Heart of DarknessReview:
Travel Brochure
Conrad’s Heart of Darkness Review
Travel Brochure or Theme Park
Directions:
Grade: up to 5 bonus points on major test over these topics
You may choose to work alone or to work with a self-selected group.
Choice A: You have recently returned from your voyage to the heart of darkness. The Director of Whirlwind Tours, Inc., has asked you to plan a tour for a group of Americans through the same geography of mind and place. The local office (you or your group) must submit the following proposal to the Director in the form of a travel brochure:
- a travel agenda of the twelve most important points of interest (selected from chapter points on following pages and connected to Dante’s Inferno)
- sample brochure constructed of trifolded poster board, construction paper - you may also use Powerpoint and/or Inspiration if you choose
- each point of interest should have a brief description and illustration (related to Conrad’s book) which explains its significance to the traveller
- combine the adventure tale format with psychological/mythic structure (as Conrad does) in the brochure
- attempt to use literary impressionism in the descriptions or names of points of interest
- use humor, irony, and satire whenever possible
- a top ten list of what Marlow wished he had brought to Africa so that travellers can be prepared
Choice B: You work as an imagineer for Disney World, which is planning a literary theme park based on Conrad’s Heart of Darkness, Coppola’s Apocalypse Now, and Achebe’s Things Fall Apart. You have been asked to provide a proposal for the park for Michael Eisner, Disney CEO. Your imagineering work group (or you alone as chief designer) must submit the proposal to Mr. Eisner in the form of a map of the park and a brochure describing the twelve most important points of interest (selected from chapter points on following pages and your knowledge of AN and TFA):
- an illustrated map design for the theme park with the twelve most important points of interest
- sample brochure constructed of trifolded poster board, construction paper, Powerpoint or Inspiration
- each point of interest should have a brief description and illustration (related to Conrad’s book, Achebe’s book, or the film) which explains its significance to the traveller
- combine the adventure tale format with psychological/mythic structure (as Conrad does) in the brochure
- attempt to use literary impressionism in the descriptions or names of points of interest
- use humor, irony, and satire whenever possible
- a top ten list of what Marlow wished he had brought to Africa so that visitors can be prepared
Section 1
domestic comfort aboard the Nellie on the serene river Thames
The Director, Accountant, Lawyer, first narrator, and Charlie M.
tranquil and nautical terms (water, water everywhere)
waterway leading to the uttermost ends of the earth
the great spirit of the past
tales of the Erebus and Terror, the Golden Hind, pirates, knights, soldiers
tales of exploration and exploitation, captains and admirals, Romans
the dark places of the earth
introduction to living in the midst of the incomprehensible
the fascination of the abomination
mythic hero archetype (use of pattern)
flames gliding in the river
compelling tale of adventure
antique maps of Africa
snake imagery
tragedy of Fresleven the Dane, the gentlest, quietest creature that ever walked on two legs
the Noble Cause
the White Man’s Burden
whited sepulchres
two eerie knitters of black wool in Brussels
a city of the dead
Morituri te salutant
a scientific study of insanity
an alienist
calipers
Charlie’s dear, misguided aunt with influential friends
archaic but useful chauvinist attitudes
short journey on a French steamer
vital, wild, natural, purposeful indigenous people in their native habitat
French man-of-war firing into the jungle
the immense and imperturbable jungle
lugubrious drollery
the merry dance of death and trade
streams of death in life
free extra trip on sea-going steamer with Swedish captain
observation of conditions of enforced servitude, chained natives (time contracts)
purposeful dehumanization or skillful exposure of dehumanized conditions?
language use: “. . . called criminals . . . outraged law . . . insoluble mystery from the sea”
deathlike indifference of unhappy savages
high and just proceedings
devil of violence, devil of greed, devil of hot desire
strong lusty, red-eyed devils
flabby, pretending, weak-eyed devil of a rapacious and pitiless folly
philanthropic desire of giving the criminals something to do
Inferno
pain, abandonment, despair
not enemies, not criminals, nothing early, shadows
the grove of death
ship biscuits
mystery of the white worsted wool: the badge, ornament, charm, propitiation
phantom, contorted, massacre, pestilence
juxtaposition to Chief Accountant, the miracle man
perfectly correct ledger entries
ten day delay at Outer Station
effects of tropical diseases
first mention of remarkable Mr. Kurtz
hollow men
drums with as profound a meaning as bells in a Christian country
innovative methods for upkeep of the road
a sixteen stone fat man
scientifically interesting
a steamer at the bottom of the river
splendid, correct behavior supervised by manager himself
an unnatural wreck
a man of triumphant health and trenchant blue eyes
perfect estimates of time delays
pilgrims
ivory
silent wilderness
a blazing shed full of calico, cotton prints, beads
ineffective firefighting
native mats, spears, assegais, shields, knives
a brickmaker
ambition behind philanthropic pretense
prevarication
an oil painting by the famous Mr. Kurtz
the gang of virtue
a papier-mâché Mephistopheles
rivets
the Eldorado Exploring Expedition
a chance to find what is in work
Section 2
ivory
overheard conversation
stations intended as beacons on the road towards better things,
a centre for trade of course, but also for humanizing, improving, instructing
the best and brightest of the angels: Lucifer
valuable animals
going up river back to the earliest beginnings of the world when vegetation rioted on the earth and the big trees were king
isolation which cuts off forever from everything ever known
rude narrative interruptions
cannibals
a river crawling towards the famous Mr. Kurtz
an unforgettable voice
travel deeper and deeper into the heart of darkness, like wanderers on a prehistoric earth, on an earth that wore the aspect of an unknown planet, in a night of first ages with no memories
native culture: villages, dancing, singing
see the earth as unearthly
thrill at the thought of the shared humanity with the natives, your remote kinship with this wild and passionate uproar
gape and shudder when meeting truth with personal true stuff
go ashore for a howl and a dance
bandage leaky steampipes, watch the steering, circumvent the snags
strange witchcraft of technology
evil spirit inside the boiler
50 miles from Inner station: reed hut at the last outpost of civilization
a book
an extravagant mystery
stacked wood, curtain, flag
beautiful resignation by the manager
a safe daylight approach
deafening silence
blinding white fog
a cry of infinite desolation
sudden, tumultuous, mournful, shrieking screaming mist
a man in pink pyjamas
experience nowhere, floating in space
hippo meat
Europeans unappetizing to cannibals
preservation of appearances: powerful exercise of restraint
dramatic showdown over risks between captain and manager
an enchanted princess sleeping in a fabulous castle
dangerous navigation
a native attack
helmsman in native dress
an ordeal of blood
effectiveness of screeching steam-whistle
a profound display of the gift of expression
women who stay in that beautiful world of their own, lest ours gets worse
inconceivable ceremonies of some devilish initiation
spoiled and pampered favourite of the wilderness
heaps of ivory
the powers of darkness that claimed the famous Mr. Kurtz
report for the International Society for the Suppression of Savage Customs
midnight dances with unspeakable rites
supernatural beings
burning noble words
original copy of extermination plan
dead cats of civilization
the partnership of work
skull decorations
a Russian in harlequin clothes with an enlarged mind
Section 3
ivory
the spirit of adventure
strange fence decorations
trade secrets
whispering by the wilderness
lack of restraint
hollow men
uncomplicated savagery
enemies, criminals, workers, rebels
the famous Mr. Kurtz
old ivory
pitiful Jupiter
a wild and gorgeous apparition of a woman
an unsound method
Kurtz as relief
a choice of nightmares
loss of favour
moral shock
danger
loyalty to the choice of nightmares: no betrayal
a crawling man
monotonous beating of a big drum
knitting old woman with a cat
a sorcerer wearing antelope horns
the Shadow
immense plans, the threshold of great things
the spell of wilderness
the awakening of forgotten and brutal instincts
the memory of gratified and monstrous passions
weird incantations
an unlawful soul beguiled beyond the bounds of permitted aspirations
a man who has kicked himself loose of the earth
moral levitation
a struggle with a soul
clear intelligence with a mad soul
a soul that knew no restraint, no faith, and no fear
Hades World: river-demons, black smoke, satanic litany, steam, terrible tails, fire, flames, colors, roars, chaos, inarticulate sounds, terror
bare arms
mean and greedy phantoms
a voice
diabolic love and the unearthly love of the mysteries
the wilderness
right motives
a packet of papers, a photograph, and a shoestring
an impenetrable darkness
an infernal mess
ivory face
sombre pride
ruthless power
craven terror
intense and hopeless despair
supreme moment of complete knowledge
The horror
secret words
beastly, beastly dark
Destiny
the most a man can hope for in life
a crop of unextinguishable regrets
a wrestle with death
impalpable grayness
ultimate wisdom
a great riddle
the last opportunity for pronouncement
nothing to say
the remarkable Mr. Kurtz
the appalling face of a glimpsed truth
grayness
stepping over the edge of the precipice
the threshold of the invisible
a moral victory
innumerable defeats, abominable terrors, abominable satisfactions
loyalty to the last
the sepulchral city
filching, devouring, gulping, dreaming
individuals going about their business in the assurance of perfect safety
disturbed imagination
menacing visitors demanding documents
a torn P.S.
a universal genius
faith for believing anything
plunder for fools
a girl’s portrait
the Intended
the sunlight can be made to lie
an insatiable shadow of splendid appearances, of frightful realities
pleading, threats, desires, meanness, torment, anguish
justice
a beautiful woman with blonde hair
cold and monumental whiteness
a grand piano
fidelity, belief, suffering
grief
the growing darkness
unextinguishable light of belief and love
the great and saving illusion glowing in the darkness
fair hair catching light in a glimmer of gold
an end in every way worthy of a life
the whispering dusk
inconceivable triumph and unspeakable pain
a truth too dark to tell (a black truth)
a lie too light to be false (a white lie)
a meditating Buddha
a tranquil waterway leading to the uttermost ends of the earth
an overcast sky
passage into the heart of an immense darkness
the boon