Ivory, has always been a resource that is hard to
acquire and even harder to have a steady supply of. In the “heart of darkness”, ivory is a
competition for the company. They want it so badly that they are willing to do
and say almost anything to receive it. This being the literal use and meaning
of the ivory, it can also be figurative. Ivory signifies the want and need for
the items in life we wish to obtain. It shows the need for wealth and the
greediness that comes along with wealth. The greed continues to escalate to
such a high level that the company becomes obsessed. They reminded me of drug
dogs as they are searching for the drugs around areas. Both the dogs and the
company are relentless. This leads them into darkness. The lingering need for
wealth and power hovers over them throughout the entire story. The ivory causes
them to become blind and leads them spiraling into the darkness that cannot be
pushed aside or forgotten about. This causes them to loose sight of any
previous goals they had set. This also leads us to believe the people were
greedy to begin with and the need for ivory makes it show through even more.
Lauren, I never considered the idea of greed leading people into darkness, which very much (obviously) to the title. I saw ivory as more of just an aspect of its own, not relating into deeper emotions and leading others on a "journey." Thinking of your drug dogs example, it's like ivory is a drug to the companies. If the companies do not obtain ivory, they are confronted by the buyers, demanding their goods. It all makes sense: ivory is late 1800 Britain's drug of choice! It's cutthroat race to obtain it makes even more sense to relate, as well. I just had an eureka moment in this comment, thank you!
ReplyDelete