What is the signifivance of the forest? Cite specific passages in which the forest figures heavily.
The significance of the forest begins before one even opens the novel. The cover to this novel is an illustration of a forest. Before reading one may take into account that the title "Heart of Darkness" and the front cover picture tie together in more ways than not. I believe that the "darkness" the speaker speaks of serves as a metaphor and if as a reader one does not catch this right away, a great deal is lost while reading. The metaphor I believe is to be compared to the mystery in darkness. In part one "It had got filled since my boyhood with rivers and lakes and names. It had ceased to be a blank space of delightful mystery -- a white patch for a boy to dream gloriously over. It had become a place of darkness." Even before reading these prompts I had this passage marked. It stood out to me when I read it, and I had to reread it before I got the full understanding of what the speaker was trying to get across. This forest was not just any forest. It was a forest filled with darkness and it had haunted him since his boyhood. It was somehting he would never forget and that would forever remain in his head. In part two something similar appears again "We penetrated deeper and deeper into the heart of darkness." The forest is signicant from the beginning and this is because of how the title ties together with it, and how the speaker ties together darkness over all. The forest is a mystery.
Summer, I really like your comment on how the mystery of the African forest plagued Marlow since he dreamed of always going there. That is a very interesting take on this metaphor and I did not even think about it. Your play on the word "darkness" to mean not only evil but literal darkness and the fears that come with it to play in with Marlow's feelings is very interesting. I would have also mentioned that these woods could also be seen as evil because of the hidden dangers within it like the natives.
ReplyDeleteI marked the same passage as I too was interested in the fact that it had haunted him since he was a boy. The darkness filled his mind and affected his fears and feelings. I agree with your connection between the forest and title and would also add that the forest is the heart of the darkness.
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ReplyDeleteI think you were off track in your assertion pertaining to the forest's metaphorical representation. I agree that the "heart of darkness," was indeed the forest, yet I believe there to be a deeper, more complex explanation on the significance of the forest. Yes, Marlow was mesmerized as a child, thus giving the forest an aura of great mystery. However, there is more to the forest than simple mystery. In the novel, the forest is repeatedly addressed as a darkness in and of itself. The forest is recurrently described as an alluring darkness. Marlow made it consistently apparent through the retelling of his African experience that the darkness (forest) originated from the unceasing danger lurking from within it, and from the reactions these dangers could cause within a man's spirit and a man’s will to live. The darkness had the ability to show a man his soul and the soul of all man, forever changing the observer. Thus, the darkness is the forest and the forest is the darkness. The forest is a metaphor for the primal, self serving darkness all men are capable of.
ReplyDeleteSummer, I really enjoyed your answer to the prompt. When I read the book, I immediately thought that the forest was a representative of confusion and acted as a metaphoric “maze” through which the characters and plot could become more developed and more intriguing. What I loved about your response was the description of the forest as a “mystery.” I also wholeheartedly agree that the forest is significant before one even turns to the opening page. Having known barely any information about the novella myself before reading it, I quickly inferred that the story’s African location would include a jungle or forest-like metaphor, as most African-placed novels do.
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