Heart of Darkness Part 2 & 3

Marlow overhears the manager and his uncle questioning Kurtz and his methods. Krutz is deathly ill and Marlow, the manager, the clerk, and pilgrims start a journey on Marlow's repaired steamer to find him. On the way many elements test Marlow such as the weather and the direction and choppiness of the tide.

They stop to find a stack of firewood and a note was found that stated, "Wood for you. Hurry up. Approach cautiously." There was also a code a note that was suspected to be the work of the Russian trader. They continue their journey and are attacked by a group of natives, who killed one of their crew. They finally arrive at the Inner Station where they run into the Russian who is surprisingly and extremely fond of Krutz. They find Kurtz but he doesn't want to return to England, infact, he's the one who ordered the attack from the natives. The natives worship Kurtz and want him to stay. In the night Kurtz escaped from Marlow in attempts to reach the natives but Marlow caught him and the next day they were headed back to England. Kurtz dies on the river and his last words were, "The horror! The horror!"

Marlow returns and pays a visit to Kurtz's fiance who is in terrible mourning. She asked Marlow what was Kurtz's last words and he couldn't bring himself to tell her the truth so he lied and said he spoke her name.

Response: I'm not very fond of this book. I hate when it takes an author ten pages to state one fact. I did however love some of the insightful quotes that really made me think such as, "They had behind them, to my mind, the terrific suggestiveness of words heard in dreams, of phrases spoken in nightmares." I also admired Marlow and his outlook towards the end and I respected his loyalty for Kurtz. It amazed of how Kurtz had such a strong affect on people. Some people are natural leaders. I know how it is to lose someone and I would want someone to lie to me in a situation like that. Who wants to think of their loved ones in pain and suffering in their last hours? I'm glad Marlow lied and saved that woman of even more pain and heartache.

I'm ready to read something abundantly and ridiculously happy.

Heart of Darkness Part 1

Heart of Darkness starts off with a ship called, "The Nellie" banked at the Thames river due to the direction of the tide. The narrator gives a detailed description of all the members on the boat before reaching Marlow. Everything is silent and calm and Marlow decides to break the silence and tell about the past of the Thames river and all the adventures that took place. He then goes into his experience when he was younger and was employed, when his aunt pulled some strings, as a fresh water sailor at a Belgian company. He set off on a French steamer to Africa. He is surrounded by death, war, and horrible conditions on his journey. He reached station where he saw mistreated and neglected enslaved blacks being controlled by whites. He stays at station for 10 days and decides to set foot with 60 other men. When he arrived at Central Station he noticed that his boat had sunk and whether it was by accident, he is unsure. As he is repairing his boat he meets the manager of Central Station is becomes very uneased by his presence. Marlow then meets a man that had something to do with him getting his job and he tries to get supplies from him to fix his ship, but fails. The Eldorado Exploring Expedition comes sweeping in, with their leader being the manager's uncle.

Response:

This book was very hard to follow and I felt they took forever to just make one point. I kept having to reread certain parts because the complexity of the language was confusing. It was filled with very detailed descriptions and imagery. Figurative language was all over the place and I loved some of Marlow's perceptions and descriptions. One of my favorites was, "It is impossible to convey the life-sensation of any given epoch of one's existence--that which makes it truth, its meaning--its subtle and penetrating essence. It is impossible. We live, as we dream--alone." I didn't however like their ignorance and how they treated the Africans. The descriptions were sickening even though Marlow was trying to give us a real mental picture of what it was really like. I'm glad the times have changed. I'm interested to see how Marlow's journey will turn out and what new characters he has to introduce for the next section of the book.

"Life Cycle of Common Man" by Howard Nemerov

I think this poem will be the never ending emotional cycles of mankind. Howard writes about how men leave behind things after they are gone. From material things, to words, to things that they use, he is amazed at all a human being does. The poem contains a metaphor (the world is his apple, and forces him to eat), a personification (would stagger the imagination), and imagery (cartoon's bubble of speech proceeding). Nemerov day dreams about all the things involved in a human's life and is infatuated. He wants his readers to share his fascination and reflect about his writing and relate to his opinion. The shift happens when he starts to question all the actions of humans in line 19. The title means what all humans do in their lifetime and what impact they leave. The theme is life is what you make it.

I think this poem kind of strange and used weird analogies but I liked it. The stuff that he was writing about was deep and not an ordinary poem. He actually made me think about what he was saying.

"My Mother's Face" by Brenda Serotte

I think this poem will be about someone reflecting about their mother's face. This poem says that this women is getting ready for work and she sees her mother's face looking at her in the mirror. Her mother cries and sighs and she states that if her mother had been silient she would of surely thought it would have been her in the mirror. Serotte uses imagery (red frizzled hair wild in all directions),and personification (smile weighted with loss). The shift occurs in line 12 when she says that her mother started crying without warning. The title means that she sees her mother's face in the mirror and it resembles her own. The theme is mother's are emotional about their children.

I thought the whole time she was talking about herself until she said that that if she would have been silent she would have thought it would have been her. I like this poem even though it's random. Her mother sounds straight up ugly.

"Dreamers" by Siegfried Sassoon

I think this poem will be about someone dreaming about something pleasant. The soldiers are surrounded by war and horrible conditions. Their only hope of getting home is surviving. They dream about being at home with their spouses and enjoying the little things. This poem has a metaphor (soldiers are citizens of death's grey land), personification (mocked by hopeless longing), and hyperbole (gnawed by rats/lashed with rain). I think Sassoon admires the soldiers and feels sorry for them at the same time. I think he wants us to try and imagine what they are going through and feel his sympathy for them. The shift happens when he says soldiers are dreamers. The title means that soldiers are the actual dreamers. The theme is dreams are not always reality but we all have to have hope.

I like this poem although I'm not usually into war poems. I think in hard times we all dream of a unrealistic reality. I feel sorry for all the terrible conditions they go through. Yet that's what the author wanted me to do, feel sorry for them.

"Dear Tia" by Carolina Hospital

This poem is about a child that never really knew their mother. She was scared to write for so long and tried to act like her mother never existed. The poem has a paradox (in a land so familiarly foreign), and imagery (the sweetness of your bath). The author feels scared to write to her mother. She feels depressed because she never got the chance to experience anything with her at all. I think the author wants the reader to feel some of the pain that she felt. The shift happens when she reveals that the person she's writing about is her mother in line 12. The title is the name of her mother. The theme is no matter what has happened it is in a child's nature to love their mother.

I loved how this poem is written but it made me depressed. I can't imagine how she feels. I would be so scared to write to my mother after all those years. I wondered how she even knew her address.

"The Sound of the Sea" by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

This poem is about someone who loves the sea and is dreaming in awe of it's raw and confusing powers. He describes in great detail of his view of the sea and explains that some things are beyond our reason or control. This poem contains a paradox (a voice out of silence from the sea), personification (the sea awoke), and a simile (as of a cataract from the mountain's side). Longfellow loves the sea but realizes that he will never understand it and that it's out of his control. I think he wants his readers to realize that as much as you try to understand something sometimes you have to respect the fact that you can't control it. The shift happens in line 9 when he stops describing the sea and talking about emotions. The title means that the sea's sounds, like the sea, are unpredictable and uncontrollable. The theme of this poem is some things are out of our hands.

I think he really loves and respects the sea. I think everyone should be passionate about something and the sea inspires him. I really liked all the descriptive words and the use of his paradox.