Omnia Moustafa ID: 237741 Faculty of Languages LIT306

Omnia Moustafa

ID: 237741

Faculty of Languages

LIT306

Group (C)

Modernism is an enormous cultural, artistic and literary movement that came in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. It is characterized by a responsive departure from traditional styles and subjects, enveloping creativeness and experimentation. Themes of alienation, disunity and complexities of human experience in a progressively industrialized and sophisticate world are commonly marked in modernist works (Eysteinsson 49). Furthermore, Joseph Conrad is the writer of
Heart of Darkness published in 1899 which is suspicion the condition of modernist literature. The novella pursues Charles Marlow, who travels into the Congo River valley in an attempt to locate the mysterious Kurtz, the ivory dealer. Marlow discovers the moral and spiritual darkness within humanity as well as the physical darkness of the African environment as he composes his way further to the forest.
Heart of Darkness uses ambiguity and absurdity to demonstration how modernist technique can be used to question traditional stories. Kurtz’s last observations are ambiguous, to allow a variety of clarifications and reflecting the modernist commitment to the complex nature of reality and subjective experience. Moreover, the anarchic procedures of the colonization are an example of absurdity that highlights the foolishness of human attempts, a central theme in modernist thinking. Whenever put together, these components provide a complex narrative that highlights the obstacle at heart of modernist while also critical society measure. The aim of this essay is to discuss the themes of Absurdity and Ambiguity according to the modernist techniques that Conrad is used.

The gap between human hopes and the anarchic realities of colonization is made clear by the absurdity concept. The phrase “A haze rested on the low shores that ran out to sea in vanishing flatness” intimates to apprehension and the bromide of colonial goals, while the word “haze” itself represents the cloudy moral foundations of colonialism (Holme 44). The statement made by Marlow, “What greatness had not floated on the ebb of this river into the mystery of an unknown earth!” highlights the ineffectiveness of ambition and how many hopes disappear in the face of the unknown (Holme 51). This contrast highlights how ephemeral colonial operations are and how frequently they end in disturbance and agony. In addition, “The yarns of seamen have a direct simplicity, the whole meaning of which lies within the shell of a cracked nut,” this evokes a comparison between the precise narratives of sailors and the disorderly conditions of colonialism (Holme 70). An ambition for accuracy is suggested by the “direct simplicity,” and the desertion of actual meaning is highlighted by the image of the “cracked nut”. The absurdity of Marlow’s crossing, which is loaded with moral embarrassments and deviations, highlights the circumspection of storytelling by highlighting the complicated and disconcerting reality the take cover behind the surface of seeming clarity.

The complication of colonialism and the human experience are illuminated by the issue of ambiguity. Marlow transmits this inconsistency in “the fascination of the abomination,” demonstrating his concurrent disgust for and attraction to the Congo’s horror that happen (Içöz 255). Deception destroys morality in Marlowe’s view, “There is a taint of death, a flavour of mortality in lies,” which highlights his fight against moral depreciation and the mixing between truth and deceit, perfectly apprehensions his disgust for lies (Içöz 256). These observations highlight how subjective consciousness is and how confused human intentions may be. Furthermore, Marlow thoughts that human’s mind can do anything and already have both of good and evil in their personality, “The mind of man is capable of anything,” this shows the infinite probable of people and the existence of both good and evil in each person (Içöz 257). This contradiction involves both a admonitory tale about degradation and an acknowledgment of human grandeur. Marlow’s trip into the Congo discovers more malevolent sides of human nature that appear free from moral restrictions, gaping modernist themes of competing impulses and moral predicament. In the end, it raises concerns about the aspect of civilization by hinting that human nature is chaotic underneath social conventions.

Conclusively,
Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad attempts a thorough examination of modernist topics, including ambiguity and absurdity. Conrad criticizes colonialism and focus on the acute comparison between human hopes and the anarchic facts of life through Marlow’s terrifying boating on the Congo. Conrad criticizes the moral complications constitutional in the human experience through his use of ambiguous language and acerbic observations in the novella, which highlight the complexity of human nature and the moral crisis that faces in an industrialized society. The novella suggests that elemental social norms stay hidden a turbulent and frequently disturbing truth by highlighting the transitory nature of ambition and abiding evil inside people. In the end, Conrad’s writing demonstrates the essential ideas of modernist literature by encouraging reader to consider the most mysterious of human nature and incomprehensible nature of truth.

References:
Eysteinsson, Astradur. 
The concept of modernism. Cornell University Press, 2018.

Holme, Evangelia Tsiftsaki. 
Heart of darkness: Marlows story. MS thesis. 2007.

İÇÖZ, NURSEL. “Conrad and Ambiguity: Social Commitment and Ideology in ‘Heart of Darkness’ and ‘Nostromo.’” Conradiana, vol. 37, no. 3, 2005, pp. 245–74. JSTOR,
Accessed 18 Oct. 2024.

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