Tuesday, April 22, 2014
Heart of Darkness Essay Idea
For my Heart of Darkness essay, I was thinking of answering the question of how the text portrays the people in the story as ignorant based on the fact that they look up to Mr. Kurtz. My thesis would be something such as what purpose is served by Conrad when he presents the people in Heart of Darkness as looking up to Mr. Kurtz? One quote that I could use is "They had talked all night, or more probably Kurtz had talked" (Conrad, 134). Another supporting detail that I would use would be "It was curious to see his mingled eagerness and reluctance to speak of Kurtz" (Conrad, 135). I would also use the quote "You can't judge Mr. Kurtz as you would of an ordinary man" (Conrad, 135). I also might put another quote in my essay to show that Marlow is the only character in the story who doesn't speak as highly of Marlow as the rest of the characters and it states "I suppose it did not occur to him that Mr. Kurtz was no ideal of mine" (Conrad, 139). I think that I would answer my question by saying that Conrad shows the people in the story as looking up to Kurtz in order to show their ignorance. They think that Kurtz is a powerful man, almost like royalty, but in reality, he's dying because he is so sick. This shows that he is actually weak and makes the people that look up to him seem ignorant and naive.
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I like your thesis it gives a question that you can show throughout the body paragraphs and then answer completely in the conclusion. The first quote you chose to include in your paper shows how high Kurtz is looked at by all the people and the whole society. He isn't even a royal man but everybody looks up to him like he is the king of the land. The third quote you picked out displays how Mr. Kurtz couldn't be opinionated as a original man by the other people in the society. It's so odd that they look at him so highly when he isn't even wealthy, smart, or even healthy. He is down in the dumps sick almost gonna die. You could connect these quotes throughout your paper saying they all show the same ignorance. I really like your idea that's a really good way to look at the characters! Goodjob Haley! (:
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