hand with guns. This reminds me of a movie titled Guns, Germs, And Steel, which showed how the Europeans had a clear advantage over the civilizations they were colonizing. Through the ability to have long range kills, constructions with a stronger material, and the killing of millions through diseases that the Europeans were already immune to, they managed to eradicate these civilizations and exploit their land. I thought this barbarian act of the strongest person abusing of the weaker person and exploiting his resources had been eradicated. I came to find out the opposite in King Leopold's Ghost when it says, "Consider Mobutu again. Aside from the color of his skin, there were few ways in which he did not resemble the monarch who governed the same territory a hundred years earlier" (Hochschild, 304). Mobutu's dictatorship didn't differentiate greatly from King Leopold's monarchy. Both profited greatly from the abuse of the Congolese, extracted all the money from the land, and used all this money for their personal benefits and use. Mobutu's exploitation shocks me greatly since he is taking the money away from his own land and his own people. Yet again, money has the power to corrupt everyone, even if it means hurting your own race.

The Age Of Wonder And Heart Of Darkness: Exploit Vs Coexist

The Age Of Wonder narrates the story of an expedition sent to explore the Pacific Islands. This story, as well as Heart Of Darkness, deal with colonization. The idea of colonization is through explorations done by more powerful countries colonize or name the land they find as theirs. What the Europeans decide to do with this land differs but the concept of colonization is present in both stories. In fact, the colonization of the Congo greatly differs from the colonization of Tahiti. To get the ivory that the natives had in their land, the Europeans used force and exploited their land. They enslaved the population to increase the effectiveness of the exploitation. On the other hand, their purpose in Tahiti consisted of botanical exploration, astrological readings, and mapping of the Pacific Islands.

As a matter of fact, their relationship with the natives differed greatly. In the case of Tahiti they become friends and managed to coexist with them. The relationship of Banks with the Tahitians is an example of acceptance "Trading also brought him into regular contact with Tahitians of every class, and helped him establish a broad base of good friendships […] His journal shows him constantly enlarging his Tahitian social circle, referring to people by their names, many of them in terms of trust and affection" (The Age Of Wonder, 20). When compared to the relationship forged in the Congo, the one Tahiti seems better because they trade and have the ability to coexist. Developing good friendships replaces the exploitation of land and trading replaces slavery. Through Banks, as well as trough Kurtz, the relationship with the natives is defined. Kurtz wanted exploitation and ivory, on the other hand Banks searched for intellectual enrichment through the understanding of their culture and their flora and fauna. One of Banks observations of this culture is "It is almost beyond belief that Indians could raise so large a structure without the assistance of Iron tools to shape their stones or mortar to join them" (The Age Of Wonder, 31). Throughout his discoveries and his understanding of the Tahitian culture, Banks suffers a change. He comes to understand their culture so much that he realizes that they were doing fine without colonization. They didn't need their innovations to build vast structures, and certainly didn't need their idea of property to make them greedy.

Heart Of Darkness: Color, Feelings, Color, Food, Color, Good, Color, Bad

Colors characterize feelings. They have reached the point where a color can describe the feeling of something. Picasso exemplifies the implementation of color to describe feelings. A painting done with different dark tones of blue shows sadness and desperation. Color is also used in real life to make people feel certain things. Fast food companies almost always use red, yellow, and orange in their logos as well as inside the restaurant because they want their customers to feel the need of their food, fast. Anxiety, hunger, and adrenaline are produced by these colors making you order more, in larger proportions than you normally do, and eat this faster than what would normally take to eat that amount of food.

Joseph Conrad, in his novel Heart Of Darkness, wants the reader to experience the journey as real as possible. Through the meticulous attention to the tones of darkness and light in his work he shows the reader the differences between these two colors. According to Conrad: "It was as though an animated image of death carved out of old ivory had been shaking its hand with menaces at a motionless crowd of men made of dark" (pg. 111). The word "ivory" refers to the tusks of the elephants which were cut off for jewelry. This white and precious material describes Kurtz. Made out of "ivory" he is a good person since he is made out of pure white. The "crowd of men made of dark" show the darkness of the scene. These men are dark and have negative intention by attacking Kurtz. Conrad uses the difference between black and white to separate what is good from what is bad. Generally he uses the white imagery to describe the colonizers and the dark imagery to describe the natives.

Conrad uses this black and white imagery throughout the novel. At one point he presents us a gray one. According to Conrad: "I have wrestled with death. It is the most unexciting contest you can imagine. It takes place in an impalpable greyness" (pg, 131). The nothingness expressed in this sentences expands further with the color gray. Gray is not black nor white, since it is not good nor bad it is nothing. Conrad portrays to the reader that when facing death nothingness is the feeling that domains. If he loses, nothing will happen. If he wins, the same outcome will happen. Through this use of death and gray imagery he portrays the "greyness" of life. The reader feels this uncertainness of whether things are good or bad, black or white.

Heart Of Darkness: I Am There

Some days ago, in Spanish class we had to tell one anecdote to the class. One student did an exceptional one. Through describing very vividly and in much detail his story, I felt as if it was me who was standing in front of the sea instead of him. Through vivid and descriptive imagery many things can be achieved. The authors' target through this detailed description becomes to captivate the audience in the story and most importantly make them feel and see as much as possible to get them nearer to feeling what this person felt when he was in that situation.

Conrad has the ability to make the reader feel part of the story through his use of imagery. You can almost feel that you are Marlow travelling in a steamboat through the Congo River. Conrad incorporates the reader into the story when he describes Marlow's view as: "But deep within the forest, red gleams that wavered, that seemed to sink and rise from the ground amongst confused columnar shapes of intense blackness" (pg. 119). Conrad effectively communicates the darkness and the confusion created in this scene. As a reader I don't know what these red gleams are, but through this vivid description I could characterize them as mysterious and dark. By the description of the environment, feelings of confusion and fear can characterize the person in this scene. In addition, his description of colors and tones of light and darkness add to the feeling of the scene. The colors portrayed in this scene, where the natives "stamped their feet, nodded their horned heads, swayed their scarlet bodies" (Conrad, 125), describe an evil environment. The colors black and red expand the satanic imagery used to describe this native on the shore. Through the use of this imagery and colors, Conrad juxtaposes the natives on the shores to devils. The purpose of imagery is to connect the audience to the experience that the person in the scene felt as effectively as possible. Conrad definitely accomplishes this goal when he describes his scenes through which the reader can feel there, as well as understand the feelings of this person.

 

Heart Of Darkness: Kurtz The Ideal Colonizer

A person will always change in a journey. People face new challenges and adventures changing their idea about the world. The clash of cultures will also make the person accept the other culture and understand furthermore their own culture. Interactions with the people from another culture, definitely change people the most. Marlow's journey to the Congo also represents a change in him. As the book progresses some changes become more evident. Since the moment he arrived at the first station, meeting Kurtz became his only desire. In the steamboat, the idea of meeting Kurtz pushed Marlow on through the river. After a native attack he changes drastically. According to Marlow: "No; I can't forget him, though I am not prepared to affirm the fellow was exactly worth the life we lost in getting to him" (Conrad, 93). Marlow had built a relationship with this black person. Sadness overcomes him and he starts to doubt the importance of Kurtz over a dead person. Reaching Kurtz was Marlow's only reason for living, but now he has changed and starts to question his desire to reach him.

Through this journey in boat, Marlow discovers himself. Maybe reaching Kurtz would make him a more skilled colonizer. This Kurtz represented the idol that Marlow wanted to be. He wanted to become Kurtz and be able to exploit the natives, the land, and the ivory as well as he did. But Marlow changes in the boat, he transforms into a person that even suggests that Kurtz died. When a pilgrim says that the black man is dead Marlow responds: " 'No doubt about it,' said I, tugging like mad at the shoelaces. 'And, by the way, I suppose Mr. Kurtz is dead as well by this time' " (Conrad, 86). Marlow had to experience having a relationship with a native to be able to forget the idea of becoming Kurtz. The native died at his foot and with him so did Kurtz. Following this event, Marlow had less desire to become a native exploiter and to enslave them for the resources of their land. Conrad creates ambiguity about Kurtz. He could be a person or just an idea of the ideal colonizer who abuses the natives. By showing that Marlow suggests his death, the desire to become this colonizer has died inside him.

Heart Of Darkness: Close But Far

Throughout the first and second chapter of Heart Of Darkness, Conrad shows two opposite worlds which live together. The idea of the British colonizers living beside the poor and exploited natives shows the contrast between these two types of lives. This concept reminds me of Rio de Janeiro, where the favelas are encircled by some of the richest sectors of the city. It is ironic that so much poverty is really close to such richness. Conrad portrays the idea that the only intention of the powerful is to obtain all the money from the poor. Conrad describes the colonizer's purpose as: "To tear the treasure out of the bowels of the land was their desire, with no more moral purpose at the back of it than there is in burglars breaking into a safe" (pg. 54). Tearing the ivory out of country wouldn't be such a problem if it was done without hurting the natives. The problem with the approach taken by the English is that they enslaved the natives for them to extract the ivory. A high level of unfairness is created, creating opposite types of lives.

What makes this difference in reality worse is that the poor have the wealth in front of their faces. I imagine a kid in the favela playing with a torn car and when he sees towards the buildings, he sees a kid playing with a remote controlled car. When the wealth is not as near these extremes wouldn't affect the people. The daily work in the novel could also be part of these extremes According to Marlow: "I don't like work-no man does-but I like what is in the work,-the chance to find yourself. Your own reality" (Conrad, 51). I am sure that the colonizers as well as the slaves have a chance to find themselves in their work. The only difference is that one suffers little and uses up the resources of another man's land, and the other is exploited and has to aid foreigners to extract the resources from their own land. Even though Marlow says that no man likes to work I am sure that he would prefer any type of work than helping others destroy what is his. By placing these two opposite realities so close together Conrad manages to portray the miserable life of the natives compared to the easy life of the colonizers.

Heart Of Darkness: Luck Or Preparation

I don't know why but I found myself in a discussion with my grandfather about luck. He said that luck affected human beings in different ways but that there were certain human beings that were luckier than the others. I liked how he explained to me the concept of luck but he was not able to change my previous idea about luck. Once a tennis coach said to me that luck doesn't exist, incredible things happen when preparation meets opportunity. I really liked this explanation since it opens a controlled variable which is inexistent in luck. Preparation is one thing that can be controlled and opportunities will always come and go, therefore; if a person is prepared for everything then the opportunity will come accompanied by success.

Luck doesn't determine a person it is what he is made of or prepared to accomplish. An alternative reality is proposed by Conrad when he says, "If a lot of mysterious niggers armed with all kinds of fearful weapons suddenly took to travelling on the road between Deal and Gravesend, catching the yokels right and left to carry heavy loads for them, I fancy every farm and cottage there-abouts would get empty very soon" (Conrad, 33). I have always been intrigued with this idea. Would the most important continent today be Africa instead of Europe or USA? Would the global language be an ancient tribe dialect? Was the chosen race to dominate all others chosen by luck? I prefer to believe that it was a matter of preparation that the Europeans were able to dominate the American and African continent. The Europeans had the weapons and the resources to do this, and when the opportunity appeared they accomplished this domination.

Conrad portrays the image of an European in a very different way than a slave. He depicts a slave as "All about others were scattered in every pose of contorted collapse, as in some picture of a massacre or a pestilence. While I stood horror-struck" (Conrad, 29). These slaves were of little importance to the Europeans, they only cared about the work they did. Conrad creates some ambiguity with the use of the word horror-struck. He could be feeling bad about the slaves and being horrified at the exploitation they receive or he is horrified by these slaves and doesn't like them at all. When compared to the description of the Europeans the slaves are portrayed as less than humans. The Company's chief accountant is described as "Hair parted, brushed, oiled, under a green lined parasol held in a big white hand. He was amazing" (Conrad, 29). The admiration he feels for this European is evident. In other words, he adores the European and disgusts the slaves.