" 'The other day I took up a man who hanged himself on the road. He was a Swede, too.' 'Hanged himself! Why, in God's name?' I cried. He kept onlooking out watchfully. 'Who knows? The sun too much for him, or the country perhaps.'
In both Apocalypse Now & Heart of Darkness, there is an underlining theme of self-destruction. What is the cause of this? At what point does the mind break? Are these individuals looked over? Below I posted a link to CNN; it discusses the alarming rate of American Soldiers suicides.
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Dorian Gray in a sense cracks among one of the many statements Lord Henry throws out at him too. The jungle and the craziness going on in there continue to appear before the men. Over and over, every morning, they wake to the same place. Eventually, I don't know exactly when, the chaos in the jungle makes its way to the men's minds just like Henry's continuous monologue.
ReplyDeleteIt is interesting that the mind breaks first. Then after a while, the mind becomes so raveled up in the madness that first broke it that they cannot take it any more. At that point, suicide appears to be the only way out. I think of a nightmare. The only way to make sure you are actually awake and seeing reality is by pinching yourself. The only difference is that pinching will not get you out of the jungle when you are stuck in the jungle.
You're going to see this motif continued next semester! That me through out this paradox: sometimes a type of clarity results from the mind's breaking!
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