Hochschild writes of Joseph Conrad that he “was so horrified by the greed and brutality among white men he saw in the Congo that his view of human nature was permanently change.” Judging from Hochschild’s account and from Heart of Darkness, in what way was Conrad’s view changed? How is this true of other individuals about whom Hochschild writes? In what way has this book affected your view of human nature? Joseph Conrad has an ironic usage of words when describing human nature. It goes from “civilized” to “uncivilized.” These different words show how different aspects of human nature compare.
Another theory believed was the miasmic theory, which was thought that cholera spread from infected air. In result to this the removal of excrement was taken place, which caused the government to make a change and get involved. However the real cause of cholera was that it was water-borne disease, were the water supply had been infected by human waste. The number of deaths that cholera had caused had become a great fear towards the public although it was a short term impact. The epidemics caused riots because no cure was found for cholera which also influenced panic.
Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad is a novel a journey into the core of the African Congo of a man called Marlow. Marlow is in pursuit of an ivory trader named Kurtz. Though Marlow's physical journey seems rather simple, it takes him further into his soul than into the Congo and transformed into a whole different person after the journey. Imagery in literature helps to show the main idea through a picture painted in one's mind. Imagery is very vivid in the this novel and insightful, particularly the jungle imagery.
“They were conquerors…They grabbed what they could get for the sake of what was to be got. It was just robbery with violence, aggravated murder on a great scale, and men going at it blind-as is very proper for those who tackle a darkness. The conquest of the earth, which mostly means the taking it away from those who have a different complexion or slightly flatter noses than ourselves, is not a pretty thing when you look into it too much. What redeems it is the idea only” (Conrad 4). | Through narrative structure, Marlow’s viewpoint of imperialism is reflected, revealing the blindness of conquering.
On the other hand, Brown uses words and phrases such as "everything had turned bad," "gone," "replaced by an endless desolation," "roamed restlessly," and "return to their reservations to keep from starving." Brown's use of words depict a picture of a land that destroyed. You can also imply that he is resentful towards the white hunters who caused for the land to be desolate. There appears to be no hope in the land and the words create a sense of bitterness. His forlorn diction allows the reader to envision a land that is dead and no more.
Jack Davis’ didactic play explores the nature of white society and the mistreatment of indigenous Australians as they struggle to survive in sub-human conditions amidst the great depression. Davis uses a variety of dramatic literary techniques to depict how hostile white culture controls society using apartheid-style policies. The lack of recognition and understanding led to unfair actions, as the indigenous battled to survive the depression. The ironic and contemptuous justification of power for misguided political agenda, unfortunately led to mass dispossession of the indigenous. Contrastingly, not all white Australians can be generalised by the behaviours of the few, with a couple of dissimilar figures being used to demonstrate alternate approaches as to the acceptance of the indigenous.
The poem accuses the white Europeans of isolating the aboriginal community from their culture and heritage while striving to let them discover the desperate life of living without identity. It is the exploration of loss that leads the responders to change their moral perception. This is evidenced through the quote “Homeless now they stand and watch as the rain pours down.” The diction of the word “Homeless” is metaphorically refers to the loss of culture which allow the responders to discover the pain of indigenous Australians living with fractured identities in their own country. In addition, the symbolic use of the rain creates an effective imagery of defenceless and isolated which forces the responders to discover the vulnerable life that Indigenous people live in. It is the reoccurring motif of loss in both of her poems that allows the responders to recognize the pain sustained by Indigenous Australians, thus allowing us and the 1960s responders to refine our moral to reconcile the loss.
The Plague of Public Opinion Thomas Syzaz once said, “The plague of mankind is the fear and rejection of diversity: monotheism, monarchy, monogamy and, in our age, monomedicine. The belief that there is only one right way to live, only one right way to regulate religious, political, sexual, medical affairs is the root cause of the greatest threat to man: members of his own species, bent on ensuring his salvation, security, and sanity.” On the other hand, the1832 Cholera epidemic, in America, was unexpected and brought light to the public view on health. The outbreak sparked numerous debates about contemporary health practices, sanitation, medical knowledge, and society as a whole. New York City doctor, Martyn Paine, composed a series of letters that documented the treatment, etiology, diagnosis, and prevention of Cholera, in a scientific manner. The letters were consistent with the humoural theories from medical antiquity and emerging Sanitarian public health reformers.
What is human nature? How does William Golding use it in such a simple story of English boys to precisely illustrate how truly destructive humans can be? Golding was in World War Two, he saw how destructive humans can be, and how a normal person can go from a civilized human beign into savages. In Lord of the Flies, William Golding uses the theme of human nature to show how easily society can collapse, and how self-destructive human nature is. Throughout the story Golding conveys a theme of how twisted and sick human nature can lead us to be.
Boldly described as a “fateful event in the history of fiction” (Watt: 365), Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness delves into Imperialism in the 1890s, loosely based on his experiences travelling through the Congo into the ‘heart’ of Africa. This essay will explore Ian Watt’s essay ‘Impressionism and Symbolism in Heart of Darkness’ in relation to the veracity of his definitions of impressionism and symbolism, and his application of the definitions to the text. It will compare these with other understandings of impression and symbolism, and against Conrad’s own opinions of the writing techniques. In Watt’s assessment of the nature of Heart of Darkness, he uses the establishment of the narrative frame to dissect the novella’s plot, and provide the grounds from which to begin his critical essay. The act of placing the ‘story within a story’ is categorised by Watt to be a symbolic act, and the content of the ‘inner kernel’ of the story displays impressionistic elements (350).