The End

Someone once told me the only activity proven to make people smarter is reading. I feel like if I could just understand Heart of Darkness a little better I could feel myself getting smarter as I read it. I am obviously no expert on literature but I feel it is the most well written book we have read so far this year and we have read some very well written books. I definitely started noticing black and white imagery more and more as I got towards the end of the book. A few examples really stood out to me when Marlow goes to visit the lady in the Kurtz's painting. "The tall marble fireplace had a cold and monumental whiteness. A grand pianio stood massively in a corner, with dark gleams..." (139). "She came forward, all in black, with a pale head" (139). "That great and saving illusion that shone with an unearthly glow in the darkness" (142). Even when all is dark around Marlow and this woman they are in the middle of a light because they knew Kurtz.

I really did not understand "The horror! The horror!" (130). Did Kurtz, in death, understand the true horror of the world? Or maybe of his actions?

Bald as Ivory

I am trying to figure out what Marlow thinks of Mr. Kurtz. He talks about Kurtz in different ways, usually making me think he does not respect Kurtz, but sometimes his commentary is not always consistent. His goal is to find find Kurtz, the man who is "grubbing for ivory" in the middle of the "wretched" jungle (77). At this moment, Marlow thinks of Kurtz as a man trying to find ivory by any means neccessary. Marlow's use of the word of "grubbing" gives a negative connotation. I picture a fat, greasy man grubbing at his food, scraping everything he can off his plate.

However, when Marlow starts to think that "Mr. Kurtz is dead...by this time," a "sense of extreme dissapointment" overcomes him for the sole reason that now he cannot have "a talk with Mr. Kurtz" (86). I think Marlow is so dissapointed because he wants to confront the man that seems to encompass everything that he thinks of as the "heart of darkness." Maybe that is why "of all [Kurtz's] gifts the one that [stands] out preeminently , that [carries] with it a sense of real presence, [is] his ability to talk" (86). I think ivory is a symbol of evil in Heart of Darkness. Ivory represents the white man's greed and evil in the novel. Marlow describes Kurtz as "an ivory ball" because of his bald head (87). Conrad turns Kurtz into the ultimate "white" man. His bald appearance actually reflects his personality: greedy and inhumane.

Evil

In Heart of Darkness, the characters seem to have an inner nature of evil. In the moments when they have nothing to lose, their true natures surface. I first noticed this when Marlow talks about the way people respond to hunger. Marlow says, "No fear can stand up to hunger, no patience can wait it out" (76). Marlow does not see how anyone can withstand the "devilry of lingering starvation" (76). Marlow is actually surprised that the black men on the boat have not turned to cannibalism in an effort to defeat their hunger. Heart of Darkness expresses the idea that black is good and white is bad, contrary to what just about every white man believes during the time Marlow's story takes palce. While Marlow believes any man would eat other humans rather than starve, the black men were able to excercise restraint in this situation, restraint that surprises Marlow. When Marlow threw the dead helmsman overboard it "scandalised" the starving black men, but he only presented a "first-rate temptation" when dead (94-95). The black men are starving, and they would happily eat a dead human, but they are not willing to kill someone to satisfy their hunger. Marlow, who is white, expects them to revolt and eat the rest of the white men.

The evil of human nature also shows itself in the battle between the men on the steamboat and the indigenous people. When the "savages" see the steamboat, they shoot at it. They do not try to make contact with the men on the steamboat and see if they are friendly. They immediately shoot arrows and throw spears. The men on the steamboat of course shoot at the savages in response to the hostile actions. When Marlow asks the harlequin why "they attacked," the harlequin replies "shamefacedly, 'They don't want him to go'" (100). I think the reason they attacked is because of the way Kurtz treats them. He treats them terribly because the nature of man is evil.

Landscapes

This book is pretty depressing. I was having a lot of trouble reading it at first but I am starting to get used to Conrad's style. Conrad's description of the landscape so far throughout the novel strikes me. It chills me sometimes. When Marlow begins his journey he watches the coast slip by before him, "smiling, frowning, inviting, grand, mean, insipid, or savage, and always mute with an air of whispering, Come and find out" (20). The coast has so many different characteristics, yet it is "almost featureless," with an "aspect of monotonous grimness" (20). Conrad personifies the coast by using a series of varied actions and then juxtaposes them by calling the coast "monotonous." This gives the landscape a mysterious feeling that accompanies Marlow not knowing what to expect on his journey.

Marlow steps into the "gloomy circle of some Inferno" that he soon discovers to be "the grove of death" (27, 32). The "uninterrupted, uniform" noise of the rapids that fills the "mournful stillness of the grove" fits the scene. The people have come to die under this cluster of trees. The steady yet gloomy noise of rapids reflects the fact that these people are waiting for their inevitable deaths.

Marlow discovers that "there was no joy in the brilliance of sunshine" (60). Typically the thought of bright sunlight evokes happiness in a reader, but the excruciating brightness of the sun and the already miserable environment in which Marlow has to bear its rays make it painful. Conrad's contrast with the typical idea of sunlight grabbed my attention. Even sunlight causes sadness in the heart of darkness.

The Moment of Truth

I think Lyubov's critical discovery is when she finds out that Lopakhinhas bought thecherry orchard. At this moment she realizes how important it is to her and that it is finally gone. Lyubov says, "Oh, my dear, sweet, lovely orchard!...My life, my youth, my happiness, good-bye" (379). Lyubov has lived with the cherry orchard her whole life, so it holds all of her childhood memories, everything she has ever known. Anya has no problem leaving the orchard in order to start a new life because she is not as close to the orchard as Lyubov and Gayev.

The servants are also very close to the cherry orchard, because they have lived there for a long time. I think Firs shows the ultimate example of someone not being able to live without the ochard. He was always talking about the old days of the orchard, and then when it came time to begin the new days away from the orchard he was not able to. Firs literally could not live without the orchard, so he died before he was able to leave it.

I feel like the differences between characters in The Cherry Orchard were really not that great. Each had different personalities but in the end I placed each into two categories. Those that could accept the loss of the cherry orchard, and those that could not. In the first category, the characters will probably be able to have a good life while the others might never be able to move on. On the other hand, I think it might show a good personality trait in those that cannot move on because it shows a level of emotional deepness that the others do not possess.

Non-Stop Laughter

I would not say The Cherry Orchard is one of the funniest plays or books I have ever read, but comedy is present in a weird kind of way. Some of the characters are straight up crazy, like Firs and Gayev. In the middle of his sentence Gayev will "...yellow into the side pocket..." (377). I do not know why he does this but maybe it is to cope with his misery due to the loss of the cherry orchard or maybe it is because he is a raving lunatic. Either way it is kind of funny. Another part of the play that I guess could be funny is the very end. After a sad goodbye that everyone says to their former home, we find out that Firs was never actually in the hospital, he was in the locked room. Ha. It is just so ridiculous that the people would lock someone in a room that it is a little funny, but since Firs happens to be dying the humor is lacking. Firs himself is pretty comical. The whole play he has rambled on about things not even remotely related to what anyone else is talking about. Then, he changes completely and shows extreme maturity by being able to accept his death, realizing "there's no strength left in [him]", nothing's left, nothing" (380). And then he reverts to the crazy old Firs that we have come to know and love when he says, "Ach, you...addlepate" (380)!

Yummm, Milk Soup

Some of Charlotta's lines at the beginning of Act II really struck me. Charlotta thinks, "Where I come from and who I am - I do not know...Who my parents were...I don't know" (337). The reason these lines stood out to me is that since Charlotta is a governess, I would expect her heritage to be very important to her given the time. I would expect most noble people to be proud of their family history and maybe even flaunt it sometimes, but Charlotta cannot even remember who her parents are.

Chekhov's language makes the play feel "real" to me, but sometimes I think he uses phrases that someone would probably only think and not actually say out loud. Yasha points out how it is "very pleasant smoking a cigar in the open air" after Dunyasha just told him she is "passionately in love with [him]" (339). By the way, it is very pleasant eating these potato chips while I write this blog entry. There are some things that we can keep to ourselves. When the characters say out loud what I would expect to be just a thought (and not a comment), it makes me feel like the characters are kind of in a daze, like they are not really tuned into reality. Maybe Yasha has something besides tobacco in that cigar.

The servants have to eat "milk soup" because of Lyubov's poor financial situation, but she is still willing to "squander money foolishly" (340). Lyubov is aware of her lack of money and even expresses guilt for the misery of her servants, so why does she still spend money so carelessly?