Intro: [This student did not send an introduction through for feedback].

Joseph Conrad introduces the important symbolic use of light/dark and white/black
through motif to contrast the symbols of good and evil. Conrad exploits the imagery of
black and white, light and dark in a number of ways: darkness is night, the unknown,
the impenetrable, the primitive, and the evil, while white is ivory, the beautiful luxury of
civilised man. However, while white here represents white luxury, it does not represent
morality in the dichotomy of good and evil; in reality, white as symbolic of white luxury, is
actually subtly presented as being the root off all evil in darkness. At the start of Heart of
Darkness, light is the main characteristic that is deployed to contrast with natural
darkness that sweeps through. As Marlow progresses down the Congo River, and through
the stations, darkness seems to overcome light and merge together to contest the positive
and negative ideas of silence.

This is reflected in the disrupted death of Kurtz, and the powerful use of repetition, as he
affirms the savagery of what he has seen and done. With a mixture of sombre pride,
ruthless power, craven terror and hopeless despair he utters his final words: the terror,
the terror. This is enforced with [by Conrads choice of language throughout the novel, as
the most frequent words used in the novel are those related to] most frequent words of
silence, nightmares, trances, phantoms, apparitions and vision. as The repetition of these
words highlight the darkness within the novella. Thus, darkness links to the harsh
uselessness of the savagery state and how colonisation can effect one mans mind and
thoughts. Heart of Darkness seems to underline the negative connotations of
massacre and pestilence to examine the harsh, grim of European waste and the
progression of a mans natural state of colonisation to a more natural savagery state.

Joseph Conrad uses repetition as a structural technique in order to further emphasise the
contrast between savagery and civilisation in the novella, and to lead the audience to the
conclusion that human beings are inherently savage in nature, and that civilisation simply
hides this fact through a set of established rules and regulations. The representation of
intolerance, as shown through: (give examples) highlights this point. This is also
emphasised through the characterisation of ______, who ________: [quote]. emphasise
the different intolerance that occur depending on the narrator. When near the building I
met a white man, in such an unexpected elegance of getup that in the first moment I took
him for a sort of vision. When deconstructing the structure you can underline the main
themes that are portrayed through characterisation, such as savagery vs civilisation. In
fact, you could argue that Heart of Darkness points to the savagery in the process of
colonialism itself, further challenging the idea of race, specific racially related barbarism or
savagery. Conrad emphasises the darkness of Britain before the Roman conquest: has
been one of the dark places of the Earth when the Romans first came here. This
suggests that civilisation is something that must be taught, and does not necessary come
naturally to any race or place, even London, which is symbolic in Heart of Darkness of
civilisation itself, and the people in it. This notion is further reinforced through the contrast
between Kurtz, who symbolises the ease with mankind can fall from the light of
civilisation, and Marlow who symbolises the civilised man still unaffected by savagery.
Heart of Darkness uniquely draws attention to the destructive impacts of
colonisation/colonialism on the white colonists, shown through the themes of madness,
that is personified by Kurtz. Marlow serves as a moral contrast with Kurtz in order to
subtlety reinforces the idea that colonialism may be or is immoral. In this way, Conrad
subtly challenges colonialism and leads his responders to question its impacts.