Introduction to Comparison of Heart of Darkness and The Metamorphosis
Every literary piece has a multiplicity of meanings, a quality that makes it popular and deeper such as the case of Heart of Darkness and The Metamorphosis. The readers and the audiences extract their own meanings, each one thinking he is right. Joseph Conrad and Franz Kafka both have lived apart. There is nothing common between them. Even their works do not have any common theme. However, what they have highlighted in their respective novellas is that there are always deeper meanings behind the surface, which are not only different but also sometimes highly contradictory. These are hidden behind literary devices such as metaphors, symbols, allegories, and even the characters themselves. Both the stories, Heart of Darkness and The Metamorphosis show the deeper and seamy side of everyday life, and actions and intentions wrapped up in different motives. Although there are thousands of perceptions and theories written to explain the ideas lying in both novellas, the major themes deal with the modern issues of imperialism and the nothingness or absurdity of life. Whereas Heart of Darkness highlights how human beings hide their real motives behind their carnal desires and vices, The Metamorphosis shows how human beings adjust or not adjust to the circumstances without going deeper to find out the real reasons to address the issue.
Desire in Heart of Darkness
As far as the question of real motives hidden behind carnal desires and other moral vices in Heart of Darkness is concerned, Marlow gives hints to these desires and vices through his description using different specific words such as savages, savagery, darkness, and mystery. At one place, Marlow, the mouthpiece of Conrad says, “Land in a swamp, march through the woods, and some inland post feel the savagery…all that mysterious life of wilderness” (Conrad 7). The important point here is that Conrad is presenting a simple journey of Marlow to Congo, exposing the real and destructive motives of the white man though the surface motive is that the entire Europe has gone there to teach civilization to those savage Congolese natives. This is the imperialism hidden under the garb of spreading the blessings of civilization. It is the extraction of minerals and other resources which in the case of Heart of Darkness is ivory. Several trade companies are involved in this racket. They are committed atrocities against the locals, showing in Europe how they were doing a noble deed of teaching the basics of civilized ways to the local brutes and savages. In this connection the exploitation is running rampant in Congo which is not the same in both, Heart of Darkness and The Metamorphosis.
Personal Experience in Heart of Darkness
Conrad has beautifully presented the personal experience of Marlow, his fascination of Kurtz, the role of Kurtz in the company’s profit, and Kurtz’s excellent exploitation of the natives for his greed. Marlow’s statement, “The conquest of the earth, which mostly means taking it away from those who have a different complexion or slightly flatter noses than ourselves, is not a pretty thing when you look into it too much. What redeems it is the idea only” is a reflection of how the idea of civilizing the brutes has turned into plundering their natural resources and killing them en masse (8). The entire enterprise revolves around ivory and getting to the other resources important for the industrial progress of Europe. This was the imperialism of the worst order, but it was painted as if it was the burden of the white people to educate those black savages. Therefore, the deeper meanings of Heart of Darkness are lying in the spiritual journey of Marlow that he not only experiences the limits of human spirit and its working but also of twists and turns of motives and their propagation.
Transformation in Metamorphosis
In the same way, Franz Kafka, in his phenomenal novella, The Metamorphosis, has presented his character Gregor Samsa in a unique situation where he is transformed into a despicable insect. The Metamorphosis is an attempt to see human beings how they adjust to the new situation without going deeper into the causes behind the problem and trying to fix it. For example, when Samsa is transformed into a giant insect, neither does he, nor does his father or mother or even sister try to evaluate the major reason behind his physical transformation. Even Gregor himself does not know or try to find out why he is transforming at night in the first place. All of them seem to be adjusting themselves to the new routine of finding ways to earn after the absence of the working hand. For example, instead of visiting a physician or psychic, Gregor only says, “How about if I sleep a little bit longer and forget all this nonsense” a usual way of putting things into oblivious (Kafka 8). However, this does not work, and he is permanently transformed. Also, when nobody tries to find out the reason, there is no solution. However, in this case, both Heart of Darkness and The Metamorphosis are different.
Characters and Transformation of Gregor in The Metamorphosis
This is what happens in The Metamorphosis, for nobody is trying to find out the major reason behind the transformation of Gregor Samsa.That is why nobody has paid attention to what will ensue. They only face the situation on a daily basis and try to address the incoming issues. It is because when a person faces an issue, and finds out its reason, he finds it easy to go for the solution. However, in the case of Samsa, the entire family faces the dilemma of his sudden transformation, but there is no try from any character except a little sympathy from his sister. Even that finishes with the passage of time. Therefore, this story goes deeper to find out the absurdity of human life and the absurd response of human beings to some natural happenings. It is not the same in Heart of Darkness and The Metamorphosis if both are compared.
Conclusion of Deepr Meanings in Heart of Darkness and The Metamorphosis
In short, each of these novellas has very deeper meanings. Heart of Darkness argues the sordid side of imperialism, human greed and features of commercialism wrapped in good intentions, the spread of religion and civilization. Marlow finds it out during his spiritual journey to the Congo, that the savageness is being committed and the plunder is being wreaked in the name of the spread of civilization. This shows the seamy side of imperialism. In the same way, the story of Gregor Samsa in Metamorphosis is a fictional narrative of a person having transformed physically into a giant insect. But it tells how absurd human life is and how irrational attitude of a person becomes when facing such situations. It clearly concludes that a person can change is situation consciously, if he wants. However, the problem is that nobody thinks on these lines as is shown by Kafka in Metamorphosis. Therefore, it is clear that both the novellas, Heart of Darkness and Metamorphosis, have deeper meanings than the just surface stories of Marlow or Gregor Samsa. These deeper meanings have been displayed through the use of different literary devices couched into the very language of the stories.
Works Cited
- Conrad, Joseph. Heart of Darkness. Feedbacks. Online Books. n. d. Web. 07 May 2023.
- Kafka, Franz. The Metamorphosis. History World. n. d. Web. 07 May 2023.
Relevant Questions about Heart of Darkness and The Metamorphosis
- How do the themes of darkness and transformation in Heart of Darkness and The Metamorphosis symbolize deeper societal and psychological issues in the respective narratives?
- In Heart of Darkness and The Metamorphosis, how do the central characters, Kurtz and Gregor Samsa, grapple with their internal transformations and the moral darkness within themselves? What do these struggles reveal about the human condition?
- What parallels can be drawn between the exploration of the Congo in Heart of Darkness and Gregor’s isolation within his own home in The Metamorphosis? How do these settings symbolize deeper existential and colonial themes in the two works?