Okay, some of this seems like a real stretch, but it was an English teacher who tried (fairly unsuccessfully) to convince us that this stuff is right, so...
Black natives with white souls are contrasted with White
men with black souls- Black here represents evil or the
knowledge of evil- the Black men don’t hide their evil from
themselves or others behind a facade of good (white). Or
something like that, anyway.
White string around the starving Black boy’s neck- In
the field of dying blacks, the dude with the white little thingy
around his neck- The white string being around his neck
represents his being drawn into the white man’s world, the
white string is a collar, a stranglehold.
These are fairly confusing, and most of them really seem a
stretch, but once again, if they help w/ an essay, that’s
what they’re here for...
Yellow- sickness, cowardice, un-civilization, corruption,
decay; On Company map- uncivilized and contaminated by ivory
trade (Sure, why not?)
Green- life, growth, new things (This makes sense- doesn’t
seem TOO much a stretch.)
Blue- serenity, peace
Brown- coming closer to black, but not quite there
Black- knowledge of evil, loss of innocence
Gray- ambiguity, emotionless, puzzling
Paleness- death, weakness (Not exactly a color, but oh, well.)
Blinding sunshine- the truth is so stark and painful;
the Company works under the guise of enlightening the natives,
and that blinds people from the truth- that they’re there to
get ivory.
Candles- the brickmaker who didn’t make bricks had
them- feeble light, status or wealth, worthless status
Grass- Marlow’s predecessor, Fresleven, ‘s
skeleton was overgrown w/ grass when Marlow found it- represents
how nature overcomes man, takes back what’s hers
Flies (the huge, buzzing kind)- Marlow’s reaction to
Africa- it’s new, and he’s appalled by what he sees. (If
anyone can find where this was, let us know- “our” copy
of Heart of Darkness was taken back by “our”
English teacher. They may have been at the station where Marlow
met the Company’s Chief Accountant.)
Flies (the small, swarming kind)- acceptance, Africa is
more comfortable for Marlow; callousness (Same as above, except
that we have no idea where this was- either right after Kurtz’
death, or some time in Chapter 2 or 3...)
Ivory- greed, corruption, selfish ambition, lust for power,
etc.
The jungle- knowledge, the truth, understanding of evil (Trees
make up a forest, and trees are mostly green and brown- life,
growth, new things, as well as the beginning to learn of evil-
personal growth as Marlow sees the evil inherent to the human
soul, or some nonsense like that.)
Pail- the one the “fat agent” fights the fire in
the supply shed with- futility (Remember it- it had holes in it?)
Sealing wax- used to hold stuff together (No idea where
that one is, but it sounds like it could maybe be important...)
Shoes- comfort, responsibility, protection (Consider the
meaning in Marlow giving that Russian fellow a pair of shoes, and
his throwing his blood-soaked ones into the river after the boat
is attacked.)
Oil painting- Kurtz’ painting- black woman
blindfolded carrying a torch- Reveals that the blacks had the
truth, but the white men are blinding them to it in their attempt
to get ivory. (The teacher said that it was Kurtz’s painting
of his black mistress, but we don’t see how you can make
that assumption.)
Rivets- hold things together- Marlow couldn’t get
them from the Company, representing how the Company is letting
Things Fall Apart; on a somewhat different topic- a way of
controlling and manipulating Marlow, and through Marlow, Kurtz.
Water- loss of innocence, passage into knowledge and the
world, rebirth
As stated before, this is by no means a definitive source of
symbols- it is merely some basic stuff. We hope it helps.
Okay, enough of THAT- though more might be added later on-
Back to the main Essay Help
Page.
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