"The Horror, the Horror"

Like we have talked about in class, I think that when Kurtz says to Marlow "The Horror, The Horror," he could be talking about his life. I also think that these words could be referring to the jungle where Kurtz spent the majority of his life. Looking back on his life, Kurtz could have possibly realized how much "horror" the jungle has in it. After all, it did bring him to his death. Kurtz could be blaming the jungle for his ruin both physically and mentally. Like many things that are filled with "horror," the jungle was very intriguing to Kurtz. It is natural for humans to be "mystified" by dangerous things in the same way that the jungle and all of the secrets that it seemed to hold intrigued Kurtz.

The Horror, The Horror

I think Kurtz says "The horror, the horror" as he is dying because he is thinking about all of the horrible things he has done while in the jungle.  He might also be realizing the true horrors the jungle possesses, and the fact that he has become one with the jungle is horrifying to him.  I also believe that what we said in class today is true. Kurtz's life flashes before his eyes, and he realizes the magnitude all of the horrors he has ever seen in his life.  He becomes sane by the hand of something insane; the jungle.  He becomes tame in the untameable. 

The Darkness of the Heart: consider this inversion of the title. Any significance?

Heart of Darkness

Like everyone has been saying, Heart of Darkness was extremely confusing to understand and read.  It also did not help that I had my wisdom teeth taken out at the beginning of the break, so every time I read it I was completely out of it.  Though I can admit I cannot give much insight as to the plot, I personally appreciate why it was written how it was written.  Like we have said in class, the book was written to be read as if the reader is going through the jungle.  In my opinion the words are the leaves and trees you are trying to push your way through, not being able to see very far ahead, while the overall theme of the book is reached from how the journey was taken.  The movie we are watching in class is really helping me understand what happened in the book and to play out how everything went on.  I think it is very creative how Marlon Brando (sp?) changed going through the jungle to being in war.  Yes, Vietnam is a lot of jungle, but I can make the connection to the fact that the jungle is a gruesome, raw, long struggle as is war. 

Heart of Darkness

I thought that Heart of Darkness was very different from the other books that we have read this year. There is no clear villain, and no cunning plan. It is apparent that Marlow sees the jungle as an evil being and it constantly terrifies him throughout the story. To me it seems as if Marlow sees Kurtz as a victim of the jungle. All of the evil that surrounded him ended up corrupting him. It was a difficult story for me to follow, but I liked the narrative story. I confused why we never find out who our narrator really is.

HOH

Heart of Darkness was a really tough read. I felt like I was reading the same sentence five times before I  had actually processed. To be honest, I'm not quite sure how Heart of Darkness ties in to what we're studying, but that may be a part of my inability to understand what I read. Yes, there were cannibals, a seemingly corrupt "Company," dark, twisty jungles, and ferocious natives, but nothing really evil stuck out at me. From what I read, it seemed like an antsy captain, eager to get back out there, got assigned a really challenging "mission" that brought him to hell and back. Anything truly bizarre happened in the third part of the book when the reader finally meets the notorious Kurtz, a washed up old man that became immersed in the native culture. From all of that I don't think I could pin point a certain theme. Maybe disappointment? I feel like Marlow built up this big adventure (Kurtz included) in his head only to realize that what awaited him was nothing more than a bunch of savages and a narcissistic scholar.

heart of darkness

After getting through most of the confusing parts, at the end of the book i really enjoyed it. When i started reading, i wasn't sure of what the story had to do with the class. I think that it has to do with evil because once Marlow is in Africa, he is surrounded with nothing but evil. There are cannibals, random cannon shootings, the bad guy Kurtz, dead bodies, skulls, etc. Good is no where to be found, so Marlow has no other choice but to choose evil and become intrigued by the ways of Kurtz. In the end, once he is out of the evil area, he still shows the effects of it when he lies to Kurtz's fiancee. He stresses how much he hated lies at the beginning, but after being around the people and conditions at the station, he has obviously changed,