Heart of Darkness and the use of metaphors

Conrad's use of metaphor, especially in the first few pages, reveals his great love of the sea. He describes a ship,

sitting in the harbor with canvas gleaming with varnished spirit. The ship is surrounded by a haze that is emanating from the land near it: "The air was dark above Gravesend, and farther back still seemed condensed into a mournful gloom, brooding" (45). Although the sunset is affecting the city in this negative way, it is having quite a different effect on the water: "The water shone pacifically . . .the very mist . . . was like a gauze and radiant fabric" (46). When darkness does entirely take the city, the water is still alive with light: "Lights of ships moved in the fairway--a great stir of lights" (48). Conrad is describing the town as monstrous, ominous and brooding. Clearly, all the light (all the beauty and life) that is to be found is now on the water and, specifically, in the ships that are moving in the fair

. . .
, from the ship. At one point in the novel, Mar low steps into the shade and finds himself among several blacks: "They were dying slowly . . . black shadows of disease and starvation, lying confusedly in the greenish gloom" (66). Everything about these men suggests misery, despair and disease. This, of course, is contradicted as well. The reader sees the black woman who loves Kurtz in a very favorable light. These contradictions serve one purpose: to indicate that light and darkness are eventually and perhaps always one and the same. Or, at least, that people can not trust either. Perhaps the true "darkness" of the novel refers to the state of being alive, to the horror that Kurtz speaks of before he dies. The light then symbolizes people's search for a better life. There are several references to mist, a state of indecision between white and black, which seem to support this. At one point in the novel, the men are frightened that they will be attacked in the fog and killed; at another point, Marlow is certain that the fog will serve as protection. Thus, even the grayness is in flux to darkness and light. Heart of Darkness is a novel of contrasts that prove to be one thing in constant flux. That one is life. This merging of d
. . .

Some common words found in the essay are:
Darkness Conrad's, Savage Customs, Marlow Kurtz, Joseph Conrad, Heart Darkness, light darkness, John Grant, heart darkness, darkness novel, , door darkness, white people, water light, marlow describes, tranquil waterway, describes kurtz, essay kurtz,
Approximate Word count = 1576
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page)

More Essays on Heart of Darkness and the use of metaphors