English homework

Read the novel Heart of Darkness by Jeseph Conrad

Answer each question with a 300 word

1. This novella has incited much debate about whether it celebrates colonialism or is critical of colonialism. Which is it, or is it a bit of both? Make sure to support your answer with specific examples.

2. Much is made in the novella of civilized and uncivilized people and actions. Who is depicted as civilized in the novella and who is depicted as savages? Is there a difference between how Marlow, as a narrator, distinguishes between who is civilized and who is savage and who Joseph Conrad, as an author, depicts as civilized and savage?

3. At the Central Station Marlow notices “a small sketch of oils, on a panel, representing a woman, draped and blindfolded, carrying a lighted torch” (Conrad 83). How does the painting represent the view Marlow expresses about women? Make sure to support the view with at least one piece of evidence from somewhere else in the novella.

4. What is "the heart of darkness" in the novella? How might the "heart of darkness" be interpreted as a symbol - what does it symbolize? (Note: This is literary interpretation so there isn't one right answer - just make sure you are using strong evidence from the text for your answer!)

5. The helmsman is a minor character who helps the reader see some of the subtlety in Marlow’s character. Marlow often starts with a description that seems objective although often negative, but then comes to find a common human bond with the person he is describing. How does this work with the helmsman? How is he first described and how does the reader first realize Marlow’s feeling of compassion for him?