Pride Goes Before a Fall

"Heart of Darkness" by Joseph Conrad

“Heart of Darkness” by Joseph Conrad

Instilled in each person, resides a quality that gives purpose to life and motivation to actions. Pride is the very reason people continue to live their lives each day and attempt to overcome obstacles. Without pride, people are merely hollowed shells with no heart, no mind, and no soul. Without these essentials, mankind loses its passion and vigor in life and becomes empty and useless, falling from the great peak it has risen to. Joseph Conrad, a believer that “pride goes before fall” clearly demonstrates this human weakness through his novel, Heart of Darkness. From first hearing of the inspiring character, Mr. Kurtz, near the beginning of the novel, Conrad’s readers are instantly charmed into discovering more about the powerful man, but as the story continues, Mr. Kurtz becomes tarnished and his pride is stripped from him, leaving him to fall from his pedestal, eventually leading to his death. By witnessing Mr. Kurtz’s failure, the reader witnesses the relationship between pride and success.

Upon arriving in Africa, Marlow, an adventurous seaman searching for mystery, hears of Mr. Kurtz, a powerful man that rakes in more ivory from the wild continent than any other. This man is proclaimed to be the Company’s most valuable employee and Marlow is instantly amazed by his accomplishments. After hearing more of Mr. Kurtz from a variety of people, Marlow begins to envision a strong, assertive man able to control and conquer his surroundings, the people around him, and most importantly, ivory and money. Setting off in a steamer on a wild African river, Marlow and a meager crew begin to search for the African idol.

Days pass and Natives attack leaving the crew wounded. Mr. Kurtz is not found, yet a Russian man who knew the treasured employee appears. Telling Marlow of the mystery man’s past life, Marlow discovers that Mr. Kurtz has been weakening from sickness and is no longer a valuable asset to the Company. Now a useless loose end, the Company wishes to be rid of the man. Marlow joins Mr. Kurtz, turning his back on the Company and becoming just as useless and inconvenient as his idol. Both ruined, Marlow and Mr. Kurtz grow closer from a lack of pride.

Through Mr. Kurtz’s final moments, he struggles with himself and who he has become. Horrified with how his life has turned out, he loses his pride and begins to fall apart internally. Weakness overcomes him and sickness cripples him. Marlow watches as the man he once imagined conquering Africa and controlling its people now lay before him, gasping for help. Once Mr. Kurtz had lost himself, once he had given up his hope and decided to cease his efforts, he had fallen. Sick, weakened, powerless, heartless, and with nothing to be proud of, Mr. Kurtz met the end of his life, the fallen fall.

Pride is an essential necessity that fuels the lives of many, granting them hope, self-esteem, and achievement. Without a purpose in life, one cannot discover his self or find success. While Mr. Kurtz utilized his abilities to overcome his conflicts, he obtained power and used it to conquer Africa, increase the ivory trade, and add to his profits. Once sickness began to take hold of him and he allowed the weakness to overcome him, pride was lost along with everything he had worked for. In Joseph Conrad’s novel, Mr. Kurtz finds himself lost in the heart of darkness with nothing left but failure. Without pride, there is no pedestal for one to stand upon, no ladder to climb, and no success to be found.

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Gloom, Brooding Thames

Book Cover

Flowing continuously with Marlow’s life and constantly reminding him of the great river deep in the heart of Africa, the Thames River plays an important role in Joseph Conrad’s novel, Heart of Darkness. Opening the story along its calm tide, it presents Marlow with the perfect situation to begin his reminiscence, and ending the book, it ties the two tales together, exposing the theme and adding literary value.

Throughout his novel, Joseph Conrad continues to use a pair of adjectives that he originally uses to describe the Thames setting before Marlow begins describing his flashbacks. Constantly describing Africa and its riverbanks as “gloom” and “brooding,” Conrad relates the opening setting with the mysterious and unexplored depths of the African jungle, allowing the reader to successfully comprehend one of the many themes of his writing. No matter where Marlow finds himself in life, he will always be a seaman, a man who travels the world and follows the waters. “Nothing is easier for a man who has, as the phrase goes, “followed the sea” with reverence and affection, than to evoke the great spirit of the past upon the lower reaches of the Thames.” (Page 3) Whether he’s venturing through the wild of Africa, or through the fog of England, Marlow finds himself on the tides, and the tides never let him forget who he is and who he once was.

“The sun sank low, and from glowing white changed to a dull red without rays and without heat, as if about to go out suddenly, stricken to death by the touch of that gloom brooding.” (Page 3) Conrad’s novel opens on a pessimistic and somber tone, foreshadowing the unfortunate events to come. The Thames River is described both as an old, profound, and tranquil waterway, and as a motionless and mournful setting, creating a sort of paradox that prepares the reader for the rest of Conrad’s book. This opening setting not only paves a smooth introduction into Marlow’s story of the past, but also brings the stories together, ending the tale, and completing the novel.

Almost the entire setting of Joseph Conrad’s novel, Heart of Darkness, takes place on the tides. Relating the wild, primitive actions of Africa’s Natives with the isolation and greed of European civilization encroaching upon their lands, taking their ivory, Conrad uses the Thames River to aware the reader of the connection. While man desperately tries to overcome his weaknesses and escape from the madness of the world, he always falls back into places. The river only leads in one direction, and man will always reach the end one way or another. Although Marlow was able to escape the gloom, brooding of the African river, he has found himself traveling the gloom, brooding of the Thames River, forever venturing the tides, forever battling his past, and forever discovering himself.

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Dictating Civilization

"Heart of Darkness" by Joseph Conrad

“Heart of Darkness” by Joseph Conrad

With each new step, society marches forward, progressing, imposing, and overcoming. Marching through the heart of Africa, European society encroached upon the Natives and changed the continent for marketing and cultural purposes. From the pages of his novel, Heart of Darkness, Joseph Conrad expresses his own personal views on the march of civilization, carefully selecting details and meticulously constructing his diction to clearly illustrate his thoughts.

Repetition, repetition, repetition. A march involves placing one foot after the other in a continuous motion, repeating, and repeating. Conrad clearly demonstrates this action through his sentence structure and word choices. Phrases are repeated and thoughts are restated, reminding the reader of the constant presence and never-ending pressure the Europeans enforced on the Natives of Africa. Over and over they came, enslaved, and stole the people and riches from the land. Africa was changing, “death skulking in the air, in the water, in the bush.”

This change in the unexplored world had become a common event and an ancient story heard time and time again. To capture this, Conrad continues to write his novel in first person, Marlow telling the story as if he was sitting beside the reader, his mind lost in memories. Seaman dialect is thrown in to give character, personality, and charm, and to remind the reader of the reality. “What d’ye call ‘em?” Marlow asked, involving his listeners with his storytelling, keeping the reader interested and aware.

Insuring that the readers understand how the Europeans invaded, and how civilization spread throughout Africa, Conrad installed many similes and metaphors throughout his book. “It is like a running blaze on a plain, like a flash of lightning in the clouds,” the way the Europeans came. With this imagery in his head and an understandable comparison to relate to, the reader is well informed and not left confused. Complex ideas are made more simple, and foreign scenes become familiar.

By manipulating his words, his sentence structures, and his meanings, Joseph Conrad was able to convey his own thoughts and views across his pages and into the minds of others. Through his skilled hand, words flowed, creating images of encroaching cultures and opinions on the situation. Through his novel, Heart of Darkness, Joseph Conrad revealed the march of the Europeans and the progression and extinction of civilizations.

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Sailing to a New Future

Stock© Maximilian Weisbecker, Some Rights Reserved, Unsplash

Resting along the western shoreline of Europe, sit Spain and Portugal, juxtaposing against the enormous blue of the Atlantic Ocean. Prior to 1521, the massive body of water was a mystery, a hope, and an opportunity to explore and expand. At first, the countries were unsure of what they would discover once venturing into the unknown. Wishing for trade, riches, and new lands, they funded explorers to set sail and follow the ocean currents. Fortunately, Spain and Portugal were among the first countries to benefit from overseas exploration.

Beginning exploration in 1418, Portuguese began the sailing trend. After Christopher Columbus made his first voyage in 1492, Portugal was pleased to find an entire continent hiding across the waves. Soon, other countries were interested in sharing in the wealth of the “New World.”

Upon discovering North America, Columbus began to create new trades with the Natives. “Their Highnesses may see that I shall give them all the gold they enquire, if they will give me a little assistance; spices also, and cotton,…and mastic…I think also I have found rhubarb and cinnamon, and I shall find a thousand other valuable things,” Columbus wrote, recalling the trades he had transacted and the valuable resources he had brought back to Europe. Soon the Columbian Exchange was created and goods were constantly sailing the Atlantic Ocean between Europe and the Americas.

Unfortunately, the Columbian Exchange did not only spread valuable resources and goods, but also unpleasant nuisances. Upon viewing Aztec drawings, one can view the diseases, plagues, and illnesses that struck the Indians, coming from the foreign countries across the sea. Aztecs were covered with spots from diseases such as small pox, as they were sick to their stomachs. Many became ill, and some did not survive the epidemic.

With new equipment such as astrolabes that determined the latitude of ships, and rudders that were used to steer through the ocean, explorers were able to journey all over the world. In 1497, Vasco da Gama made his first voyage to India, opening the portal between the Western World and the Eastern World. New knowledge was shared, along with trade, resources, and inventions. In 1519, Magellan Elcano sailed around the entire world, proving the Earth’s roundness and revealing unexplored waterways. After Spain and Portugal began overseas expeditions, the world began to grow more connected.

Mankind is constantly changing and striving to progress and with the vast unknown sprawled before Spain and Portugal, overseas expeditions were born. Upon finding new land, Europe began to expand and benefit from new trades, resources, and goods. Even the Natives of the Americas were affected, if not always in a fortunate manner. Prior to 1521, Portuguese and Spanish sailors left a lasting impact on England, the Americas, Asia, and the entire world.

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Unveiling Poverty

“Slumdog Millionaire”

All throughout history and all over the world, poverty plagues the world. People continually seek solution to this, including Jonathan Swift in his writing, A Modest Proposal: For Preventing the Children of Poor People in Ireland from Being a Burden to their Parents or Country, and for making them Beneficial to the Public. While Swift writes about poverty in Ireland, it is not the only country suffering. India is another country dealing with a poor economy and the movie Slumdog Millionaire shows this through the flashbacks of a homeless child named Jamal. Relating Jamal’s life events to the ideas brought up by Jonathan Swift help unveil the dark truths of poverty and stir emotions to find a solution.

Desperate to end his impoverished lifestyle, Jamal Malik became a contestant on Who Wants to be a Millionaire?. After each question, life experiences return to him and help him find the right answer. The movie opens on a ghetto part of India filled with crowded streets and beggars around every corner. “It is a melancholy object to those who walk through this great town or travel in the country, when they see the streets, the roads, and cabin doors, crowded with beggars of the female sex, followed by three, four, or six children, all in rages,” writes Swift, seemingly describing Jamal’s flashback. After observing the poor environment, Jamal grew up in, the first question is introduced.

When the famous Indian movie star, Amitalo came to town, the streets flushed to his location as if he was a magnet attracting metal. It was through this craze that Jamal remembered having to jump into human feces because of the city’s poor sanitation to meet his idol. From this memory, Jamal was able to answer the question.

Because Jamal had not received a proper education, he was forced to use a lifeline when asked to recall a famous Indian saying. Not relevant to his life, the knowledge was not necessary for him to live.

Another question was answered when asked what a Hindu God was holding. Jamal recalled watching his mother as she was murdered. Running through the streets, Jamal saw a child dressed like the God holding a bow and an arrow. From then on, Jamal was forced to live on his own without his mother, making his life even more difficult. “Mothers…are forced to employ all their time in strolling to beg sustenance for their helpless infants: who as they grow up [and] turn thieves for want of work,” but without his mother, the burden was passed to Jamal and his brother Salim.

Jamal continues to answer questions using accounts from his own life that illustrate situations Jonathan Swift writes about. Both sought to end poverty and seek better lives for those who had nothing. Through Slumdog Millionaire, one can view the poor environments that A Modest Proposal: For Preventing the Children of Poor People in Ireland from Being a Burden to their Parents or Country, and for making them Beneficial to the Public tries to address. Poverty eliminates jobs, strengthens religion, and ends conflict, and the problem is too obvious and rampant to be ignored.

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Applied for College

I applied for college last night after finishing up two essays…I’m going to Texas State! Hopefully, at least.

I’ll be attending Texas State University in San Marcos next fall to study Studio Art and earn a teacher’s degree.

My whole life I wanted to be an English teacher, but this past year or two of writing essay after essay non-stop kind of beat the love out of me. :\ But I love art just as much, so it’s all good. 😀

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Artistic Voice

Expression is everything. A person is who he is because he expresses himself to be that way. Without expression, thoughts would remain with their owners, ideas would never leave their creators’ minds, inventions would cease to be created, and art would not exist. Language would serve no purpose and would, therefore, become extinct. Without expression, people would be forced into isolation, unable to retrieve or accept information, feelings, or ideas from another person.

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Proud Solution

With the gentle rocking motion of the school bus persuading me from side to side, I began to visualize my schedule in my mind. Staring into the cloudless blue sky lit by the late afternoon sun, I planned to complete my homework the moment I got home, finish my remaining chores, and continue to work on my college applications. The slight clanking of the two flute cases clutched in my arms reminded me to leave some time to practice my instrument. After thanking the bus driver for the ride as I always did, I stepped out and began to walk home thinking that I had a busy night ahead of me and I needed to manage my time well. Continuing along the sidewalk and around the corner, I began to receive the beauty of the day. There was a clear sky above allowing the trees to gently sway in full color and inviting the birds to share their vocal talents. Gentle, warm whiffs of air brushed past my face and played with my long hair a bit as I continued my trek.

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Opening Innocent Eyes

Through a child’s untouched eyes, life is a different view. Colors are splattered all about, bright, vibrant, unique, and colorful. Lines run in every direction leading the eye from one interesting object to the next. To children, our planet is a wondrous sight, never a bore, and intricately beautiful, but as they grow, they gradually begin to lose this sensitive awareness. As my years have passed, my appreciation for the beauty of the world around me has developed and grown, not perished. I continue to view life through the eyes of a child, innocent, creative, and filled with wonder. With a vivid imagination, I have learned to take in my observations and add to them with my own creative style. Over the years I have relied on creativity to express my interpretation of life and to express myself. My skills have improved, my knowledge has expanded, and I have allowed my talent to shine. Art is a gift not only to the artist, but also to anyone who takes in the artist’s work, viewing his gift to the world.

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Controlled Insanity

Throughout recorded time, and probably since the end of the Neolithic Age, there have been three kinds of people in the world, the High, the Middle, and the Low,” writes George Orwell in his book, 1984. From within the pages of his book, Orwell clearly demonstrates this trend by creating three distinct social classes following the upper, middle, and lower class system, the Inner Party, the Outer Party, and the proletarians, respectively. By granting each class different benefits and privileges, Oceania fosters inequality among its citizens to keep the society frozen in a moment in time, a moment they see as beneficial and progressive in their eyes. With the Inner Party cautiously defending its position, the Outer Party will forever work under its control, and the proles will always retreat to the bottom of the social pyramid.

Limited to 6 million members, the Inner Party consists of less than two percent of the population of Oceania. With spacious living quarters, personal servants, pleasant food and drink, and more privacy, the Inner Party members enjoy a better quality of life than that of the Outer Party members or of the proles. While the members of the Inner Party regulate Ingsoc and run the Thought Police, the members of the Outer Party work the jobs assigned to them and live under constant monitoring. This thirteen percent of the population is considered to be the worst off of the three, although it represents the middle class, because of its restriction of personal freedoms and lack of comforts, such as those the Inner Party enjoys. Even though the proles are considered the lower class of Oceania and live in poverty while working physically tough jobs and receiving little to no education, they enjoy greater freedoms than those of Outer Party members. Free to pleasure themselves how they desire, the proles experience the comforts of family life and keep their humanity more than any of the other classes. “Proles are animals and free,” the Party states, while Winston, a rebellious member of the Outer Party declared, “Proles remained human.” 85 percent of the population is considered harmless and incapable of complex thought, regulation, or rebellion, and is therefore left to work and breed in their own ignorance. The proles are not required to show support for the Party, wear uniforms, or speak Newspeak. Generally objects of contempt, they are not bothered and are limitedly monitored to keep them in their place. By encasing the social pyramid in ice, human equality can be forever averted and nothing will change in Oceania.

Orwell explains that all throughout history, the upper class has strived to maintain its position, while the middle class tries to overthrow the upper class, and the lower class struggles to even survive and wishes to abolish all social barriers. Ingsoc, practiced in Oceania, is meant to perpetuate unfreedom and inequality so that history will be frozen and positions will be safeguarded. Social classes have been trapped in an unbreakable cycle over the course of history, and Oceania has put an end to these repetitions so that the High may forever hold its status and rebellions will no longer ruin the fragile structure. Aware of the threat of outbreaks, the Inner Party began monitoring the lower classes and infesting their minds with the allusion that all are treated equally. “The masses never revolt of their own accord, and they never revolt merely because they are oppressed. Indeed, so long as they are not permitted to have standards of comparison, they never even become aware that they are oppressed,” Orwell explained. Because discontent is not an expressed feeling, political changes do not strike the society. In this frozen state, progression is not made as resources are swallowed by the war, and those proving to be possibly dangerous are vaporized by the Thought Police. Without an opposition, the Inner Party members will forever reign.

By maintaining a functional level of inequality, Oceania fosters a stable balance among its three social classes. “If human equality is to be for ever averted – if the High, as we have called them, are to keep their places permanently – then the prevailing mental condition must be controlled insanity.” Society will forever run in this manner, and the social classes of George Orwell’s fictional world will continuously live as present, progress halted, inequality fresh, and control, a scar of the Inner Party.

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Feminist Reading of “Barbie Doll”

Stock© XINYI SONG, Some Rights Reserved, Unsplash

“Barbie Doll,” a poem written by Marge Piercy in 1936, clearly delivers strong feminist views about the pressures and standards women are forced to live with. With a depressing tone, the poem describes a young girl’s life beginning with her birth and ending with her ironic death. The poem progresses and tells how the pressures of being a woman affect the girl’s life and influence her actions.

Opening with the girl’s uneventful and normal birth, the poem begins delivering feminist views. As a young child, the girl was “presented dolls that did pee-pee / and miniature GE stoves and irons / and wee lipsticks the color of cherry candy,” culture encroaching on her life and molding her to become a socially well-accepted woman. These toys were meant to prepare her for the expectations she would later meet in life, expectations that a woman should raise children, take care of babies, feed her family, do the laundry, complete household chores, and look beautiful at the same time. This first stanza ends with the girl’s puberty years and the realization of her society’s standards of beauty as she is told of the presence of her “great big nose and fat legs.”

Growing up with tools to help prepare her for what’s to come, the girl is overcome with this new standard. Although she was healthy, intelligent, and even strong, “she went to and fro apologizing” for everyone else looked past her true talents and could only see “a fat nose on thick legs.” Her beauty and appearance became the main focus, masking her inner personality and confusing her motives and actions.
As her society presses on her, the girl is given confusing instructions. “She was advised to play coy, / exhorted to come hearty, / exercise, diet, smile and wheedle.” Advised to watch what she eats and to exercise to reduce her size and sculpt her body to become more visually appealing, “her good nature wore out” as her focus was diverted. The child began to learn that her culture was more occupied with her appearance than what she accomplished or how she acted and that to become accepted she must conform to people’s expectations.

The author begins to end the poem with an extreme solution to the girl’s predicament and describes her suicide with euphemism. Fed up with her inability to please others because of her unattractive qualities, “she cut off her nose and her legs / and offered them up.” Overwhelmed with goals, advice, and tasks to better herself for her society, the girl became obsessed with her appearance and no longer took time to truly better her actions, her nature, and herself. Even in death she cannot please until she is changed. Before being displayed in her casket, the mortician paints her face, changes her nose, and dresses her in a nightie, fit to please the public. It is only after these changes that people ask, “Doesn’t she look pretty?” taking in the standards that she has finally met, standards that they constantly pressed her with, standards that she could not meet in life. Finally, the girl is accepted, although it is not quite a happy ending. If not for the common pressure on females to present themselves to the public with attractive features, the girl may have remained herself, healthy and intelligent, and had not let the search for acceptance drive her to her unfortunate end.

Scouring the entire poem, the reader will not find a name for the girl. This motion suggests that the author feels this is a common situation that constantly presses on females, especially young girls. Social standards and expectations mold women to become Barbie dolls, fake perfection. They are raised, taught, and advised to submit to superficial values and become what others would like to see of them. Piercy shows through her poem “Barbie Doll” the destruction of women through the application of false standards and creates the ironic and dismal story of this girl to portray her feminist views.

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There Will Be Holy, Ironic Blood

There Will Be Blood

There Will Be Blood

From the pages of a book to the scenes of a film, stories can present deep, complicated situations and ideas to their audiences. Allusions are made, irony is created, and themes are introduced. While watching Paul Thomas Anderson’s 2007 film, There Will Be Blood, one must come prepared with a knowledge of the Holy Bible and keep an open mind to pick up on everything the film offers and understand the unexpected irony. This film challenges its viewers to comprehend the thick plots and ideas that originated from Upton Sinclair’s novel, Oil! Thrusting biblical allusions and literary irony upon them.

Names and titles can be important clues and allusions in any story just as they are in There Will Be Blood. While each major character’s name can be found in the Holy Bible, from Able, Mary, and Eli, to Daniel, some grant a deeper meaning to a character with hidden meaning in the name’s literal definition. Most can instantly relate Mary to the mother of Jesus Christ, the innocent virgin that delivered God’s son to the Earth, but others will not understand “Daniel’s” direct translation to “judgement by God” or “God is my judge.” Mary is automatically recognized as an innocent protagonist because of her name, but Daniel’s traits are more hidden. His name suggests that he is constantly being judged by God with each act the he commits. From this judgement, he is faced with hardships and punishments. Daniel is not only judged, himself, but also feels he has the power to evaluate others just as God would. “I am the Church of the Third Revolution!” he exclaims, sharing his views of his power and righteousness.

Characters aren’t the only ones to receive names from the Bible, however. The film’s changed name, There Will Be Blood, originates from quotes in the holy volume. From Exodus 7:19, God explains to Moses “that there may be blood throughout all the land of Egypt,” as he foreshadows the striking down of the country to bring the Pharaoh down from his pedestal of power, a privilege he has been misusing and neglecting. God lusts for destruction just as Daniel lusted for money and desired for something that should not be the final goal.

The title, There Will Be Blood, can also call Hebrew 9:22 its birthplace. “Without the shedding of blood, there can be no remission of sins.” The theme is constantly present within the film and gives Daniel a motive to end Henry and Eli’s lives and to end situations through violence. Daniel does not hesitate to use violence to get what he desires and knows that sooner or later, there will be blood.

By achieving what he strives for, Daniel ironically brings about his own demise. Living a life of loneliness, Daniel seeks love and family, wishing to find blood of resemblance. Not trusting and conflicting with those around him, he ends up ruining all the people who could have been family to him. His son is driven away, his half-brother is killed, and his brother-in-law is brought to an end, leaving Daniel with nothing left in his life although he has everything. This unusual situation is symbolically shown in the final scene of the movie when Daniel is found sleeping in his house. Succeeding enough to own his own bowling alley, Daniel is left to sleep “in the gutter” with his alcohol pressed tightly against him. All of his riches and achievements become useless and meaningless.

Of all the people that Daniel announced that he didn’t like, Eli must have been his most loathed enemy. Seeing him for the fake prophet that he was, Daniel could not bear Eli and was annoyed and offended by his presence. Constantly fighting with him, he tried to prove his power over Eli and his greater capabilities. Daniel never pauses from judging those around him and spends a great deal of attention and energy judging Eli. Daniel finds his mistakes and loathes the flaws that Eli possesses, yet Daniel possesses many of the same flaws, himself. Daniel and Eli are very similar, almost the same person, but dislike each other greatly. They are each other’s own images, yet don’t quite realize the odd occurrence.

There Will Be Blood delivers a unique blend of motifs and themes that relies on its biblical allusions and odd irony to completely reach the viewer. Carefully constructed by Paul Thomas Anderson, this film combines holy words with unusual situations and grants a mentally stimulating moment of entertainment that continues to question the viewers event after the final, shocking scene of irony is conveyed. From Upton Sinclair’s novel, Oil!, Anderson has created an award-winning theatrical movie that many argue is his best work filled with many intelligent references and interesting dilemmas.

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