Blog Response

After reading Andrea Copello's blog post regarding Part 1 of the novel, I was able to make several connections that had eluded me before. I had not realized that Marlow spoke of the places he would be exploring as being full of light and it is interesting to note the change between that and the way he describes them when he is actually there. What turned those lively and luminous places into the dark, unknown and eerie places they are when Marlow later describes them? The answer is simple: imperialism and the search for power.

Another connection I had failed to make was that between Marlow's descriptions and those made in Dante's Inferno. It is interesting to note the tone Marlow employs when describing these occurrences and settings, and how they bear resemblance to those Dante describes as the setting for condemned souls to suffer and carry the burden of unsatisfied souls.

Although it may seem a bit radical, I agree with this comparison. Life under the British must have felt like Hell to the natives, who turned to look for a God-like figure to save them from their misery, and found one with Mr. Kurtz.