Day: September 18, 2023

Introduction to Beauty in “Me and My Song”

Beauty even if beauty in “Me and My Song” is not limited to symmetry in physical features, or color, or in using makeup. It lies in the order of words, aesthetics, and musicality. And this proves true in the case of African Americans in the United States, for not only do they have their sense of beauty and their aesthetics, but also they have their music. The sense that they belong to African, a continent usually associated with the b–ck color, African Americans are sensitive about their cultural heritage and its beauty, for its richness lies deep “As the b–ck earth” (Line 17) and is gentle and kind (Line 2, 4). The humanity associated with the b–ck color represents the beauty of the African American culture as well as their origin. Langston Hughes shows beauty in “Me and My Song,” through metaphorical language, tries to prove that African American community and its homeland, the African continent, have their own life, music, and beauty.

Metaphor of Body and Beauty in “Me and My Song”

Whereas beauty in life is concerned, Hughes is clear in about beauty in “Me and My Song” that the metaphor of body going out of Africa is about the life of the people being smuggled or sold to other continents but they are Africans. The difference lies in the discrimination meted out to them after they are away from their homeland which is stated as a b–ck place having b–ck people. The argument of Hughes lies in the color b–ck that is of the African Americans. The equates this with the gentleness and kindness of night using different similes. But when he uses “Body” (Line 7), it becomes clear that he means a life that is also “Strong and b–ck” like iron despite having been discriminated against in the United States. This part of his argument, however, is missing as it is implicit rather than explicit. The similes equate their body and the continent, both, to humanity in general. The beauty of life lies in this color and the color represents the African Americans as well as their homeland, Africa. However, this color, its similarity to the African Americans and their life, shows that it has its own music and its own specificity about beauty. This music is in its song that is also about Africa and here lies beauty in “Me and My Song”.

Music and Beauty in “Me and My Song”

Where Hughes’s view about music in this poem is concerned, it has specific relevance with the African Americans as well as their homeland, Africa, showing its beauty in “Me and My Song”. First, he uses the word song in the thirteenth line of the poem followed by how it has gone out of African and what it is. He uses a meaningful metaphor “Deep and mellow song” (Line 15). By deep and mellow, he means that this song is incomprehensible to those who are not from African as it has come out of African (Line 14) and that it is mellow because it has no discrimination. The use of the word “mellow” (Line 14), points to the harshness and hardness that the African American community has faced in the United States or for that matter in any other country. The interesting point is that if thought on binary terms such as mellow and harshness, his pointer is not explicit; rather, he is very implicit that he only points out the beauty of his own song that its origin is Africa, it is their song and that it is very deep and mellow having no discrimination, prejudice or hatred against others. However, when he associates with his compatriots “From the dark lips” (Line 23), he personifies African saying that it comes out of the lips of Africa that are dark and that this is beautiful and rich like Africa (Line 26-27). This also points to African American people and his association with them when he says “My and My / Song” (Line 33-341). The difference lies in that the beauty of the Africans and Africa are different from that of the other people who discriminate against them on the basis of color, race, or physical features.

African American Beauty in “Me and My Song”

The beauty of the African Americans lies not only in their color but also in their song, including land, the reason behindbeauty in “Me and My Song”. Whereas their color is concerned, Hughes has used similes and then personified Africa to assert its beauty. The very first simile is about the color, b–ck, equated with the gentleness and kindness of the night (Lines 2-5). However, this equation is not soft, slender, or weak. It is rather strong for which he again uses the simile of iron (Lines 9-10). Although this shows that he is not equating beauty, the intervention of this strength of the African land and its people point to the very next feature of its beauty that is its “song” (Line 15) that he calls deep as well as soft (Line 15). He again refers to its richness (Line 16) as well as its strength (Line 19) and links this strength to the song. By this linkage, Hughes means that it is not that the African Americans are just gentle, kind, they are also strong and melodious, and herein lies the beauty of the people and the land. When the poem ends, Hughes also reaches the end of his argument of equating the people and land to the features and things to link the people with nature to point out the beauty “Me and my /Song” (Line 33-34) that ends the poem on the song. The start of the poem with the color ends on the word “Song” (Line 34), which points to the underlying current of beauty – that is in the association of things with nature.

Conclusion

Concluding the argument of linking the African Americans and their color, b–ck, with night and the earth shows that Langston Hughes wants to show that African Americans, have also the same human features as others have. His use of metaphors, similes, personifications and their repetition demonstrates his skill in writing short and cryptic sentences to point out that beauty lies in the association of human features with that of the nature and land from which they have originated. This shows his sense of beauty that is not only gentle and kind but also strong and that it is also melodious, having musical quality in the people and the land. He repeats almost the same metaphors and similes to stress upon this beauty and ends his poem on himself as well as the song that is his own song, of his people and his homeland. This is sans discrimination meted out to them.

Works Cited

Hughes, Langston. “Song.” Poets.org, https://poets.org/poem/song-16. Accessed September 17, 2022.

Introduction to Religion in “A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings”

Religion in “A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings” by Marquez shows its critical role in the lives of people. Its interpretation, and its interpreters have a special place in society, town, or village. They not only hold far-reaching dominance but also voice their opinions on matters totally beyond their understanding. Although “A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings” is a very simple story of a couple Pelayo and Elisenda who fortunately find an old man with wings on a stormy night, in the midst of this plot, there appears a religious figure, Father Gonzaga, who steals the show through his religious domination and interpretation of such occurrences. It shows that religion holds a special place in the life of people and takes any form the religious figure wants to even if the event or the incident is entirely incomprehensible to them. In the simple plot of this story, Garcia has revealed a typical religious figure, Father Gonzaga, who exploits the raw belief of the common man by invoking a unique interpretation of the incomprehensible phenomenon in the language which is totally abracadabra to the common public using hierarchical authority to hide his inability.

Gonzaga and Religion in “A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings”

When Father Gonzaga,  who is a critical figure related to religion in “A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings”, appears on the scene, the rumor about the old man with wings has already spread in the village, and the old neighboring woman of the village has already named him “He’s an angel” (Marquez 144) with her typical opinion that “He must have been coming for the child” (144). When Father Gonzaga arrives, he talks to the angel in his Latin language which he observed that he did not “understand the langue of God or know how to greet His ministers” (145) declaring that it was something similar to the devil after minute observation. He concluded that he was unable to give a final verdict, which is typical of such figures. His first interpretation of the incomprehensible language of the angel is that he is none of the celestial creatures, and his first impression is that he is “an impostor” (145). His conclusion is that “noting about him measured up to the proud dignity of the angles” (145) which he makes known to the people who have no other option except to believe him. He not only warns them of the risks but also “reminded them that the devil had the bad habit of making us of carnival tricks” (145) which clearly shows how much he can exploit the simpleton people of the village through his sacred authority. The entire plot revolves around this figure and his opinion.

Authority of Religion in “A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings”

Secondly, he has used his authority of knowing the religious language which is Latin in his case. When Father Gonzaga arrives, Garcia tells that earlier he used to be a “robust woodcutter” (145) but then turns to the priesthood which he cleverly perceived would bless him with greater authority than he had with being a simple woodcutter as is shown when he asks the people to “open the door” (145) to have him a closer look. However, the deeper impression that he makes on the mind of the people is through his grip on the religious language, Latin, that others do not understand. This is his supreme authority, and a tool to exploit others declaring that whosoever does not know this religious language that he says is the “language of God and His ministers” (145), he/she is not able to decide on religious matters. As the common people do not understand this abracadabra, it becomes a tool for him to voice his opinion declaring that this is a devil and for more opinion, he would seek advice from his higher-ups. This shows how a lone figure wields religion in “A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings”.

Religious Hierarchy about Religion in “A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings”

Like dictatorial structures, religious figures also hold their authority based on religious hierarchical structures irrespective of whatever religion they hold. When they fail, they refer it to the higher-ups and so on until the final verdict is lost in the maze of this structure and people forget if there is such an incident. However, even if the opinion is given, it is considered a sacred verdict and is implemented and complied with as such. Father Gonzaga here, when he fails to understand but gives his opinion, tells that he would “write a letter to his bishop so that he letter would write to his Supreme Pontiff to get final verdict” to let the people know what it is but until then they can either accept his opinion or let it slip out of their minds and carry on enjoying their pranks which they did in the case of this angel. On the other hand, it would have happened the same with his letter as it happens in bureaucratic structures that “They spent their time finding out …whether he wasn’t just a Norwegian wings” (147). Then another incident happens in the town and the people lose their interest in the angel which is also a point that people often pay attention to even sacred or non-sacred things but for a moment and not forever. This shows the role of religion in “A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings”.

Conclusion

In short, religion holds a greater authority on the life of the simple people and they only come out of its hold when religious figures suffer from “insomnia” (147) and they have other interests to engage in. Otherwise, such typical figures are highly clever and use their tools such as language that is not comprehensible to the common people to voice their opinion or declare something unholy which in this case is the angel. They also resort to using their bureaucratic set up to keep the thinking of the people in check. In the Latin language, sacred terms such as celestial being, divine thing, or angel and further religious hierarchical terms such as the priest, bishop, and Supreme Pontiff are just symbols used to elaborate this further.

Works Cited

Marquez, Gabriel Garcia. A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings. n. d. NDSU. Web. Accessed 20 Nov. 2019.

Relevant Questions about Religion in “A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings”

1. How does religion in “A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings” influence the characters’ reactions to the mysterious old man, and what does this reveal about the story’s exploration of faith and doubt?
2. What symbolic significance does religion in “A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings” hold, particularly in relation to the Church and its authority, and how does it shape the overall thematic depth of the narrative?
3. How does the portrayal of religion in “A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings,” influence the story’s commentary on the human response to the supernatural and the conflict between religious doctrine and genuine spirituality?

Introduction to Larsen’s Passing

A common word passing assumed significance during the period of migration of the b–ck from the rural south to the northern and midwestern urban areas specifically mentioned as a theme in Larsen’s Passing. Passing means “fair complexioned Negroes passing as whites” (Gatewood 180). There is permanent passing that means to lose identity and the b–ck people cut off their roots while non-permanent passing means to stay in touch with the b–ck community and relatives (180).

A noted b–ck poet Langstone Hughes has also expressed his thoughts about the phenomenon of passing in his poem of the same title “Passing” as its last lines go thus;

“the ones who’ve crossed the line

to live downtown

miss you,

Harlem of the bitter dream

since their dream has

come true.” (Lines 11-16).

Cases and Nella Larson’s Passing

Referring to Chicago Defenders, Hobbs has also commented on the girls who have crossed the lines (02). She has noted a girl who went to Los Angeles and could not come even on the death of her father, losing her identity (04). She further argues that those days were risky and that it seems a stupid and foolish act but most of the girls and mixed- racial people decided to change their identities (04). There is a case of Homer Plessy known as Plessy v. Ferguson case of 1896 in which Plessey won the case and his case did fall in the category of violation of race (12). Although it seems that Nella Larson has depicted the Rhinelander Case as some of the critics have suggested similarities, her heroin, Clare Kendry has the courage to pass, cross boundaries and still do not lose her identity. The same has been presented in Larsen’s Passing.

Representation of the Idea of Passing

Presentation of the idea of passing in Larsen’s Passinghas a double notion. It centers on personal and racial identity (Henderson 17)

1. Personal Identity

Clare Kendry has lost her personal identity by breaking up with her family in the story of Larsen’s Passing. When Clare Kednry meets Irene she narrates her tale and how she marries John after telling about her white aunts who were prejudicial about race and even passing. She tells it how on personal level she has lost her identity deliberately. She says about aunts;

“They forbade me to mention Negroes to the neighbours, or even to mention the south side. You may be sure that I didn’t. I’ll bet they were good and sorry afterwards” (Larson 67).

2. Social Identity

On the social level, Clare Kendry, the girl in Larsen’s Passing, has hoodwinked John when she meets Irene and Gertrude. However, on social level, she even tries to hoodwink her own community though she meets her negro friends. When her husband calls her ‘nig’, she tells him;

“Jack dear, I’m sure ’Rene doesn’t care to hear all about your pet aversions. Nor Gertrude either. Maybe they read the papers too, you know” (Larson 81).

Representation of the Time in Larsen’s Passing

When Larson wrote Passing, those were the modern times in literature as well as culture. Henderson says that she has presented biracial woman as “the site of contradiction and negotiation, transgression and conformity, tradition and modernity” (8).

1. Clare Kendry: A Modern Biracial Woman in Larsen’s Passing

Clare Kednry as her modern character of passing presents contradiction and negotiation. She has contradicted her own race and her own identity by marrying John Bellew. She, with her acts, has caused ambiguity and confusion in Irene, the protagonist of the novel.

“Irene could only shrug her shoulders. Her reason partly agreed, her instinct wholly rebelled. And she could not say why” (Larson 69).

Clare is shown as contradicting not only her personal but also social identity. She is also shown constantly negotiating it with herself as well as with the characters around her. She is showing John that she is white but to her friends that she is one of them.

“I do think that coloured people—we—are too silly about some things. After all, the thing’s not important to Irene or hundreds of others” (Larson 77).

She has the courage to transgress as she has already noted the words of her father who told her that “Everything must be paid for” (Larson 77).

She is well are of the risk that she has taken and knows the consequences of transgression. Therefore, she seems to be very careful as Larson says, “Clare began to talk, steering carefully away from anything that might lead towards race or other thorny subjects” (78).

2. Modern Woman’s Dilemma About Conformity and Tradition in Larsen’s Passing

The case of Clare Kendry is highly different in terms of conformity as well as tradition. She does not conform to the race codes and crosses boundaries. She does not stick to traditions. Even in the other space, she plays hide and seek and often jumps the fence to enjoy both sides.

Henderson says, “her story fails to conform to the convention of the tragic mulatta who typically experiences guilt and remorse resulting from racial ‘desertion” (20).

Irene’s reaction to this non conformity of Clare speaks volume about her ability to vacillate between two spaces. She says that Clare Kendry only belongs to a race but care nothing. Even Irene becomes double minded about it as she says;

“It’s funny about ‘passing.’ We disapprove of it and at the same time condone it. It excites our contempt and yet we rather admire it. We shy away from it with an odd kind of revulsion, but we protect it” (Larson 95).

3. Confusion of Modernism in Larsen’s Passing

Henderson is of the view that there is clear modern sense of dislocation and ambiguity (08). This ambiguity exists in both of the characters, Irene as well as Clare. In Irene, this ambiguity is about her feelings toward Clare as she cannot and did not refuse meeting her. In the case of Clare, she is confused and ambiguous in her articulations about choosing one or the other race as she says;

“You can’t know how in this pale life of mine I am all the time seeing the bright pictures of that other that I once thought I was glad to be free of….It’s like an ache, a pain that never ceases” (52).

On the other hand, Larson’s narrator tells about Irene;

1. She always steps on the danger
2. She is ambiguous about decision to sit on the one side of the fence
3. She does not feel any arms “or feeling of outrage on the part of others” (50).

These major features of the character of Clare Kendry tells about her as an African American modern woman that Larson has depicted her novel Passing.

Conclusion

Larsen’s Passing reflects the time and idea in which the author has lived in the following ways.

1. It presents the historical fictionalization of passing, a phenomenon of miscegenated generation of b–ck into white.
2. It presents the dilemma of a girl who passes successfully but hides it and also wants to stay in contact with her family and race.
3. The novel presents confused characters of Clare Kendry who has passed and Irene who has not.

Works Cited

1. Gatewood, Willard B. Aristocrats of color: The b–ck elite, 1880–1920. University of Arkansas Press, 2000.
2. Henderson, Mae G. “Critical Foreword” from Passing by Nella Larson, New York: Modern Library, 2009.
3. Hughes, Langstone. “Passing.” SS2. n. d. http://swc2.hccs.edu/kindle/hughespassing.pdf. Accessed 04 May. 2019.
4. Larson, Nella. Passing. New York: The Modern Library, 2009.
5. Thaggert, Miriam. “Racial Etiquette: Nella Larsen’s ‘Passing and the Rhinelander Case.’” Meridians, vol. 5, no. 2, 2005, pp. 1–29. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/40338664.

Introduction to Psychoanalytic Study of Frankenstein

A short study of psychoanalytic study of Frankenstein shows its true meanings. Though appearing itself a dream of Mary Shelly materialized into a Gothic fiction and the dream of Victor Frankenstein narrated by another dreamy character, Robert Walton, Frankenstein, the novel, appears to be fulfilling all the characteristics of Freud’s dream theory, psychoanalysis and Lacan’s improvements on that theory. Frankenstein himself is such a dreamy character that he always dreams of enjoying his life. However, he comes back to the reality, as he argues in the end when chasing the monster, “The story is too connected to be mistaken for a dream,” but he also actually enjoys the pleasures of dreams which he could not enjoy in this material world (Shelley 246). In his paper “Dream Interpretation in Theory: Drawing on the Contributions of Freud, Jung, and the Kleinians”, quoting Greeson, Joan Schon (2016) says that dreams are the best sources to look into the internal world of a person to see the thinking going on since his early childhood and memories (3). Close reading of the text of the novel makes it amply clear that not only Frankenstein has very disturbed and dreamy childhood but also he has deep attachment to his mother who was much younger than his father, as Frankenstein tells, “There was a considerable difference between the ages of my parents” (26). However, he quickly adds that there was a deep affection between them despite this difference of age, yet this could not have stopped him from developing oedipal feelings to his extremely beautiful mother loved passionately by his father (26).  The creation of the monster may be this repressed love of his mother but there are several other signs, which demonstrate Freud’s concepts of Id, ego and superego, and Oedipus complex of his theory, throughout the text including the Lacanian concept of desire, sex and alienation, with reference to the Imaginary order and the symbolic order.

Dreams and Psychoanalytic Study of Frankenstein

As far as dreams are concerned, psychoanalytic study of Frankenstein shows that both Robert Walton and Victor Frankenstein are having dreams and daydreams, but it is Frankenstein’s dream which is of importance. The difference is that Walton’s dreams are limited to his expeditions, while Frankenstein’s dreams are centered on his study of the chemistry and creation of a new form that could become his best creation, as he says when he created that monster, “the beauty of the dream vanished” that he harbored since he started studying in Ingolstadt (Shelley 59). This could be Mary Shelley’s dream according to Freud’s interpretation, as Barbara D’Amato has stated in her article “Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein: An Orphaned Author’s Dream and Journey Toward Integration,” that “Authors’ dreams frequently inspire their creative stories, unconsciously imposing the author’s personal conflicts upon the characters” (118). She has further mentioned Mary Shelley’s own daydreams, saying that it could be that she has created this story and the characters to mother something due to her own lineage from two creative personalities. However, she adds, this is purely unconscious, but is valid according to the concepts Freud has propagated regarding his theory (126). One thing is clear that not only this novel is a dream of unconsciousness of the writer herself, but also a dream of the narrator, Robert Walton, and his hero Frankenstein as asserted by Jerrold E. Hogle in his paper, “Frankenstein’s Dream: An Introduction” that this is a double dream though he has missed the point that it is also the dream of the writer as that D’ Amato has argued. He argues that Victor’s dreams, specifically, narrated by him to Walton by the end of the story are psychoanalytic in nature, but they also pose a big question before the readers that the whole story could be dream (Hogle). However, it is clear that he returns from his dreams and daydreams to start his narration again.

Characters and Psychoanalytic Study of Frankenstein

In fact, it is this reversion to reality from dreams, which raises the question of Freud’s psychoanalytical interpretation of the dreams and as well as character’s different actions, feelings and desires. In this connection, the most important is the explanation of Id, by which Freud means a biological part of a person’s response to something that is instinctive and natural and a person cannot hide it, while libido is its primary source that stays unresponsive to the real world. In his lectures, New Introductory Lectures on Psychoanalysis, Freud explains ego and superego as mirrors to realities that ego mediates between superego and Id, while superego comprises of social rules and laws that govern human beings’ behavior (Freud 105). In terms of Frankenstein, his Id is clear when he talks about his mother in very sensual and loving terms saying her as of “uncommon mould,” whom his father gave full attention and in turn both of them loved their son. This was to create in him feelings for his mother, whose intense desire for a daughter was not fulfilled until Victor was of considerable age and stayed with her (Shelley 26). It is also that in the initial stages, Victor states that he loves investigation of things rather than the superficial structure on account of his curiosity. However, for him it was, curiosity as he argues, “Curiosity, earnest research to learn the hidden laws of nature, gladness akin to rapture, as they were unfolded to me, are among the earliest sensations I can remember” (Shelly 30). It is another thing that he remembers several things of his childhood. These luxurious feelings, of course, are the oedipal impacts toward his mother to whom his father used to dot up, and he remembers this too (26). Perhaps these realities make the most of the dreams of Victor.

Family Behavior and Psychoanalytic Study of Frankenstein

The influence of the father’s behavior toward his mother stayed in his psyche when it psychoanalytic study of Frankenstein is done. He tell is clearly that “He strove to shelter her, as a fair exotic is sheltered by the gardener,” where the phrase “a fair exotic,” is enough to explain his fondness for his mother (26). However, his ego does not let him speak it in clear terms, for superego acts against it. In this connection, the conjunction of three characters, Frankenstein, his father, his friend Clerval and his creation, the monster, is very interesting as his superego. In fact, the monster is his alter ego, for Victor has created what he wished (Crisman). William Crisman further says that the monster is like a doppelganger for Frankenstein or in better words, his “objectified Id” (Crisman). This started a conflict between his ego and superego regarding the moral of his creation. His father, Alphonse Frankenstein and his friend Clerval act as persons driving his supergo. It is because according to Freud, the origin of a person’s supergo or his critical faculty is his father, or the social society around the person. Here Clerval and his father both act as representatives in this connection. They both act as moral agents to teach him about the social morality and rules of the society (Lall 37). Lall further argues that Victor takes to sciences merely to make his father resent his choice, the reason that he goes on to create the monster to satisfy his ego. That is why he does not tell them later what he has done but merely repents on his creation (37). However, this creation becomes his entire story, for he always stays engaged with this story in reality or in dreams. This represents his ego. It could be that it is his failed sexual fantasy that he remembers everything, the reason that he is fleeing from marriage with Elizabeth. However, he does not want to expose this to the real world. On the other hand, acting as representatives of his superego, his father and friend both are very much near him, all the time feeding him with a sense of somebody supervising him. However, it is more his father than Clerval who act as his superego, for he has everything in him. Victor says that “my father had filled several public situations with honor and reputation and indefatigable attention to public business” (Shelley 24). How could he break his ring of social restrictions woven around him by the society. Even Clerval was not an ordinary person with him, for “he was the son of a merchant of Geneva”, “of singular talent and fancy” (32). That is why Victor could not expose what was in his ego — love of his mother and his feelings for her – the gist of psychoanalytic study of Frankenstein.

Love and Psychoanalytic Study of Frankenstein

It could be stated that Victor exposed this love for his mother in the shape of his creation going against the norm set by his father of learning philosophy. David Collings in his article, “The Monster and the Imaginary Mother: A Lacanian Reading of Frankenstein,” calls this minor rebellion as “intellectual pursuit”, adding that in magical “nature Victor hopes to recover the mother that has been denied or forgotten in much the same way as the alchemy of Agrippa, Paracelsus, and Albertus Magnus has been dismissed by contemporary sciences” (Collings). Although it is not clear whether it is a reality or a fiction, Collings even include his mentors M. Krempe and Waldman in this list on account of his sexual terminology regarding the study of chemistry, for Victor uses words which are very much sensual in connotations, as he says “I have described myself as always having been imbued with fervent longing to penetrate the secrets of nature” (Shelley 35). He uses the same terms for the men of science, “who could penetrate deeper and knew more” (36).  However, this seems a far-fetched theory regarding Frankenstein and his feelings, for nowhere Victor shows any sort of symbol that he used to love his mother in his childhood more than a child does. His love for Elizabeth could be termed as a substitute to Oedipus Complex, or that it could be the rivalry in the mind of his father, yet this also has no trace except that he used to shower love on Elizabeth. For example, at once place he kisses Elizabeth in a dream, as he narrates this to Walton, saying, “I thought I saw Elizabeth, in the bloom of health, walking in the streets of Ingolstadt. Delighted and surprised, I embraced her; but as I imprinted the first kiss on her lips, they became livid with the hue of death; her features appeared to change, and I thought that I held the corpse of my dead mother in my arms” (59). However, when he wakes up, he saw the monster staring at him in reality with his jaws wide open. The study done by William Veeder in this connection argues that this complex in Frankenstein is negative Oedipus complex. He has summed up the relations of Mary and Percy Shelley in pointing out this passion in Victor Frankenstein. He is of the opinion that it is Victor’s creation of his monster that shows his antipathy toward his father. Yet, it also shows his desire to revive his mother back to life which he calls negative Oedipus complex, for it does not rightly fit into the theory of Freud (Veeder). However, another point of view expressed by William Rodriguez is quite contradictory. He argues in his essay “Good and Ugly,” that there was a good relation between the son and the mother in the earlier years which led the son, Victor, to have been influenced by the death of his mother. His creation of the monster is based on his vows that he made on the grave of his mother to defeat death. Although he could not defeat death, he has fulfilled his vow that he made to his mother. He further argues that “This series of flashback offer interesting insights into dynamic of the Frankenstein Family. One can only conclude that this attractive and virtuous family harbors deep, ugly and depraved secrets” (Rodriguez 285). However, the problem is that it is based on the movie rather than the novel, though there are similarities in these flashbacks with the daydreams and dreams of Frankenstein, making it almost the same issue of Freud’s Oedipus complex.

Monster and Psychoanalytic Study of Frankenstein

Another interpretation of the creation of monster falls very close to the oedipal interpretations of Frankenstein. This is the concept of fire. Although Frankenstein has been aware of electricity, he learned it when he read Agrippa. However, he did not apply it to infuse life into the structure of the monster he created. Rather he used candle as he says “my candle was nearly burnt out” (Shelley 58). Obviously, he is using candle to infuse life into the structure. However, this fire, argues Nicholas Marsh, has “the power to create life,” and he creates this life after the death of his mother (155). This fire then burns into his heart becoming a fire of revenge, while he feels the heart of this fire until the end. If the monster is taken as the image of Victor Frankenstein, he constantly watches his fire that he wants not to extinguish, for it is akin to life for the demon. However, this fire in Victor is akin to a sexual desire that he cannot fulfill in the absence of his mother. This interpretation cannot be taken too far, for the life he has created is male that is not even similar to Adam in Paradise Lost that Victor happens to read during his free times. He should have created rather Eve like figure, instead of a male figure to fulfill his desire for love. This is perhaps that same fire that makes a person hot in his emotions and temper and is akin to violence. This Victor confesses when stating his childhood saying, “My temper was sometimes violent, and my passions vehement; but by some law in my temperature, they were turned towards childish pursuits to be an eager desire to learn, and not to learn all things indiscriminately,” by which he means that in his environment and situation, laws and social customs require him to learn something which otherwise would have been left (Shelly 32). Here this clearly points to something sinister in his childhood bestowed by the circumstances of “filial love” that he enjoyed until the end (32). That is why he has been suffering from the complex of loving his mother and creating the monster to defeat death which has enveloped it. It could be that he wanted to preserve death from taking the life of his next love, Elizabeth Lavenza. Despite these similarities and differences, this interpretation cannot be stretched further than this. In fact, it has its own limits, for he has never expressed any antagonism against his father explicitly, yet his language, desire, sexual orientation and alienation makes him a fit subject for these interpretations in the psychoanalytic study of Frankenstein.

Lacan and Psychoanalytic Study of Frankenstein

In this connection, it is suitable to mention Lacan who brought improvements in the psychoanalysis theory and mentioned language as the most significant element of it. He has called it the Symbolic order by which he means the cultural system as Peter Brooks has been quoted by Laura Hamblin saying that individuals are inserted to act accordingly (8). Contrary to this is the Imaginary order, which means what has been imagined since childhood. In this connection, both Victor as well as his creation deserves deep attention with reference to Oedipus Complex as propounded in the light of the theory of Freud. It is worth mentioning here that this lack of language learning or the ability to speak language means the person has not entered the cultural system, as Victor has pointed it out at a place that “I confess that neither the structures of languages, not the code of governments, nor the politics of various states possessed attractions for me” (Shelley 32). This means that he has not wished to enter the Symbolic order or the cultural system propounded by Lacan through which a person makes his desires known to the world and the people around him. In this connection, it is pertinent to mention Haidee Kotze’s article “Desire, Gender, Power, Language: A Psychoanalytic Reading of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein,” in which she has argued that it is the order of language that forces a person to redefine his personality or what she calls “self” through which the subject reconciles his two orders; the Imaginary order and the Symbolic order. As Lacan, she argues, has theorized that language structures the unconscious; rather it creates it, it is through language that a subject expresses his sexual desires, aggression and guilt or alienation and expresses if there is repression in him (55).  She means that Alphonse has already set the rules and customs for his son to follow which he escapes on the pretext of studying at Ingolstadt. That is quite evident when he says that “my father thought it necessary for the completion of my education that I should be made acquainted with other customs than those of my nature country,” for which he needs to study and learn this in order to become a docile person fit to be under the subservience of his father (Shelley 39). It is, therefore, understood, as Haidee Kotze says that feminine reflection and adoration comes into play to counter this grid setup by the patriarchal social setup as in the case of Frankenstein that he idolizes his mother more than his father, an “identification with the mother,” which is the Imaginary order (Kotze 55). In this connection, a little analysis of monster’s state is also significant.

Symbolic Order in Psychoanalytic Study of Frankenstein

It is because the monster without language is living in the Imaginary order, Haidee Kotze argues, which is the state as “still non-subject, is in a formless state,” where he cannot express his desires or gives shape to his emotions (Kotze 56). However, when he becomes capable of expressing himself, not only does he win the heart of Victor Frankenstein, his immediate creator, but also of Walton and others he comes into contact with through the language. That is why he is after his creator to create somebody to give him pleasure and life. However, this is the same that is going on with Victor, for he is after the death to defeat it to win his mother back to defeat his father’s Symbolic order. This is why he eulogizes his mother saying “On her deathbed the fortitude and benignity of this best of women did not desert her,” (Shelley 38). This benignity and fortitude that he thinks his father has only for his mother, and has not for him. That is why he turns to the feminine side of the Symbolic order, as he says about his mother that “her countenance expressed affection even in death,” an affiliation and association which leads him to the creation of the monster by studying natural science (40). It is, however, very significant to see that he has fulfilled his desire but has not expressed it openly in this Symbolic order. For this, perhaps he should have created a female demon instead of the male monster which could have proved rather akin to this Imaginary order.  

Conflict in Psychoanalytic Study of Frankenstein

Whereas the desire is concerned, here both the Imaginary and Symbolic order are in conflict with each other. This conflict is present in Victor’s personality and situation as well as in the situation and figure of the monster, his mirror image or creation. As far as the monster is concerned, this conflict in him leads him to step his feet in the Symbolic order through learning the language of the De Lacey family. However, his description of the earlier emotions as Haidee Kotze states, “suggests the possibility that it functions as substitute mother-figure for monster,” for he is a motherless figure and has only his creator (57). However, in the case of Victor, it is his mother which is always with him at the times when he dreams, or even if he dreams about Elizabeth. He has entered the Symbolic order long before his creation. This entry creates a conflict “between the law of the Father and the desire for the mother,” who is now dead (57). This conflict according to Lacan, between the Imaginary and Symbolic makes a person aware of the gender difference and leads to the birth of difference desires (58) when looked through psychoanalytic study of Frankenstein. That is the very reason that the monster desires a female, as he asks Victor, “You must create a female for me with whom I can live in the interchange of those sympathies necessary for my being” (174). This is the same conflict that has made the monster to feel alienation, for in the Imaginary order he does not know the language which has made him a pariah in his own mind. He compares himself with Satan but is more bitter over his solitude due to his being living in the Imaginary order where he is devoid of any linguistic capability as he says about his loneliness, “Satan had his companions, fellow devils, to admire and encourage him, but I am solitary and abhorred,” (155). The stress on ‘solitary’ and ‘abhorred’ is very significant in that a person always desires the company of his fellows or mates, and he wants to be loved. Although Victor has lost his mother and possible love that he has found in Elizabeth, his mirror image has nothing to console him, the reason of his entreaties to Victor to create someone for him. There is possibility that Victor’s desire has not fulfilled, and in revenge, he does not want his mirror-image to have his desire fulfilled. That is why he does not create the female figure despite his sincere promise to the monster.

Desire in the Psychoanalytic Study of Frankenstein

However, there is another point that this desire goes back to the pre-Imaginary order and stays repressed. It could stay repressed in the Symbolic order in case there is reproach as is the case of Victor, for he does not express this desire openly but only creates the monster. However, in the case of the monster, it is quite open and explored when he enters the Symbolic order by learning the language of the De Lacey family. He clearly appeals to Victor to create another female figure for him, or else he will wreak havoc with his near and dear ones (Shelley 157). Haidee Kotze has argued that the demand of the monster for a female brings Lacan in the fore that it is the monster’s desire that is dependent on his father, creator, who is Frankenstein here, who in turn carries on making him wait and then defer it (59). By the end of the story, he entirely leaves the project on the pretext that he cannot breed more monsters. However, in the case of Victor, this desire is not fulfilled, for his father stays alive quite late and wishes him to marry Elizabeth who is also very dear to both of them. However, somewhere the linguistic connotations suggest that this delay on the part of Alphonse has made Frankenstein either impotent or castrated him. This is inhibition of his desire that has perhaps frustrated him but he cannot express this frustration in the face of his father. He is not a monster, for he has lived in the Symbolic order for long to have developed a sense to keep his mouth shut. It is clear from his thinking about his marriage when he says “To me the idea of an immediate union with Elizabeth was one of horror and dismay,” showing his jealousy with the monster to make him stay away from his mate as he says “let the monster depart with his mate” (Shelley 184). If the desire of the subject is not fulfilled, the desire of the subject of the subject must not be fulfilled. However, his castration that seems a possibility further adds to his woes. Had he been so much committed to his family as he states occasionally in his narrative, he should have left his family entirely to avenge upon the monster and stated it to his father in his face that a monster he has created has killed his brother and Justine and that he is going to avenge that. Not only that he does not do it, but he constantly keeps hiding it from his father. As far as castration is concerned, it comes to him again. By the end, he consents to marry Elizabeth but again the point of impotence or non-fulfillment of his desire is there staring in his face. For example, he says, “what is excellent and sublime in the production of man could always interest my heart,” which is an entirely a feminine characteristic that he desires to have (195). However, the very next sentence is very pointed in which he says, “But I am a blasted tree,” which could be interpreted in both ways that he cannot produce leaves like a female, or that his is unable to procreate something like male. This is clearly a reference to his impotence. The point that author has her own desires which she hands over to Robert Walton is clear from his letters that he writes to his sister about his expedition. It could be interpreted that he has the same feelings towards his sister as Victor has towards his mother. Both have created something to satisfy their desires; Mary has Walton, and Victor has the monster and the monster in his turns wants another female. Here the mirror-image or double again shows the same possibility of castration as has been discussed earlier. Mladen Dolar argues that this creation of the mirror image or double against the impending extinction of the subject has “its counterpart in the language of dreams,” as Victor enjoys this in his dreams (3). This counterpart is impotence or castration. This castration is, therefore, very much present in his language too.

Creation and Impotence in Psychoanalytic Study of Frankenstein

Now this castration or impotence has led to the final resolution that like his mirror-image of monster, who is not able to procreate, Victor is also not able to produce a child. That is why he has created the monster through his science. It is perhaps to hide is gender identity as he has not created the female monster as he needs a different set of chemicals and formulas that he did not have. In both the cases, the monster as well as his creation have lost the ability to copulate or create a new form of their own. That is why they are alienated and secluded from the rest of the people.  Although both alienation and seclusion are the results of avoiding joining the Symbolic order in totality, it is yet not all that. For example, the monster joins the the Symbolic order by learning the language and by becoming eloquent as Victor appreciates him, but he does not join the cultural system. He stays aloof from others, as he is a deformed shape (Dolar 13). However, Victor has created this niche of a secluded person for himself due to the non-fulfilment of his desire that he cannot express and cannot fulfill in this existing Symbolic order. That is why he is always on one or the other journey and leaves Elizabeth alone to fight the monster though he knows that the monster will never hurt him as the monster has already stated it to him that he will kill Victor, his creator /father / mother figure. If here it is supposed that the monster is merely Victor’s fig of mind, then the warning of the monster “I will be with you on your wedding-night,” not only supports the point that Victor feels alienated from the rest of the human beings due to his castration or impotence is the same alienation that the monster is going through (Shelley 206). It also supports the point that this monster is his own castration that is threatening him. That is why he leaves his beloved wife in the bed to die.

Conclusion

Concluding the debate, it could be said that Frankenstein like its creator, Mary Shelley, is a very complicated text having multiplicity of meanings when psychoanalytic study of Frankenstein is conducted. It could be interpreted on several levels, as is proved through different conceptual points discussed with reference to Freud and Lacan’s psychoanalytical approach. However, it is still open to debate whether it really comes up to the level of a definitive text to be exemplified as a psychoanalytical model, for the text involves various twists and turns which sometimes show it has the qualities that a psychoanalytical model text should have, while at some points it just shows itself as a Gothic novel. However, it is the connotative use of language that has given rise to such controversies, and it lies in the artistic rendering of the story. However, as the critics have pointed that every piece of literature is a mirror image of the conscious and unconscious thoughts of its writer, it needs far greater and deeper studies to point out that Mary Shelley has really been suffering from some Electra complex, the reason that she has put so many psychoanalytic characteristics in this fictional work. Some studies in this connection have pointed out resemblance but the task of this essay is limited to only explaining the framework of Freud and Lacan’s Oedipus Complex, the Imaginary and Symbolic order and the interpretation of the text in the light of these theoretical studies. It seems that almost all the characters from Walton to Victor and from the monster to Elizabeth, show some signs of their entry from the Imaginary order to the Symbolic order and their repressed desires coming out through their language as in the case of Victor and his creation, the monster. However, in some cases there are some debatable points such as the dreams of Victor Frankenstein and of his creation, the monster. These dreams border on sanity and insanity at the same time showing some characteristics of their gender identity, desires and alienation. In the same way, Robert Walton has also some desires which he keeps repressed but just states in connotative terms to his sister through letters. Despite these interpretations through the psychoanalytic study of Frankenstein, it still needs a lot of arduous reading to point out further interpretations of their language.

Works Cited

1. Crisman, William. “`Now Misery Has Come Home’: Sibling Rivalry in Mary Shelly’s Frankenstein.” Studies in Romanticism 36.1 (1997): 27. Academic Search Complete. Web. 9 Sept. 2016.
2. Collings, David. “The Monster and the Imaginary Mother: A Lacanian Reading of Frankenstein.” USASK. n. d. Web. 10 Sep. 2016.
3. D’Amato, Barbara. “Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein: An Orphaned Author’s Dream and Journey Toward Integration.” Modern Psychoanalysis 34.1 (2009): 117-135. Academic Search Complete. Web. 9 Sept. 2016.
4. Dolar, Mladen. “I Shall Be With You on Your Wedding Night: Lacan and The Uncanny.” JSTOR. 28 Feb. 2013. Web. 10 Sep. 2016. pp. 1-23.
5. Freud, Sigmund. New Introductory Lectures on Psychoanalysis. 1933. Penguin. pp. 105–6.
6. Hogle, Jerrold E. “Frankenstein’s Dream: An Introduction.” Romantic Circles. Jul. 2003. Web. 10 Sep. 2016.
7. Kotze, Haidee. “Desire, gender, power, language: a Psychoanalytic reading of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein.” Literator 21.1 (Apr. 2000): 53-67. Web. 10 Sep. 2016.
8. Lall, Ashley. “Like Father, Like Son: Parental Absence and Identity Crisis in Shelly’s Frankenstein.” PACE. n. d. Web. 10 Sep. 2016.
9. Marsh, Nicholas. Mary Shelley: Frankenstein. Palgrave Macmillan. 2009. pp. 156.
10. Rodriguez, William. “Good and Ugly.” Frankenstein and Philosophy: Shocking Truth, edited by Nicolas Michaud. Open Court. Chicago. 2013. pp. 281-286.
11. Schön, Joan. “Dream Interpretation in Theory: Drawing On The Contributions Of Freud, Jung, And The Kleinians.” Psycho-Analytic Psychotherapy In South Africa 24.1 (2016): 76-108. Academic Search Complete. Web. 9 Sept. 2016.
12. Shelley, Mary Wollstonecraft. Frankenstein. Planet Ebooks. 2014.
13. Veeder, William. “The Negative Oedipus: Father, Frankenstein, and the Shelleys.”KNARF. 1986. Web. 10 Sep. 2016.

Relevant Questions of Psychoanalytic Study of Frankenstein

1. In a psychoanalytic study of “Frankenstein,” how do Victor Frankenstein’s unconscious desires and fears come to the forefront through his creation of the monster?
2. From a psychoanalytic perspective within the context of a study of “Frankenstein,” how can we analyze the theme of parenting and abandonment, and what psychological insights does it offer about the characters and their relationships?
3. Within the framework of a psychoanalytic study of “Frankenstein,” how does the creature’s relentless pursuit of revenge serve as a window into his unresolved psychological trauma, and what does it reveal about the human psyche?

Introduction to Darkness in Heart of Darkness

Darkness in Heart of Darkness is is associated with all types of sins committed in the third world countries in the name of civilization. This is not only in Christianity but also in all the other religions of the world, because darkness is considered as breeding ground of sins where a person can observe his mistakes and blunders and see the truth. It is said in Mathew 4:16, “The people dwelling in darkness have seen a great light, and for those dwelling in the region and shadow of death, on them a light has dawned” which means that those who live in darkness can see the light or the truth before them. Even the holy Koran states the same thing as it is given in Chapter Baqra, “Allah is the Protecting Guardian of those who believe. He bringeth them out of darkness into light. As for those who disbelieve, their patrons are false deities. They bring them out of light into darkness” (2:245). Here darkness is akin to ignorance and state of having no knowledge or willful neglect of the knowledge that a person could become addicted to or victim of.

Marlow and Darkness in Heart of Darkness

It means that darkness is usually associated with backwardness, ignorance and willful neglect of civilized norms and cultured behavior. Marlow would not have seen the horrors of the modern civilization through darkness in Heart of Darkness, had he not visited the Congo himself and seen the situation of savagery on the ground. That is why Conrad has used darkness as a part of the title of the novella, which shows that darkness is not only of the outer world but also of the inner world — the inner-deep recesses of human mind and heart. However, he has also used it as a symbol, which shows that where there is civilization and learning, there is light of knowledge. The civilizations have evolved rapidly, but it is also said that where there is darkness, there is no knowledge. Using as a title of his novella to show the darkness that burgeons in the heart of men, Conrad has not only used darkness as a recurring symbol of the darkness of one’s soul and heart, but also a symbol of ignorance, and savagery. It is also a motif of evil far away removed from the civilized world in the absence of social norms, traditions and laws.

Title and Darkness in Heart of Darkness

The title of the novella of Conrad is very provocative and inciting. It is because it shows the darkness lurking in the heart of men that is explored in the entire short novella. The title is reflective of the darkness of the soul of the characters, of the entire civilization and of the corporate world that was engaged in operations in the “dark continent” in Henry Morton Stanley’s word as quoted by Macwan Hiral Josep in his paper “Justification of the Title – Heart of Darkness.” He is of the view that the title is apt as it shows not only the “dark continent” but also the imperial designs of the European nations, their cruel treatment with the natives, their barbaric disregard of the localities and natives and their senseless plundering of resources at the cost of exterminating the native Africans. Commenting on all the connotative and denotative meanings that darkness demonstrates in the novella, Hiral Josep states that, “Darkness is important enough conceptually to be part of the book’s title. However, it  is difficult to discern exactly what it might mean,  given  that  absolutely  everything  in  the  book  is  cloaked  in  darkness” (Joseph 160-164). It is because Conrad has used it in the novel around 25 times, each time using it in different meanings that could be anything for the reader. However, all of those meanings are linked with the darkness that is sometimes impenetrable, sometimes conquerable, sometimes stream of darkness while at other times it is heart of darkness of darkness of the heart as he ends his novel saying that their backward journey was to “lead them into the heart of an immense darkness” while commenting about his ideal, Mr Kurtz, he says, “The thing was to know what he belonged to, how many powers of darkness claimed him for their own” (Conrad 81-88). Therefore, it is clear that he has intentionally chosen the word darkness in Heart of Darkness for his title to show that men are prone to fall in the pit of darkness if they want to do so.

Symbol of Darkness in Heart of Darkness

The symbol of darkness in Heart of Darknessis that of darkness of heart and soul. It means ignorance and behavior sans any evolved social customs and laws that once England was, “But darkness was here yesterday” (6). Conrad starts this from the city of London that is now city of light. Once it was all darkness on the Thames and around it that was the city of London in the past. Now it leads to another darkness, the Congo river that is now the darkest corner of the world where the darkness rules the roost. The reason of this darkness is the absence of knowledge, civilization and light. The people living over there obeys the conventions and customs far removed from the rational mind and rational souls that now live in the light or civilized culture. However, when a civilized man enters that place, he is prone to fall prey to the same darkness. His heart and mind falls prey to it, and he follows the same course of action as the natives do. This the idea of darkness that is the conquest of the earth that “means taking it away from those who have a difference complexion” (8). Here they are the black Africans where Marlow’s experience about the darkness of the soul culminates.

Symbol of Ignorance

However, at the same time, Conrad has used darkness as a symbol of ignorance, and savagery at several places. Marlow states, “We penetrated deeper and deeper into the heart of darkness” (57). Kurtz could not resist to this, while Marlow followed a difference course that he first “took him for a sort of vision” not a complete ideal (26). Therefore, he saves himself from the savagery and in which Kurtz has fallen. Kurtz, therefore, falls prey to this darkness that is a symbol of savagery, but it is also where the land make them “feel savagery, the utter savagery” (7). That is why Kurtz he holds himself over there the supreme deity of that place. As the entire Europe has contributed his making, he himself admitted that perhaps the natives consider them savages as they approach them with the power of a “supernatural being [or] a deity” (82). They, then, exercise that power like a supernatural being too. However, Marlow “resist[s] the lure of the darkness” states Jo Stafford in his article “Pathways to Making Meaning: Inroads to Interpretation of The Nature of Evil in Heart of Darkness”, adding that is why Marlow returns as a changed man as he has seen the darkness of the white people in the dark corner of the world (Stafford).

Darkness in Heart of Darkness

Darkness in Heart of Darkness symbolizes absence of society, social norms and laws, because there is no administration, no social set up to puncture the false beliefs and no cops to cope with the violation of set rules and laws. The light of knowledge has not reached that part of the world Marlow describes. As Marlow leaves for Congo to meet Kurtz, the icon of colonialism, he comes across several incidents where no rules, no laws and no social customs are observed and “anything — anything can be done in this country” where there are no laws or no fear of cops (52). Ziaoxi Li and Caie Qu in their paper “Light and Dark Symbols in Heart of Darkness” states that “When Marlow first learns of Kurtz’s activities in the jungle, he attributes Kurtz’s moral downfall or madness to his lack of connectedness with civilization” as he is away from Europe (85). It is because Marlow and his successors are far away from the civilized Europe of rule-imposed society, and Marlow and other whites are considered “the new gang — the gang of virtue” (39). It is because they have considered it a virtue to spread the light of civilization and knowledge to this farthest corner of Europe, where the darkness holds supreme over human beings. However, despite this, human beings are used as tools, beasts of burdens and laborers to feed the economic wheel of Europe. Although the objective announced and demonstrated regarding this journey and expedition is to show the performance of the white in response of Kipling’s phrase “the white man’s burden” that is to teach these savages. However, he observes that as there are no laws, the white men have become equally savages and have started observing and following the same rituals such as Kurtz did. Therefore, this darkness becomes a cover for evil — the major motif of the novella that runs through it from the first sentence to the last one.

Motif of Darkness in Heart of Darkness

That is why Joseph Conrad has used darkness in Heart of Darkness as the title, the major symbol and the main motif in the novel. This darkness overwhelms a man, howsoever civilized he is, creeps into the inner recesses of mind where evil lurks. He finally succumbs to this and becomes a supernatural figure for the natives despite knowing that he is committing blunders and dancing with the devils. This transformation could happen consciously or unconsciously or due to the prevalent environment or absence of a “cop” or ignorance. In case of Kurtz, this is a willful transformation. But darkness with Conrad has become a symbol of savagery and barbarism through which Marlow comes out successfully and lives to tell the tale. That is why it is akin to his allegorical journey into his own dark mind, and then his backward journey toward humanity. However, he has also seen that his loved figure, Kurtz has willfully lived in that darkness and has exploited the locals to extract ivory. In other words, it means that he has willfully lived in the darkness — a move that has portrayed him as an authoritatively dark soul, who has finally uttered his famous words “the horror, the horror” despite writing the postscript of his report “Exterminate all brutes” (83,116). This is the culmination of the use of darkness as a motif, a theme and a symbol throughout the novel as well as in the title to show darkness in Heart of Darkness.

Works Cited

1. Achebe, Chinua. “An Image of Africa: Racism in Conrad’s ‘Heart of Darkness'” Massachusetts Review. 18. 1977. Rpt. in Heart of Darkness, An Authoritative Text, background and Sources Criticism. 1961. 3rd ed. Ed. Robert Kimbrough, London: W. W Norton and Co., 1988, pp.251-261.
2. Conrad, Joseph. Heart of Darkness.  Planet Ebooks. Online ebook. 2009.
3. Jordison, Sam. “Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad – a trip into inner space.” The Guardian. The Guardian. 29 July 2015. Web. 21 Sep. 2015.
4. Joseph, Marwan Hirapal. “Justification of the Title-Heart of Darkness.” The International Journal of Humanities and Social Studies. 2 (1). (2014). 160-164.
5. Li, Xiaoxi & Caie Qu. “Light and Dark Symbols in Heart of Darkness.” Asian Social Science. 4(5). May 2008. 85-87.
6. Stafford, Jo. “Pathways to Making Meaning: Inroads to Interpretation of The Nature of Evil in Heart of Darkness.” Yale National Initiative. Yale Initiative. n. d. Web. 21 Sep. 2015.
7. The Holy Quran. Trans. Marmaduke Pickthall. n. d. Web. 21 Sep. 2015.
8. The Holy Bible. Hendrickson Marketing LLC. Peabody MA. Print. 2006.

Relevant Questions about Darkness in Heart of Darkness

1. What does Heart of Darkness represent in the story, and how does it relate to the physical journey into the African Congo and the moral journey into the depths of human nature?
2. How does Conrad use darkness as a symbol in Heart of Darkness, and what does it reveal about the themes and characters in the story?
3. How does the novella Heart of Darkness use darkness to critique the imperialist project and shed light on the consequences of European expansion into Africa?