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Surveying Africa: Conrad's Ambiguous Guide To Colonialism, Francesca Sofia Tarant

Graduate English Association New Voices Conference 2007

Throughout Heart of Darkness, Joseph Conrad juxtaposes seemingly contradictory terms: light and dark, Europe and Africa, centrality and exteriority, morality and the immorality. In contrasting these various finite images, the author appears to mirror the “direct simplicity” in his word choice which he claims also punctuates the tales of seamen. However, by describing colonial endeavors using words laden with double and sometimes conflicting meanings, infusing the novel with repetition, and presenting characters alongside their doppelgangers, Conrad prompts readers to reconsider concrete standards of good and evil in regards to imperialism. Consequently, the text, refusing to elucidate Marlow‟s journey to the …