Heart of Darkness: The Final Words In Conrad’s Heart of Darkness, Kurtz’s final words as he lay dying are, “The horror! The horror!” (pp. 1415) Some interpret these final words as the horror of one culture decimating another in the name of religion, civilization or greed. Others may believe that Kurtz had at that moment fully recognized what he had become, “the expression of sombre pride, of ruthless power, or craven terror…” (pp. 1415) But later in Heart of Darkness I believe that Conrad tells us what the real horror is-life. “Droll thing life is-that mysterious arrangement of merciless logic for a futile purpose. The most you can hope from it is some knowledge of yourself-that comes too late-a crop of unextinguishable regrets…” (pp. 1415) To the very end Kurtz was proud and unrepentant. It was not the recognition of just his wrongs, but the recognition of life’s wrongs, terrors, and disappointments that caused Kurtz to cry out. The recognition of life’s horrors is what Marlow terms “a moral victory”. (pp. 1416) In the course of Marlow’s travels, he saw countless people too dull or too blinded by their greed or their “cause” to take the time to stop and think about who they were becoming; about what they were doing to others; about why they were doing the things they were doing. Kurtz’s identification of “the horror!” is the “moral victory”. Yes, he had plundered and killed and destroyed, but in the end he acknowledged the cruelty of life and had judged it-more than can be said about the countless others that die daily in the “heart of darkness”. The “heart of darkness” is not Africa. It is not England or Belgium or the United States. The “heart of darkness” is the unexamined heart of man. Through the narration of Marlow, Conrad challenges his readers to examine themselves to gain the “moral victory” before it is too late.
Free Glass Menagerie Essays: Symbolism of the Unicorn Glass Menagerie essays
Symbolism of the Unicorn in The Glass Menagerie The symbolism of the unicorn has two very different meanings. One of the symbols is happiness and love. The other one symbols sadness and hatred. You first come into contact with the unicorn when Jim sees it. This is where the first symbolism comes into place. Once Laura starts to talk about it you can sense a feeling of happiness once they really get into their conversation. They start to talk about there past, which included Blue Roses. Once Jim called Emily Meisenbach a kraut-head, Laura knew there could definitely be something between them two. Jim had been telling Laura to have more confidence and to dont think of yourself to be crippled because you arent. You are beautiful. Sparks are really flying until Jim hears some music from the Paradise Dance Hall across the ally and asks Laura to dance. This is where the second symbolism comes into place. As they start to dance Jim hits a table where the unicorn was put. The horn of the unicorn broke off. Jim felt so bad that he told her he should be going. Laura asked when will you come back. Thats when it all fell apart. Jim told Laura that he was going steady with another girl called Betty. Laura was shocked, but didnt want to say anything. Anything that was between Jim and Laura was gone. Nothing was left. Jim left after telling Amanda and thats how the play ended. As you can see, the unicorn played an important role in the play even though it didnt seem as though it would. This is a very well put deception by Tennessee Williams showing his greatness in the art of play writing.
