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.