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.

 

The Cherry Orchard Act IV: When The Axe Falls

The word monotonous describes the final act of The Cherry Orchard. The whole act is spent in the farewell of all the characters who lived in the house. Regardless of it being monotonous it contains very important information about what happens to each of the characters after the house is sold. Monotony leads to dullness and boredom but it doesn't mean that it is not useful. In fact many monotonous activities are very important. Mathematics could be considered monotonous by the constant repetition of equations and numbers but at the end they turn out to be rather useful. This final act clarifies many events and actions that had been building intrigue and interest in the reader from previous acts.

The cherry orchard was the source of life for Andreyevna and her family. When Lopakhin announces that his recent acquisition was this property everyone acted as if they couldn't live without their cherry orchard. The question of what their life would be without their fountain of life had grown in the reader since Lopakhin bought it. Chekhov adds to the suffering of the family through the phrases, "The sound of axes chopping down trees is heard in the distance … Mama asks you not to start cutting down the cherry orchard until she's gone" (Chekhov 382). There is nothing more painful than to see the thing you love the most being destroyed in front of you. Andreyevna's pain is increased by the chopping of the trees in her presence. Varya's attempt to stop this is useless since the family has already heard the sound of the deadly axes chopping down their hopes of life.

The cathartic moment in this final act of The Cherry Orchard happens when the family makes a choice on what to do. Trofimov, the eternal student, says, "Hail to the new life" (Chekhov 392)! This marks the moment where the family accepts their fate and realizes that their life has to move on with or without the cherry orchard. Chekhov makes this an important phrase, especially because it is said by Trofimov. The fact that he honors and wants this new life shows that he, as the scholar, understands the facts and his life will not end with the chop of an axe. Since he appears is the wisest, everyone will follow his example, desiring for a new life.

The Cherry Orchard Act III: Trofimov, The Joker

Perhaps something intended to be funny turns out to not be funny at all. Maybe the joke was done in a very incorrect time or to the wrong audience. Regardless of this there exists the chance that something that had no funny intentions or planning behind it turns out to be incredibly funny. The idea if something is funny or not depends a lot on the person and not so much on the joke. One person might not like offensive jokes so any joke that contains any vulgar comment will not be funny to them. Other people may be pastusos and certainly they will not find funny jokes about them. There are some cases humor in Act III of The Cherry Orchard. Some made me laugh and others not at all, yet again jokes are rather subjective.

Trofimov seems like a scholar who studies plenty as well as concentrating a lot on his works. We are now presented with the image of a Trofimov who jokes around and mocks people. This can be seen when Trofimov says, "You know, there really is something equine about your figure" (Chekhov 363). He mocks Pishchik who says that he has descended from Caligula's horse. The use of the word equine in Trofimov's line shows to the reader his scholar side. He could have simply said horse like but Chekhov prefers to use a scientific word which would show the intellect of Trofimov. This type of comment falls into the category of planned funny jokes. Trofimov certainly planned to mock Pishchik and I thought his comment was funny. Of course Pishchik would not have laughed at this since this joke was laughing about him.

Trofimov is the funny guy in this act since he also causes laughter even without trying. According to Chekhov: "In the hall there is a sound of someone running quickly downstairs and suddenly falling with a crash. Anya and Varya scream, but a moments later laughter is heard" (Chekhov 370). Anya and Varya seem like the kind of persons that laugh at people falling. Personally I don't laugh too much when a person falls but I have to admit that there have been cases where I have laughed a great deal when a person falls. I did not laugh at this fall of Trofimov even after seeing the video of his fall. It all depends on the person, I think that the funniest fall I have seen is La Caida De Edgar, but others may have not laughed even once with it.

The Cherry Orchard Act II: Chilling In The Orchard

The school's amphitheater is a place where almost every student goes to chill there during break. Students normally chill where people from their same grade are and generally talk with their groups of friends. Today during break I experienced something similar to The Cherry Orchard. Every person was talking about a different thing. One boy was talking about FC Barcelona and their match, while another one was talking about golf, yet another one was talking about stocks. Two girls were talking about clothing and two others were talking about the party they attended during the week end. I felt as if every person there was talking of a completely different thing than the ones around, and none actually understood what they were pretending to be listening to.

In his play Chekhov tries to capture reality as a picture and he achieves this through dialogue. As in real life each character talks about whatever he or she pleases. The conversations shift quickly from one subject to another and there is no real central theme as in life. Lyubov Andreyevna says "Oh my sins…. I've always squandered money recklessly, like a mad woman", Gayev responds "That's our famous Jewish band. You remember. Four violins, a flute and a double bass", and finally Lyubov Andreyevna responds "It's still in existence? We ought to send for them some time and give a party" (Chekhov, 351). The way the theme changes from money to music to money again is quick and without depth in any of the previous subjects. This is exactly how conversations in life work, they change quickly and vary a lot in subjects. The other thing that Chekhov captures perfectly about reality is the quickness in which people forget things. In the first line Lyubov Andreyevna feels guilty for she has always "squandered money recklessly" but the next time she talks she says we have to "give a party" (Chekhov, 351). What this shows is how a real person feels bad for doing something but quickly does it again. In real life people do things even though they know it is bad. Andreyevna knows that they are losing all their money but still she wants to throw parties because what she likes is to squander money.

The King Of Norway by Amoz Oz

In this short story by Amoz Oz, the main character has an addiction for forecasting the tragedies and deaths around the world. Zvi Provizor, or the Angel of Death, is always listening to the news and telling everyone about the deaths around the world. He has little human contact except for the news about people from across the world. Oz portrays this character as a lonely human being that his only interest in life is learning about deaths and tragedies. The pessimism and the addiction to death Zvi has, shows how death and talking about it is his only purpose in life. His purpose has a drastic turn when he meets Luna Blank and starts forming a relationship with her. Even though, Zvi and Luna are both mocked with the nicknames Angel of Death and Black Widow, he at least is developing a human relationship with someone. Luna touches her breast with Zvi's hand one day, bringing this relationship to an end. Zvi continually avoids Luna and his death addicted life returns. Human contact scares Zvi as seen when he decided to avoid Luna, the only person in the kibbutz who cared for him. This problem is linked to his obsession of telling tragic events and deaths. His life is so concentrated on the news around the world that he is not able to live a life where his body is. The title refers to a place far away from where he lives but still his mind is in Norway because news came that the King of Norway had cancer. Zvi's obsession with news around the world prevents him from living his present life in the kibbutz.