黑暗的心

用戶評論 (總計31條)

•   高估自己要學習英語的決心了
•   圖書品相太差，居然半本都有水質(zhì)印記，這個也像你們當當這樣的大網(wǎng)站出的貨嗎？我算是受教訓了！
•   　　The last decade of the nineteenth century was arguably the most triumphant period of the empires. Britain, France and other major powers, with their advanced technology, stretched all over the globe to consolidate their capitalistic foundation. With the sense of superiority in all aspects, Europeans considered themselves representatives of progress and liberators against ignorance as well. However, as suggested in Conrad’s Heart of Darkness, technologies that seemed to be the blessing of the civilization to the western society ultimately became the means of exploitation and oppression to the rest of the world. This was shown by the European colonists’ reliance on their military advances to subdue the foreign population, their attempts to justify their conducts by asserting the “European moral progress”, and the fact that the Imperialism was the embodiment of savagery itself.
  　　Supported by their absolute military supremacy, major European powers had set up their agenda of global domination as early as late seventeenth century, as stated in The Making of the West. Africa, as well as the native inhabitants living there, became the first victim of this ambition. As Conrad depicted in his Heart of Darkness, The tragedy of the Africans escalated to its height at the age of imperialism. “Once…we came upon a man-of-war anchored off the coast…she was shelling the bush…In the empty immensity of earth, sky and water, there she was, incomprehensible, firing into a continent.” This scene of the battle between the French vessel and the natives is among Marlow’s first impressions of the European civilization overseas. Gunboats formed the backbone of Imperialism, as Imperialists broke into the continent with buckshot and dynamite on board. Befalling with flash and impact, the Europeans appeared to the natives as divine existence, like Kurtz, who “came to them with thunder and lightning…and they had never seen anything like it-and very terrible.” This was the supreme power that technology granted to the conquerors. With this power, European Imperialists could even subjugate a long-lasting eastern empire with thousands of years of culture and a population of four hundred million. The Opium War, started by the British East India Company against the Qing Dynasty of China, ended with the total defeat of the Chinese government. The British expedition, which included an infantry of less than four thousand men and a notorious navy with the best mobility and firepower, triumphed with toll of less than a hundred. Similarly in Africa, technologies provided by the Industrial Revolution had further cemented the military might of the western colonists and guaranteed their domination over the native inhabitants.
  　　Over two hundred years, numerous amounts of battles were won continuously by the Europeans, and finally, they sought to justify and glorify these achievements. As Kurtz asserts, “we whites, from the point of development we had arrived at, ‘must necessarily appear to them [savages] in the nature of supernatural beings-we approach them with the might as of a deity’’’ . This idea of Social Darwinism prevailed over the Europe, holding that certain groups within human race, like the natives in Africa, were biologically less-evolved because of the cultural differences and the technological deficiency. Therefore, “Dissemination of civilization” became the declared cause of the Scramble of Africa, like Kurtz’s ambition: “By the simple exercise of our will we can exert a power for good practically unbounded’’ . In the name of progress, convinced by the actual technological and economic advancement, organization as the International Society for the Suppression of Savage Customs, which is mentioned in Heart of Darkness, flung the flag of humanity and morality and landed to “exterminate all the brutes!” Ironically, however, the way Europeans tried to “civilized” the continent reflected their innermost savage instincts.
  　　From the perspective of Conrad, the Imperialism itself included a certain degree of savagery as well. Even though, Marlow experiences all sorts of brutality along his journey, the things he actually finds “the touch of insanity” within are how the French vessel fires intensely into the jungle when nothing happens and how the “trade” of ivory with the natives is carried out by Kurtz. Marlow understands that Kurtz “had no goods to trade with by that time” and he believes that Kurtz actually “raided the country’’ . As Marlow perceives, “The word ‘ivory’ rang in the air…they [colonists] were praying to it’’ . Enabled by the steamboats, trade of ivory along the Congo River yet created another kind of worship to profit, same as the natives’ worship to the deity. Modern technologies, as what Marlow sees as “undersized railway truck lying there on its back with its wheel in the air’’ like the remains of an animal, are scattered around with decaying machinery and rusty rails. That shows the disharmonious image of the European civilization on this continent as well as its rot, implying the colonists’ moral degradation. The natives, whose “joints of…limbs were like knots in a rope; each had an iron collar on his neck, and all were connected together with a chain” are called “enemies”. The expected effort of “civilizing” is not seen; instead, what Marlow sees is only the scene of suppression. Kurtz, the actual epitome of the Imperialists, arrives with his altruistic ambition but gradually degrades morally and reveals his greedy nature at last. Technology, in possession of the darkness of hearts, didn’t distinguish the colonists from the savages, which suggested the failure of the Europeans’ self-declared moral progress.
  　　During the second half of the eighteenth century, technology played one of the most critical parts in the process of imperial expansion. Guns imposed the unprecedented hardship onto the African natives, and the modern transportation helped further exploit the continent. Having claimed to civilize the native Africans, western colonists in fact introduced brutality and destruction to the world in the darkness. They were like plague, inflicting catastrophe onto the African inhabitants. But, in comparison to the western intruders, the natives “shouted, sang…streamed with perspiration…they had bone, muscle, a wild vitality, an intense energy of movement, that was as natural and true as the surf along their coast.” As the original inhabitants, they fitted better to this marvelous continent. They expressed no less morality than the European colonists did, and the so-called western moral progress was in reality the arrogance generated by the technological advancement of the west world.
  　　
•   　　Essay Q&A
  　　
  　　
  　　
  　　
  　　
  　　1. What is "'The horror! The horror!'"?
  　　
  　　
  　　Literally, "The horror! The horror!'" are Kurtz's dying words. They are spoken to Marlow in private as the steamboat makes its return journey to the Central Station. Of course, the most important question, generally the most frequently asked question related to the novel, concerns what Kurtz means by the statement. One interpretation is that the horror is a great emptiness, a profound nothingness that lies at the heart of everything.
  　　
  　　
  　　
  　　Marlow believes that Kurtz's immersion in the wilderness has fundamentally changed him. Living deep in the Congo, among the "savages" and far from the structured life of society, Kurtz has learned some deep, dark secret about the nature of life. It is a secret that most people either cannot or will not hear. We know that, initially at least, Kurtz is neither a bitter man nor a misanthrope. His report to the International Society for the Suppression of Savage Customs begins on a very humanitarian note. He has altruistic motives and great hopes for the company's work; he believes that "Each station should be like a beacon on the road toward better things, a center for trade of course but also for humanising, improving, instructing." In essence, Europeans coming to the Congo can have a positive impact on the region and its inhabitants. We also learn that Kurtz is a cultured man: he writes and recites poetry, he paints, and he is a musician. In this way, Kurtz is an emissary of Western culture. He buys into the notion that Europe can help to civilize the Congo. Yet by the end of the report, after considerable time spent in the wild, Kurtz concludes that Europeans must "'Exterminate all the brutes!'"
  　　
  　　
  　　
  　　What brings about this tremendous change? Marlow suggests that Kurtz's time in the wild released a much more primitive, instinctual nature in him, a nature that Marlow suggests resides deep within us all but which "civilized" society helps to keep suppressed. Over time Kurtz becomes a very powerful figure for the natives. The story strongly suggests that he has achieved a godlike status among the natives, who care for him, approach him by crawling, fanatically follow him, and even revere him.
  　　
  　　
  　　
  　　Marlow has a strong desire to relate Kurtz's message; in fact, it seems to be his sole motivation for telling the tale. However, he recognizes that not everyone is ready to hear Kurtz's message. The most obvious example of an individual not ready to accept Kurtz's message is his fiancée, his "Intended." At the end of the tale, when she prompts Marlow to reveal Kurtz's last words, Marlow lies, stating that it was her own name. The truth, Marlow believes, would crush her. The Manager and the other company men in the Congo also reject Kurtz's message, believing Kurtz to be insane. By extension, it can be argued that all "civilized" people reject Kurtz's message. Who does accept it? Obviously, Marlow accepts it, but so does the Harlequin, a man who admits that Kurtz "enlarged [his] mind." The natives of the Congo, too, accept the message, for they embrace, even worship, Kurtz. The underlying distinction seems to be this: those who confine themselves to the safety of society's rules and morals reject Kurtz's message. Society gives them the illusions they need in order to carry on. But those few who have gone far beyond the constraints of society, those who look deeply inward, draw a different conclusion: there is no real "method" or purpose to life.
  　　
  　　
  　　
  　　2. Why does Marlow refer to the company men as "pilgrims?"
  　　
  　　
  　　The standard definition of a "pilgrim" is one who embarks on a journey for some sacred purpose. When the word is used, many undoubtedly think of the men and women who traveled from England to the New World aboard ships like the Mayflower, individuals embarking on a sacred and very personal mission. On the surface the Europeans working in the Congo fit this definition. Organizations like the story's International Society for the Suppression of Savage customs seem to have a vested interest in bringing "civilization" to the region. Indeed, Marlow's aunt, who has helped to secure his position with the company, is glad that her nephew will be "weaning those ignorant millions from their horrid ways." And men like Kurtz, initially at least, also want to help to improve life for the natives.
  　　
  　　
  　　
  　　As the story progresses, however, we see that the only real motivation for these "faithless pilgrims," as Marlow calls them, is money. As Marlow makes clear, the word "ivory" is constantly in the background and the quest for it seems to drive their every action. Marlow notes that the greatest "desire" among the company men "was to get appointed to a trading post where ivory was to be had, so that they could earn percentages." During his march to the Central Station, Marlow encounters an overweight company man, a man ill-suited to the region. When Marlow asks why he has come to the Congo, the man replies, "To make money, of course," as if there were no other reason. It is no accident that the large expedition which arrives at the Central Station, led by the Central Station Manager's uncle, is called the Eldorado Exploring Expedition, for the Eldorado is a fabled land of untold gold and riches in South America, sought out by several famous explorers. The Congo too is a region of untapped wealth.
  　　
  　　
  　　
  　　Of course, this quest for money is the cause of much suffering and even death. The company doctor notes that most of the men he approves for work in the region never return to his office. The Manager too complains to his uncle that many of his workers cannot survive the environment. In fact, the Manager's uncle notes that the Manager's simple ability to stay healthy is his greatest strength. Even the native inhabitants, who have existed in the region for many years prior to the arrival of the Europeans, suffer from the quest for ivory, as Marlow discovers when he sees a line of native "criminals" and later stumbles upon a large group of native workers who are nearly wasted from their brutal work and the harsh conditions. Even the company's attempts to improve the natives' lives don't amount to much. For example, the native workers aboard the steamboat are paid in lengths of copper wire. But this payment is useless because there are no places for the native workers to trade. As a result, they go hungry.
  　　
  　　
  　　
  　　Thus, Marlow uses the term "pilgrim" to point out the hypocritical nature of European colonization. This pilgrimage is anything but sacred; it's about lining pockets with gold.
  　　
  　　
  　　
  　　3. Several times Marlow speaks of "the nightmare of my choice." What does he mean by this?
  　　
  　　
  　　Nightmares are the unwelcome form of dreams. They are frightening manifestations of the subconscious, and they are often best left unspoken. In Heart of Darkness we see many dreams: Kurtz initially dreams of making the company stations places to bring culture to the natives, most of the company men dream of making fortunes on ivory, and Marlow dreams of great adventures in an uncharted country. We also see that many of these dreams have a nightmare component.
  　　
  　　
  　　
  　　Clearly, Kurtz's experience in the Congo has led him to uncover the ultimate nightmare. He has abandoned the rules and structure of society and has let his baser nature flourish; as a result, he has seen the savagery, brutality, and emptiness that reside within us all. The Manager lives in his own nightmare as he constantly frets over his position within the company, wondering who may replace him and who has the most influence back in Europe. Marlow's trip becomes a waking nightmare as he learns that his boat is wrecked, experiences the deplorable conditions forced upon the natives and company workers, watches a man die in front of him, encounters the row of decapitated heads at Kurtz's Inner Station, and eventually hears Kurtz's terrible message.
  　　
  　　
  　　
  　　As a result of his experience one might expect Marlow to welcome his return to "civilization" with open arms. Yet after his encounter with Kurtz life in Europe seems somehow nightmarish too. Like Kurtz, Marlow has been to the heart of darkness; he too has seen the utter emptiness that it at the center of it all. As a result he now understands that Europe and all that it represents is nothing more than a hollow fa?ade.
  　　
  　　
  　　
  　　This point of view, however, is not shared by the other men, who haven't pushed themselves far enough to see the truth of Kurtz's message. This is the reason Marlow is no longer accepted by them. It is also the reason Marlow lies to Kurtz's fiancée when she asks him to tell her Kurtz's last words: the truth is simply too much to bear.
  　　
  　　
  　　
  　　4. How does the novel depict the "savages" of the Congo region?
  　　
  　　It's clear that to the Europeans the native inhabitants of the Congo are subhuman; they are savages in the basest sense of the word. Marlow's aunt, who uses her influence to help him gain employment with the company, speaks of "'those ignorant millions'" who need to be saved "'from their horrid ways.'" During Marlow's stay at the Central Station, a native is beaten for supposedly setting fire to one of the company huts. His cries elicit no pity from one of the company workers, who remarks: "'What a row the brute makes! [. . .] Serve him right. Transgression-punishment-bang! Pitiless, pitiless. That's the only way." The man's remarks suggest that the station's agents see the natives as no better than animals. Even Marlow buys into to this line of thinking, for he likens the native in charge of running the steamboat's boiler to "a dog in a parody of breeches and a feather hat walking on his hind legs."
  　　
  　　
  　　
  　　But the novel depicts these "savages" in a far more sympathetic light. For example, Marlow hires a group of "cannibals" to help run the boat. Some of them cut wood, one tends the boiler, and one steers the boat. Early in the journey upriver, the cannibals' main source of food, a hunk of rotting hippopotamus meat, is thrown overboard because of its offensive smell. Thus, the cannibals are very hungry. It is true that when the boat is fog-bound and the cannibals hear the loud cries from the forest, they want to capture these other natives so they can eat them. However, Marlow marvels over the cannibals' tremendous restraint. He notes that the cannibals outnumber the company men "thirty to five" and he admits that they are strong, powerful men who could easily overwhelm them, yet they don't attempt to harm the company men. Such restraint is the mark of a civilized man, not an animal. In addition, the natives demonstrate far more concern for the welfare of Kurtz than do most of his countrymen. True, they worship him, an act that would be seen as evidence of their uncivilized or backward nature, yet they actively work to ensure his safety.
  　　
  　　
  　　
  　　In the end, the novel asserts that the Europeans are far more savage than those whom they label as such.
  　　
  　　
  　　
  　　5. What is the role of women in Heart of Darkness?
  　　
  　　
  　　For the most part, Heart of Darkness is a tale of men. The majority of the novel's characters are male, and Marlow's account is related to an all-male audience aboard the Nellie. Despite these facts, women do play an important role in the tale.
  　　
  　　
  　　
  　　If the European men in the Congo are the foot soldiers of colonization, the European women are the behind-the-lines generals. They are the silent strategists. This point is first revealed when Marlow tries to obtain a position in the Congo. He attempts to get a job on his own merits and through his own connections, but he strikes out. The men whose help he enlists do nothing for him. Marlow comments: "Then-would you believe it-I tried the women. I, Charlie Marlow, set the women to work-to get a job! Heavens!" There is a certain amount of incredulity and shame in his comment, yet the reality, which each of Marlow's listeners probably knows, though would surely hesitate to admit, is that women are particularly powerful figures in European culture. Their ability to network and influence the male-dominated business world is revealed in Marlow's aunt's comment: "I know the wife of a very high personage in the Administration. . . ." Though Marlow may be ashamed of his actions, he recognizes his aunt's influence and efficiency, telling the others, "I got my appointment-of course; and I got it very quick."
  　　
  　　
  　　
  　　The next women presented are those at the company's main office. When Marlow arrives at the office, he encounters two women knitting black wool. They seem to know everything about him and the other men who enter the office and are described by Marlow as "guarding the door of darkness." In a way they offer permission for Marlow to undertake his journey.
  　　
  　　
  　　
  　　Perhaps serving the opposite role is Kurtz's fiancé his "Intended," for it is suggested that she is the reason Kurtz initially traveled to the region. Marlow learns that their engagement wasn't approved of by her relatives, and it "was his impatience of comparative poverty that drove him out there." Thus, the Congo was a land where Kurtz could prove himself financially. And perhaps it wasn't a bad deal, for she is completely devoted to him, telling Marlow, "'I believed in him more than any one on earth-more than his own mother, more than-himself.'"
  　　
  　　
  　　
  　　There is, of course, one woman who stands apart from the others: the native woman who emerges from the forest. She is described by Marlow as "savage and superb, wild-eyed and magnificent." Though there is no direct evidence to support that she is Kurtz's mistress, it is tempting to view her as such. Regardless of her physical relationship with Kurtz, she is the opposite of his Intended. Whereas the Intended is at home, sitting in her house with its "high and ponderous door," the native woman is there, with him, in the lush wilderness. While his Intended gracefully mourns his absence, the native woman shouts to the heavens and physically moves to ensure Kurtz's safety.
  　　
  　　
  　　
  　　And so it is true that the bulk of the action in Heart of Darkness is undertaken by men, but without women, the story would not be possible.
  　　
  　　
  　　
  　　
  　　http://www.novelguide.com/heartofdarkness/essayquestions.html
•   　　Very good! However, one has to be a little patient to go through the passages to understand the little older English and to digest the interconnection of pages.
•   　　推薦一本《黑暗的心》的英文導讀《Conrad's heart of darkness---A Reader's guide》作者Allan Simmons。
  　　首都師范大學文學院分館有它的英文版，其他的地方未知，有神通的朋友可以想想辦法。
  　　
  　　今年考博兩次，
  　　考清華的博士的英語作文，我引用了《黑暗的心》的：“Don't you know the devilry of lingering starvation, its exasperating torment, its black thoughts, its sombre and brooding ferocity? Well, I do. It takes a man all his inborn strength to fight hunger properly. It's really easier to face bereavement, dishonour, and the perdition of one's soul--”
  　　
  　　清華西哲，一道伽達默爾的關(guān)于“前見”的題目，我不會，有瞎引用了一段《黑暗的心》：“to him the meaning of an episode was not inside like a kernel but outside, enveloping the tale which brought it out only as a glow brings out a haze, in the likeness of one of these misty halos that sometimes are made visible by the spectral illumination of moonshine.”
  　　
  　　北大的博士英語作文，我引用了《黑暗的心》的下面一段：“If such is the form of ultimate wisdom， then life is a greater riddle than some of us think it to be”
  　　
  　　寫下來，以資紀念吧
•   　　The story is derived from Conrad's personal experience in the Congo in 1890. Like Marlow, the narrator of the story, Conrad had as a child determinded one day to visit the heart of Africa. "It was in 1868, when nine years old or thereabouts, that while looking at a map of Africa the time and putting my finger on the blank space then representing the unsolved mystery of that continent, I said to myself with absolute assurance and an amazing audacity which are no longer in my character now:'When I grow up I shall go there'"(A Personal Record, 1912)
•   　　讀起來就像不停的被人扇巴掌一樣~讀下來全靠毅力~讀到最后才發(fā)現(xiàn)這本書確實寫得不錯！英語是母語的人的確也寫不出這種感覺。
•   我怎么沒看到不合適的內(nèi)容?。繙缜逡菜惆　?/li>
•   趕腳這個分析有點淺了
•   同意樓上~
•   樓上，漏水了
•   額 考博要寫這樣的作文？ 什么專業(yè)??？
•   lz的前見是指預設(shè)么？presupposition？
•   My high school students read "Heart of Darkness." It is not such a hard book.
•   For heaven's sake, that is because your high school students' mother tongue is English. This book should never be a problem for them because it is not written in old English. Do they find old English very accessible and can read them fluently without translation? Because some of my high school classmates find old Chinese accessible, and this should be the level that students can boast of in their mother tounge language.
•   Old English is a different language from modern English, while wenyan is still very accessible to comtemporary readers. I personally don't find "Heart of Darkness" should be more difficult than, say, John Dewey's philosophical texts.
•   BUT I won't tell a Chinese middle school student that I personally do not find reading Thomas Hardy difficult when he/she is complaining about Hardy's work being excessively elaborate and perfectly unapproachable, because I simply do not derive any sense of pride and pleasure out of this. I'm not proud of owning a larger vocabulary than a middle school student. LIKEWISE. Guess we are quite different.
•   I am not talking about Chinese middle school students, unless you are one. I am talking about my high school students who are taking AP English courses. Neither am I boasting about my vocabulary. Actually, as we read on, vocabulary is not as important as understanding of the cultural background.
•   Apparently you didn't quite catch the meaning of my example... I was meant to say compared to you, if you are a university student, my level is only a middle school student. So there is no point in telling me that you find it easy since we are totally not on the same level. Why do I have to explain it so clearly... Gosh I'm totally defeated, speechless.
•   Maybe you have a point. I couldn't recall what that book was like to me when I was a university student. But I guess since you are probably studying British literature abroad, the comparison of a middle school student certainly eludes me.
•   樓上兩位威武
•   哈哈 謝謝
•   真的還好吧。。
•   我學校是senior的一門elective在念這本書,1個月看完,大家都叫苦連篇..= =..
  我前天剛念完,寫的essay那叫一個慘不忍睹啊 ...
•   終于找到志同道合的人了~我以為全世界的人都覺得這本書詞匯量特別還好...然后我英語太爛了...
•   haha這本書真的很難讀,我的英文老師(Harvard undergraduate)說如果我們能讀完這本書,那么沒有什么書是不能讀的了..
•   much ado about nothing
  Vintage Conrad is harder than vicious Kurtz
  Stinky colonialism is louder than Stretchy consumerism
•   我們都是跳著讀的 這本書好無聊啊
•   從中文版，也能看出來原文應該挺炫
•   感覺很枯燥，很有可能我不是一口氣讀下來的緣故。

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