The Style, Technique, and Structure of Conrads Heart of Darkness Essay

The Style, Technique, and Structure of Heart of Darkness The novella Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad is proof that a novel does not have to be desire to have literary merit. Heart of Darkness is quite short, yet intriguing, due to the content of the novel. Much like Shakespeares Hamlet, Heart of Darkness overwhelms the bear witnesser by the power of the story so that one will never feel quite satisfied with their attempts to intellectualize the experience (Adelman 8). Heart of Darkness was written during the time of British imperialism and extreme exploitation of Africans in the Congo. The British were exploiting the Africans in an effort to extract ivory from the primitive jungle. Throughout the novel, Conrad expresses his dislike with the civilized white people exploiting the savage black Africans. Conrad in any case uses several literary devices in his writing to portray and express several messages. The writing style, techniques, structure and themes in Heart of Darknes s all combine to require one of the most renowned, respected and mysterious novels of all time. Conrad wrote an ultimate enigma for readers to interpret and critically analyze for years to come. Conrads excellence in style is rattling controversial some believe that he is a literary genius (Adelman 16), while others criticize him for being limited, pretentious and vague ((Adelman 16). Throughout the novel, Conrad uses ample amounts of descriptive language, vivid imagery, and powerful symbolism. The vague part is that he leaves it up to the reader to interpret his mysterious and unspeakable enigmas. Conrads descriptive language in Heart of Darkness is present from the beginning to the end. With the opening paragraphs d... ...xperience (Adelman 8). Overall, readers must interpret for themselves which meanings Conrad intended or if he intended all the meanings. This deep novel by Joseph Conrad is not easy to read but is valuable knowledge once it is read. Works Cited Adelman, G ary. Heart of Darkness Search for the Unconscious. Boston Twayne Publishers, 1987. Conrad, Joseph. The Heart of Darkness. Ed. Cedric Watts. London Everyman, 1995. Fothergill, Anthony. airfoil Guides to Literature Heart of Darkness. Philadelphia Open University Press, 1989. Glassman, Peter J. Language and Being Joseph Conrad and the Literature of the Personality. New York and London Columbia University Press, 1976. Tindall, W.Y. The Duty of Marlow. In Conrads Heart of Darkness and the Critics. Ed. Bruce Harkness. Belmont, California Wadsworth Publishing Company Inc., 1968.