Heart of Darkness (116-142)

            Joseph Conrad deliberately links Marlow’s eventual “enlightenment” through Kurtz’s encounter to the Myth of the Cave by symbolizing Marlow’s emotions within the novella. Marlow relates to how he “had turned to the wilderness really, not to Mr. Kurtz” (Conrad 108), which ultimately contradicts his statement where he was originally desperate to contact Kurtz. Marlow further states that “for a moment it seemed to [him] as if [he] also were buried in a vast grave full of unspeakable secrets” (108), thus forcing Marlow to realize that his perception of the Company is deteriorating through the events that led up to his encounter with Kurtz. This is representative of Myth of the Cave because of the overall meaning it offers: an individual will adhere to enlightenment once he or she is aware of the placebo-like reality compared to the physical reality. In this circumstance, Marlow is aware of his original reality being a sailor who is journeying through the heart of the Congo to contact Kurtz, but his true reality is when he realizes Kurtz’s secret and realizes Kurtz’s “unspeakable secrets”. Ultimately, Marlow is forced to be aware of Kurtz’s position as he figuratively puts his feet in Kurtz’s shoes, thus creating an concoction of realities between Kurtz and Marlow.  

Heart of Darkness (103-116)

Joseph Conrad illustrates Marlow’s recollected journey through symbolic elements in Heart of Darkness, which ultimately expresses Marlow’s anticipation as he is journeying through the heart of darkness. Conrad metaphorically links the earth to a caged monster by stating that “The earth seemed unearthly. We are accustomed to look upon the shackled form of a conquered monster, but there—there you could look at a thing monstrous and free” (Conrad 76). The author describes the dangers within the Congo by relating it to the fact that the European explorers, including Marlow, have no idea what they are diving into. The fact that Marlow is “accustomed to look upon the shackled form of a conquered monster” signifies how Europeans are used to imperializing colonies that they knew of existence, whereas in the Congo, the Europeans do not know of this area through Conrad stating “but there—there you look at a thing monstrous and free”. The connotation of “monstrous” and “free” relates how Marlow is unfamiliar with the Congo, and how Conrad eventually utilizes symbolism to illustrate Marlow’s anticipation as he journeys through the river.

Conrad employs symbolism throughout the text to exemplify the relationship of fog to Marlow’s anticipation. The symbolism in fog can possibly refer to uncertainty or danger, and can relate to when Marlow states: “… a mystery greater—when I thought of it—than the curious, inexplicable note of desperate grief in this savage clamour that had swept by us on the river-bank, behind the blind whiteness of the fog” (83). The fog is symbolic of Marlow’s anticipation since he is desperately trying to gain contact with Kurtz, and also symbolizes the possible dangers the Eldorado Expedition could encounter during their journey. Since fog is symbolic of Marlow’s anticipation and his uncertainty, it also has a reverse symbolic denotation through Marlow stating “It developed itself, I should say, two hours after the fog lifted, and its commencement was at a spot, roughly speaking, about a mile and a half below Kurtz’s station” (85). In this example, the disappearing of the fog is symbolic of the previous uncertainty vanishing as Marlow is almost done achieving his goal of meeting Kurtz.      

Heart of Darkness (65-86)

The author of Heart of Darkness, Joseph Conrad, utilizes his dexterity in description and imagery to suggest the portrayal of racism throughout the beginning of the novella. The surplus of colors in Conrad’s descriptions possibly correlates to the inevitable darkness of the Congo and the racism that inevitably lives in it.

As Marlow recollects his experience of exploration, the color-description that is presentable in the book stands out by Conrad indirectly correlating imperialism to the color-description. Marlow, after describing his fascination of maps, states that “There was a vast amount of red—good to see at any time, because one knows that some real work is done in there, a deuce of a lot of blue, a little green, smears of orange, and,… I was going into the yellow” (Conrad 45) to illustrate the contrasting of colors in terms of imperialism. The fact that all of these colors are highly contrastable of each other suggests Marlow’s fascination in exploring the world. The word “yellow” has a lighter color-tone than “red,” thus taking into consideration that Marlow only wants to explore this area (the Congo) to purely exploit it, where “red” connotes to the fact that the areas in red are already exploited.  Conrad also utilizes colors to illustrate the racism through the novella.

Not only does Conrad’s color-description encases a symbolized meaning regarding imperialism, but also portrays the racism that occurs as a result of imperialism. Conrad’s descriptiveness through his “colors” immensely symbolizes the racism that occurs in these imperialized areas. Marlow describes the black workers by stating: “ I've seen the devil of violence, and the devil of greed, and the devil of hot desire: but, by all the stars! these were strong, lusty, red-eyed devils, that swayed and drove men—men, I tell you” (52). Conrad repeats the phrase “ I've seen the devil” to portray that Marlow considers these workers far more dangerous than the devil. The fact that Conrad uses this comparison to suggest the overall racism throughout the book possibly relates to Marlow’s realization of the true nature of imperialism. Marlow also witnesses two black men by describing that “While I stood horror-struck, one of these creatures rose to his hands and knees, and went off on all-fours towards the river to drink” (53). Marlow’s animalistic description contributes to the racism that is portrayed throughout the book since Conrad deliberately uses these terms, such as “creatures” and “all-fours”, to prove that Marlow describes these black people as animals. The fact that he is degrading the black workers by comparing them to animal behavior predominantly portrays the overall racism throughout this portion of the novella.   

Ghost of a Chance Analysis

The title in this poem provides an understanding of Adrienne Rich’s Ghost of a Chance by metonymically linking to the deeper meaning of one’s struggle through life. The connotation in the title supports the poet’s desire to relate a different approach of thinking to the figurative language Rich uses throughout the poem. The poem starts out by Rich introducing “You see a man / trying to think” (1-2) to give an introductory statement of what the poem is truly about. The significance of this line suggests an individual’s desire to think differently in society and the figurative language throughout the poem promotes the profound meaning Rich tries to imply. The overall simile in “the old consolations / will get him at last / like a fish / half-dead from flopping / and almost crawling / across the shingle” (8-13) connotatively and metonymically suggests the enlightened individual to succumb to the “wave pull[ing] it back blind into the triumphant sea” (16-18), which shows how someone who begins to think differently, or considered a rebel as suggested by the connotation in “the old consolations / will get him at last” (8-9), will be forced back into one’s original thinking. The fact that the “wave pulls it back blind into the triumphant sea” compares to the fact that the “fish / half-dead from flopping / and almost crawling across the shingle” is representative of the struggle of one who does not fit into the norm, which is represented by “almost breathing” (15) through Rich’s use of figurative language. Overall, the poet figuratively describes one’s internal struggle by metonymically implying a deeper meaning of enlightened thinking and its effects on an individual. 

Cross Poem Analysis

Thesis: Langston Hughes reflects the continuous struggling relationship between White and Black individuals through the connotation in the poem Cross. The connotation in the title itself resembles two connected ideas that share a middle ground, which can be physically seen by the image of a cross, where Hughes reflects upon his mother and his father, and ultimately questioning where he will eventually die.

A.    Langston Hughes purposely titles this poem Cross to symbolize a connection between his mother and his father, since both were of different racial backgrounds based on the poem.

1.      Hughes includes the lines “My old man’s a white old man / And my old mother’s black” (1-2) to provide an introduction regarding his parents. The prime issue that immediate rises from the start of the poem is how Hughes is able to connote both “while old man” and “mother’s black” to refer to the slavery that was still present during the parents’ lifetime. This contrast provokes some sort of question that will be introduced in the end of the poem.

B.     The connotation and the structure of the poem involuntarily tells a story, yet the poet’s main goal is to engage the readers in a serious question regarding the poet’s racial status compared to his parents’, thus relating back to the connecting ideas (mother and father) that meet on a common ground (the final line in the poem).

1.      Hughes introduces the poem in a quatrain that describes both his mother’s and father’s races, and states that if he had ever “cursed” (line 3) his man, he sincerely apologizes for it. Hughes’ repeats this concept with his mother, referring to her as “my black old mother” (5). In the second stanza, Hughes connects the connotation of “hell” (6) and “evil” (7) to prove that evilness associates with hell. Hughes incorporates an antithesis between the first two stanzas to contrast the racial background between the mother and the father, yet provides a similarity between the parents by introducing a negative emotion through the connotation of “curses” and “evil”. In the last stanza, Hughes incorporates synecdoche to represent the economic status of his parents. He refers to his mother by describing that she “died in a shack” (10) while his father “died in a fine big house” (9). The “fine big house” is a synecdoche that represents security, protection, and most importantly a high status in society. The “shack” is another synecdoche that represents the mother’s poor economic status, lack of protection, and lack of security based on her color. The point Hughes makes in this poem is that he wants the readers to critically engage in his background, and more importantly come to a conclusion regarding what he technically falls under based on his last question. He states: “I wonder where I’m gonna die, / Being neither white nor black?” (11-12). The specific diction he uses could represent the education white and black people received in the era of slavery, where white individuals received a better education than black people. The denotation in “gonna” resembles a slang word for “going”, which could represent the poor education he received as a child. The denotation in “Being neither white nor black?” shows a better understanding of grammatical concepts to express his thoughts, which could represent his somewhat advanced education he could have received. In general, Hughes includes contrast, antithesis, and synecdoche to identify the different backgrounds he came from and offers a question at the end of the poem to technically stump his audience in knowing the perfect solution to his question, thus causing a sense of confusion by the end of the poem. By forming his poem to fit the symbolism of a cross, he manages to engage the audience in introducing them to the parents, which represent the two connecting points to the middle of the cross, where he ultimately ends the poem with the fairly difficult question. 

The Clod and the Pebble Analysis

Thesis: The poet in The Clod and the Pebble illustrates contrasting interpretations of love based on the two characters William Blake portrays within the poem; by carefully incorporating parallelism, more specifically antitheses, the poet is able to constitute two interpretations of love based on the selflessness in the clod of clay and the selfishness of the pebble.

A.    William Blake characterizes both the clod of clay and the pebble to be selflessness and selfish, respectively, so that he can offer two distinct interpretations of love to the readers.

1.      Blake introduces quatrains in each description of both the clod of clay and the pebble to illustrate its interpretation of love. The key lines that dictate the character of both the pebble and the clod of clay are the first and last in each quatrain with exclusion to the second stanza in the poem. As Blake is introducing the clod of clay in the poem, the fact that “Love seeketh not Itself to please,… / And builds a Heaven in Hell’s despair.” (lines 4, 5) expresses the character of the clod of clay: innocent to love, and fairly new to the concept due to the fact that people who are new to love tend to enter a dreamlike, overreacted prelude in life. Blake intentionally includes antithesis in the poem to exaggerate the different interpretations of love in terms of the clod of clay and the pebble. Even though the poet is able to keep the same structure and phrases, Blake deliberately incorporates specific words to contrast both the pebble and the clod of clay and offer different meanings of love.

2.      The second stanza is offers an introduction to the characterization of the pebble by beginning a contrast to the clod of clay’s perspective of love. The same two lines appear in the description of the pebble: “Love seeketh only Self to please,… / And builds a Hell in Heaven’s despite.” (lines 9-12). The stanza for the pebble completely contradicts the perspective of the clod of clay according to the poet. Blake suggests, in general, that one who is experienced in love may perceive it as selfish, and as a result, act selfishly. He also suggests that one who is new to love is selfless and further constitutes that one will continue to feel this way until the individual, in this case the pebble, is struck by the experience of love.  

      

Suicide's Note Analysis

Thesis: The poet Langston Hughes relates one’s desire of committing suicide in the briefness and structure of the poem and portrays diction, imagery, and personification all within the entirety of the poem.

A.    Personification

1.      “The calm, / Cool face of the river”. Hughes introduces the poem with two short phrases and personifies the river by illustrating a damp, smooth surface of a river. Since the poem is titled “Suicide’s Note,” it is assumable that one will commit suicide by drowning.

2.      “Asked me for a kiss.” The author relates the river of asking the individual who is committing suicide to “kiss.” This personification exemplifies the meaning of suicide in a disturbingly romantic way.

B.     Imagery

1.      “Cool face of the river / Asked me for a kiss.” The poem’s briefness completely contradicts its overall message. Even though the poem is a mere three lines, the meaning behind the author’s carefully chosen words create a maelstrom of emotions and images in the reader’s mind.

C.     Diction

1.      “Asked me for a kiss.” This last powerful line in the poem suggests a complete end to the poem, and also the complete end of the individual who is committing suicide. The river “asking” for a kiss provokes the individual in committing suicide by