Heart of Darkness : Symbolism

Heart of Darkness :  Symbolism
Symbolism means a deeper meaning in what has been written than meets the eye. The complexity with profundity of most of the modern writers leads them to fill their wirings with greater significance than we find on the surface. “Heart of Darkness” is replete with symbols. Every person and everything means more than what we find on a superficial view. The novel is based on the facts of history as well as on the facts of Conrad's own life; but Conrad has tried to convey the evasive and elusive truth underlying both the historical facts and his personal experiences.
Almost every character in “Heart of Darkness” has some symbolic significance. The central figure Mr. Kurtz, firstly, symbolizes the greed and the commercial and corrupt mentality of the western countries. Secondly, he symbolizes the white man’s love for power. Power corrupts man and absolute power corrupts absolutely.
Thirdly, the change, which comes over him during his stay among the savages, symbolizes the influence of barbarism upon a civilized man. It also symbolizes the irresistible influences of barbarism upon a civilized man cut off from civilized society. Where there is no check on a man, the worst of him may come out.
Finally, Mr. Kurtz symbolizes the repentant sinner. Mr. Kurtz's desire to collect the maximum quantity of ivory conveys the exploitation of the backward people of Congo by the white colonizers.
Marlow too has a symbolic role in the novel. Firstly, he symbolizes the spirit of adventure and a love of knowledge. Secondly, he symbolizes the thoughtful observer of human life and the thoughtful student of human nature. He also symbolizes a philosophical approach to human life by constantly meditating upon what he observes. To some extent, he too symbolizes the influence of savagery because his own primitive instincts have been awakened when he heard a lot about Mr. Kurtz’s way of life and then by his close personal contact with that man.
The subsidiary characters too possess symbolic significance. There is the manager of the Central Station. It is wrong to say that he symbolizes inefficiency. If he had been inefficient, he would not have been able to continue at his post. He symbolizes spiritual emptiness. If he is unable to inspire respect or love or fear, it is because he is spiritually barren and has no originality and no solid ideas in his head, though he can do his manager’s work like a machine.
The brick-maker acts as a “papier-mâché Mephistopheles” and symbolizes cunning and trickery. There are numerous white agents or traders loitering around the Central Station because they are idle. These men are described by Marlow as “faithful pilgrims”.
The cannibal crew on Marlow’s steamer really symbolizes efficiency because they do not shirk work. More than efficiency, they symbolize self-restraint because they do not try to satisfy their hunger by killing and eating white men’s flesh.
The knitting women in the beginning of the story symbolize the Fates who determine the future of every human being on the earth. These knitting women symbolize the danger which lies in store for Marlow. In the outer room the two women knitted black wool, feverishly.
The majestic-looking native woman, who appears on the riverbank when Mr. Kurtz is being taken away, symbolizes a woman’s strong devotion and steadfast loyalty to her lord and lover.
Mr. Kurtz's fiancée also symbolizes loyalty but her loyalty is that of an innocent, inexperienced woman who is deluded by false appearances and does not know the ways of the world. The fiancée symbolizes the hold of an illusion upon a woman’s mind.
The Russian symbolizes inquisitiveness or the desire to learn. But he also symbolizes loyalty and fidelity, the two virtue which Marlow also symbolizes.
Many sights seen by Marlow also possess symbolic significance. The French warship firing aimlessly into the forest, and the rock being blasted with gun powder but without any purpose symbolize the sense of futility and an aimless endeavour. Ivory symbolizes the white men’s greed.
Then there is the sight of one over-worked and starved native labourers dying slowly of disease and starvation. The condition of these men symbolizes the sufferings of the natives who do not receive any sympathy from the white colonizers. They were dying slowly … They were not enemies, they were not criminals, they were nothing earthly now, - nothing but black shadows of disease and starvation.
The chain-gang with half a dozen native men chained to one another, and each wearing an iron collar round his neck, symbolize the white man’s sway over the ignorant backward people without any concern for their welfare. “… the joints of their limbs were like knots in a rope; each had an iron collar on his neck, and all were connected together with a chain whose bights swung between them, rhythmically clinking.
The description of the natural scenery also serves a symbolic purpose. The scenery is wild and awe-inspiring. The silence of the woods and the abundance of trees symbolizes mystery and horror. Marlow has given us many pictures of the thick, dense, matted forests. And the river was there – fascinating – deadly – like a snake.
The city of Brussels symbolizes the inner corruption and degeneracy of white man’s civilization. Brussels seems to Marlow to be the white sepulchre – something outwardly pleasant and holy but inwardly rotten.
Finally, Marlow’s whole journey into the Congo has symbolic significance besides its literal meaning. It may be regarded as a journey into subconscious mind of Marlow in particular and of mankind in general. “Heart of Darkness” is the story of a journey involving spiritual change in the voyager. Symbolically, Marlow’s journey into the Congo is an arduous physical activity or adventure. The literal meaning of ‘heart of darkness’ is the inmost region of Congo; but symbolically this phrase means the inmost region of man’s mind or soul. As Marlow stands for Conrad, the novel becomes a kind of Conrad’s exploration of his own mind during his visit to the Congo in 1890.In the business of exploration, both exploiter and exploited are corrupted.
In short, the imperial exploitation of the Congo has effectively been conveyed through a symbolic description of numerous scenes and situations.
The papier-mâché Mephistopheles is the name Marlow gives the brick-maker of the Central Station. He, at first glance, appears to be a kind soul, but it doesn’t take long for Marlow to discover that he isn’t: he is a “devil”, more than an enabler or the grim-reaper, but less than Lucifer (who, I anticipate, is Mr. Kurtz himself). This is therefore the second level of the “Inferno”. He is in papier-mâché because he is not real, though he could very well be: he is not really Mephistopheles, merely because he wants to be wants to be this type of character.

They Flee From Me, by Sir Thomas Wyatt

They Flee From Me, by Sir Thomas Wyatt

Sir Thomas Wyatt (1503-42) lived nearly all his life during the reign of King Henry VIII and died more than twenty years before William Shakespeare was born. This means that modern readers of his poems must expect to encounter difficulties in understanding them, especially when apparently familiar words have changed their meanings over the centuries. "They Flee From Me" is a case in point.

The poem

They flee from me that sometime did me seek
With naked foot, stalking in my chamber.
I have seen them gentle, tame, and meek,
That now are wild and do not remember
That sometime they put themself in danger
To take bread at my hand; and now they range,
Busily seeking with a continual change.

Thanked be fortune it hath been otherwise
Twenty times better; but once in special,
In thin array after a pleasant guise,
When her loose gown from her shoulders did fall,
And she me caught in her arms long and small;
Therewithall sweetly did me kiss
And softly said, “Dear heart, how like you this?”

It was no dream: I lay broad waking.
But all is turned thorough my gentleness
Into a strange fashion of forsaking;
And I have leave to go of her goodness,
And she also, to use newfangleness.
But since that I so kindly am served
I would fain know what she hath deserved.

Discussion

The poem comprises three seven-line stanzas with an ABABBCC rhyme scheme, so that each stanza resembles a half-sonnet (like a Spenserian sonnet with lines 6 to 12 removed). Wyatt's poetry has been criticised for the clumsiness of its metre, and editors have been tempted to "tidy" his poems so that they read more smoothly. However, the stresses that are forced on to the words are probably deliberate, and there is an almost "modern" feel to the diction of this poem that seems entirely right for its meaning. 

The opening stanza presents a puzzle with the very first word. Who, or what does Wyatt mean to indicate by "they" in "They flee from me, that sometime did me seek"? The reference might be to animals that "sometime … put themselves in danger / to take bread at my hand", but that does not seem to accord with the second line's description of "With naked foot, stalking in my chamber". The use of "naked" suggests a human foot, and "stalking" implies stealthy movement by a person. However, in 16th century usage, "naked" could simply mean "manifest" or "evident", and "stalking" can just mean "walking", which could apply to an animal as well as a person.

The ambiguity allows the reader to see both animal and person (presumably female) in this image, and to imagine that the poet is switching between memories of having both animals and women "eating out of his hand". Whether or not this is particularly complimentary to women is another issue. However, the fact remains that "they" "now are wild" and "range busily" as they pursue "continual change".

There is also a tone of self-pity in the first stanza. The poet bemoans the fact that "they" have left him and clearly wishes that they had not done so, but at the same time he appreciates that "they put themselves at danger". He therefore sees himself as possessing a power over animals or women that he could have exercised had he chosen to do so. He is not just the passive victim of chance happenings but a potent force.

This theme of being a potential predator in the game of love is stressed in the second stanza when the poet boasts that "it hath been otherwise / Twenty times better". He then relates a particular encounter with an unnamed "she" who "let her loose gown from her shoulders … fall". This takes us back to the "naked foot … in my chamber" and removes all ambiguity as to the human nature of the being who has visited him.

However, the third stanza confirms the prediction of the first, which is that the special encounter was a short liaison and the couple are no longer together. The parting has been by mutual consent. Despite the implied threat of sexual power gathered from the first stanza, the poet has lost the woman "through my own gentleness" and, likewise, "I have leave to go of her goodness". This is indeed "a strange fashion of forsaking" because it is done with little regret as each partner moves on to someone else. At the end, the poet merely wonders ("I would fain know") how she is doing now and whether her next conquest is "what she hath deserved".

This poem must have been deeply shocking to Victorian readers, who would have condemned the immorality of easy sexual encounters and "one night stands" that is portrayed in this poem. It was mentioned above that the diction is surprisingly modern, but so is the message and tone of the poem. This is the world of 1960s "free love" and 21st century "swinging", in which couples come together and break apart without any desire for permanence on either side, but merely a seeking after sexual pleasure and novelty, or "newfangleness" to use Wyatt's term.

However, is there just a hint here that Wyatt wishes it might be otherwise? He is happy to play this particular game of partner switching, but why write this poem at all if he had not had the feeling that this one girl was perhaps the special one? He uses the term "in special", which suggests that this might be the case. He has stuck to the rules, when he might not have done, but, just this once, he could have acted differently. "They Flee From Me" is the result of this lingering regret.

Just as a footnote, it is worth remembering that Sir Thomas Wyatt was a courtier to King Henry VIII and was involved in the negotiations with Pope Clement VII that sought the annulment of Henry's marriage to Queen Catherine after the king had become enamoured of Anne Boleyn. Wyatt therefore knew all about the casual sexual relationships that were rife in this environment. His own marriage foundered on the grounds of adultery, and Queen Anne's downfall was to come about after tales of bed-hopping (real or invented) flew around the Court. "They Flee From Me" is therefore very much a poem that belongs to this era.

AN APOLOGY FOR POETRY BY PHILIP SIDNEY

AN APOLOGY FOR POETRY PART 2

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