Marlow's Foil

In Heart of Darkness, there are very key similarities between the Russian and Marlow. The two characters are literary foils to one another. The Russian, like Marlow  is a sailor. He has traveled the world seeking experiences and adventures. Just like Marlow, the Russian has traveled into Africa looking for new undertakings. While on the river, the Russian meets Kurtz and is enthralled by him. Marlow describes him as saying, 

"The tone of these words was so extraordinary that I looked at him searchingly. It was curious to see his mingled eagerness and reluctance to speak of Kurtz. The man filled his life, occupied his thoughts, swayed his emotions" (130-131)

The Russian is obsessed with Kurtz and Marlow find this strange. However, this is ironic of Marlow to say. Marlow, just like the Russian, is very attached to Kurtz. Just the thought of losing Kurtz to the natives puts Marlow on edge. Yet, Marlow differs from the Russian in that the Russian is naive. The Russian blindly follows Kurtz, despite the unjust things he may do. Marlow, when he gets to see Kurtz for who he truly is, begins to change his opinion on this once 'great' man.  

The Racism of Marlow

The author of Heart of Darkness makes it clear that the protagonist, Marlow, is blatantly racist. Marlow describes very few Africans as actual human beings; he often resorts to calling them black figures, and black things. Conrad even goes so far in making Marlow say:

“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. It was unearthly, and the men were—No, they were not inhuman. Well, you know, that was the worst of it—this suspicion of their not being inhuman. It would come slowly to one. They howled and leaped, and spun, and made horrid faces; but what thrilled you was just the thought of their humanity—like yours—the thought of your remote kinship with this wild and passionate uproar. Ugly" (105)

Marlow does not hide his racism. While he may be much more sympathetic towards the Africans and the evils of European Imperialism, he cannot hide the racism in which he inherits from the central dogma of the time, and the elitist European view. While Marlow is so easily described as a racist, it is much more complex in judging the beliefs of Joseph Conrad. Conrad hides behind many narrators in his telling of the story. The racism portrayed in the book is not necessarily attributed to Conrad himself. In the passage above, Conrad is almost hyperbolic in describing Marlow's views of the black men. The utter disgust Marlow feels in being related to the Africans is very exaggerated. While one may see this as Conrad channeling his own innate racism through a character, one could also describe it as satire. His overly embellished description of Marlow's racism is but a tool to exemplify the evils and miss-judgement of Imperialism. While many see Marlow as a reflection of Conrad, Marlow may just be a tool used by Conrad to better enhance his anti-imperialistic message.

'Introduction to Poetry' - Billy Collins

In the poem Introduction to Poetry, the narrator uses figurative language to better explain how he wants us to view and read poetry. In the first ten lines, the narrator uses five metaphors to argue how we should read poems. He states: "I want them to water-ski/ across the surface of a poem/ waving at the author's name on the shore" (8-10). The narrator wants readers to glaze over the poem like a jet-ski would glaze over a lake. He does not want the authors to go any deeper than the surface. He wants them only to read the poem for its most basic meaning and form. However, the readers do not want to do this. According to the narrator, 'all [the readers] want to do/ is tie the poem to a chair with rope/ and torture a confession out of it/ They begin beating it with a hose/ to find out what it really means" (12-16). The readers want only to analyze the poem deeply and look for some inner meaning, against the want of the narrator. The narrator tries to easily explain his views on poetry and how it should be read through metaphors, however he also knows that people want to read poetry to analyze it, not to enjoy it for what it is on the surface. 

Heart of Darkness Blog One

One of the main themes in the book The Heart of Darkness is the nature of imperialism. Marlow, the protagonist and one of the narrators of the novella is thrust into the imperialistic business expenditures of nineteenth century Belgium in the Congo. In the beginning of the book, Marlow is indifferent toward the Belgium imperialism. Unlike many of the other European 'agents' who operate in the Congo, Marlow is not in it for the money. Marlow describes how, when he was younger, he always had a yearning to travel to Africa and faraway places he sees on maps. Marlow is in it for the adventure and the experience of freshwater sailing in a faraway land. Marlow, also, is rather oblivious to the why most people come to the Congo. Marlow, when talking to a fellow European says: "I couldn't help asking him once what he meant by coming there [Africa] at all. 'To make money of, of course. What do you think?'" (86). In asking this question, Marlow shows his naivete of imperialism and why it truly happens. To the other European, it is obvious that money is the main factor why people ventured to the Congo; but to Marlow, there are many other reasons, his being adventure, to travel so far away from home. As time passes, I expect Marlow's views to change as he discovers the true intentions of the Belgian king and his imperialistic ventures.

35/10- Sharon Olds

Thesis: The  foreboding theme of ageing is expressed in the poem 35/10, by Sharon Olds; the figurative language and connotation of specific words used by Olds add to the ominous replacement of old with young.

Paragraph 1: The title of the poem itself has its own connotation which helps the reader better understand the setting and theme of the story.

-The title "35/10" literally denotes to being two separate numbers, one greater than the other. The denotation of the word has little meaning and can confuse the reader; the only thing the title gives is the impression that something is greater, in size, than the other.

-The connotation of the title provides much more meaning to the reader. "35/10" can be attributed to the ages of the parent and daughter. This, paired with the denotation of the word, gives the reader proper information regarding the age of the mother and daughter, it allows the reader to better understand the poem by giving context.

Paragraph 2: The use of specific diction allows the author to illustrate the true separation of the daughter and her mother.

-"Brushing out our daughter's brown/ silken hair before the mirror/ I see the grey gleaming on my head,/ the silver hair servant behind her." (1-4)

-The poet uses "Brown" and "Grey" to signify hari color, but also to signify age, The denotations of these colors are of how old, or young, the person is. The grey haired mother, the "servant", is visibly changing, the streaks grey "gleaming" as an imminent sign of aging. The daughter's hair however is brown and silken, her hair is youthful and new. The denotations of the words grey and brown add to the comparison of ages and the overall theme of replacement.

Paragraph 3: The figurative language used by Olds further exagerates the age difference between the daughter and her mother.

-As my skin shows/ its dry pitting, she opens like a moist/ precise flower on the tip of a cactus; / as my last chances to bear a child/ are falling through my body, the duds among them,/ her full purse of eggs, round and / firm as hard-boiled yolks, is about / to snap its clasp" (8-15)
-The daughter is said to be like a budding flower on the tip of a cactus and having a purse full of eggs. These comparisons compare the daughter to new things. The flower is representative of new and youthful, the flower is blooming with a purse full of eggs. The blooming and purse represents puberty and the maturation of the daughter. These comparissons emphasize the daughter's maturation and imply that she is to come up and replace her mother who's "[eggs] are falling through [her] body". The daughter is set to replace her mother as nature always does.

"Mirror" - Sylvia Plath

Thesis: 

The life of a mirror is epitomized through the point-of-view poem Mirror, by Sylvia Plath; the characterization and personification pair with the multiple metaphors to define the sights of a mirror, sitting in a girl's room.  

Paragraph 1: 

-To best represent the life of the mirror, the entire poem is written with the view point of the mirror itself. All narration is 'spoken' by the mirror.

          -"Now I am a lake. A woman bends over me,/ Searching my reaches for what she really is" (9-10)

          -The direct narration of the mirror allows the reader to identify who the narrator is. Through analysis    

           of the title and narration of the poem, the reader is able to infer that the mirror is speaking, the mirror

           is the one who is telling their story.

Paragraph 2:

-The figurative language used by the mirror enhances the narration and provides a more complex view of the mirror's surrounding and life.

          -"In me she has drowned a young girl, and in me an old woman/ Rises toward her day after day, like a        

           terrible fish" (16-17)

          - The comparison and detailed description provide insight on what the mirror is thinking and what the

           mirror sees as the months an years go by. 

Paragraph 3: 

-The personification of the mirror creates a relatable yet ominous connection to the mirror.

          -"Whatever I see I swallow immediately/ Just as it is, unmisted by love or dislike./ I am not cruel, only 

           truthful-/ The eye of a little god, four-cornered" (2-5)

          - The mirror watches and sees objects all around it, it takes in information like any human may do, this 

           creates a connection to the mirror, we are one like the mirror. However, the mirror has a menacing   

           feature, it has no emotions. The mirror eerily watches its world, the solitary room, with no opinion or 

           feelings. This view into the mirror's 'mind' gives the poem an uncanny mood: the mirror is almost a

           supernatural being, who will forever spend his life observing a dying woman.

Thesis: In the poem Shall I Compare the to a Summer's Day by William Shakespeare, Shakespeare uses an multiple comparisons, and descriptive imagery to exemplify the beauty of the one being described by the poem.

Paragraph one: Shakespeare creates an extended metaphor, comparing the subject to summer, to describe the beauty of the subject.

-"Shall i compare thee to a summer's day?/ Thou art more lovely and more temperate" (1-2)
-Through the entire sonnet, Shakespeare draws parallels between the subject of the poem and the beauty of summer. He makes it clear that the subject is as alluring, if not more than, the season of summer.

Paragraph two: Shakespeare uses imagery to supplement the meaning of his extended metaphor.

-"Thou art more lovely and more temperate:/ Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May" (2-3)
-Shakespeare says that the subject is not as extreme as the summers day, which is windy and harsh. The subject is much more mild.

Paragraph three: Shakespeare uses a final comparison which states how the subject's, unlike summer's, beauty will not go away.

-"But thy eternal summer shall not fade/ Nor lose possession of that fair thou ow'st" (9-10)
-Shakespeare contrasts the subject stating that, unlike the season of summer's beauty, the beauty of the subject will remain forever.

In Act five, Scene one, lines one through ninety-seven of Shakespeare's The Tempest, Prospero changes his ways and initiates the 'comic solution' of the play. Throughout the entire play, Prospero uses his magic and spells to get revenge on those that defied him. However, in Act 5.1, Prospero revokes his magic and forgives  the Lords who went against him; for a protagonist in a Shakespearean comedy, this turn-around is expected in the comic solution. In the solution, all disguise and falsehood must be wiped away. Prospero's character accomplishes this when he says he will break his staff and throw his book of magic into the sea, therefore surrendering all of his magic and destroying the one thing that brought disguise and illusion into the play. The comic solution must also result in a happy ending, which Prospero accomplishes by saying: "Yet with my nobler reason 'gainst my fury/ do I take part. The rarer action is/ In virtue than in vengeance" (5.1 26-28). Prospero feels compassion for the other Lords, he is empathetic to what is happening to them so he ends the spell cast against them and forgives them for their injustices. By accomplishing these tasks to complete a comedic conclusion, Prospero has proven his character as a true protagonist of a Shakespearean comedy.