Metamorphosis Reading P. 58

After reading the last ten pages of the story, what I found the most perplexing was the way in which the sister had an utterly different way of handling Gregor's situation. While first attempting to protect Gregor and feed him when nobody else in the family would, it was the sister in the end that finally decided that they could no longer live with Gregor in the house. Moreover, rather than remorsing after Grego'r's death, the family felt free as they could finally proceed their lives as they initially desired.

Metamorphosis Reading P. 45

In pages 35-45 of Metamorphosis, the most interesting part to me were the lodgers and how they interacted with the family. It is evident that the two groups of people share differences in the way they act and the way they think. For example, the lodgers did not permit any mess in their living conditions, thus making Gregor an even more complex situation in the story.

Marlow Essay Reflection

After reading my Marlow essay, I am particularly happy on how I was able to analyze a challening topic by exploring the unique relationship between Marlow and Conrad specifically. Also, after reading the comments, I like the way I was able to use effective sources to further advance my ideas in the essay, especially through the work of Karl and Murfin. My writing throughout this year has definitely improved, most notably in my last two essays. I feel like I have been able to better analyze specific topics and focus in through the use of succint examples in my essays. However, there were still many mistakes in my essay that I still need to work on. Most noticeably in my Marlow essay was that in my second body paragraph I kind of strayed off the main topic of my essay and then came back to it shortly after. However, for the rest of my writing process into college, I will keep working on focusing on a specific topic, expanding my sentences and vocabulary, and employing succint examples.

Metamorphosis Reading P. 35

In reading to page 35, I found the relationship between Gregor and his father particularly interesting. Even though the father knows that it is truly Gregor under the skin of the bug, he still desires to kill him as he believes that Gregor purposely hurt his wife. Moreover, the wife is extremely shocked and fainted to see the creature that Gregor has become.

Best Ideas From Metamorphosis Discussion

I particularly liked the way our group was able to analyze Gregor's relationship with this family; it is evident that Gregor truly does love his family as he has taken the provider role for his family. Although he and his father may not be particularly close, they are still family and Gregor has essentially sacrificed his future so his dad has not needed to work over the past five years. However, it appears to me that Gregor has limited himself because of that which directly parallels with the meaning of the bug. The bug has such physical limitations which compare with the limitations of the family. Both the family and the physicality of the bug do not allow Gregor to completely express himself in the way he wish he could. Moreover, I also found it interesting to see what we would think if we became a bug as some people would maybe simply accept it as Gregor did while others would truly question what has just happened to them.

Metamorphosis Reading to P. 25

I found the relationship beteen Gregor and his sister extremely interesting in this section of the book. It is clear that the sister now knows that Gregor is the creature, but at the beginning they still hold a somewhat awkward relationship as it is challenging for the sister to accept Gregor's appearance. She only really gives him food twice a week but does not really look at him at the beginning. However, after a month or so, their relationship starts to illustrate what it used to be as the sister can understand Gregor's unique attitude and feelings.

Metamorphosis Reading P. 11

I found the language really interesting so far in the novel. There was such great imagery and relationships conveyed by the author where he made the image of a bug appear to be like a much larger object. So far the reading has not been to challenging as the imagery helped convey the novel.

Heart of Darkness Socratic Discussion

In my socratic discussion, I found specifically the topics that we covered the most interesting. While we not only debated on whether man is inherently good or evil, we also mainly debated on whether people should release or restrain their id. It was interesting to see personally what people thought about humanity; while many see the good in every human being, some are more pessimistic and rational about humanity. Moreover, the most conflict occurred when talking about the id. Obviously people can not freely express their id when they desire or chaos would ensue. However, as seen with a lot of personal breakdowns, holding in all emotions can unfortunately cause anybody to harm other members of society. Ultimately, my own personal take on it after the discussion is that people need to release a small extent of their id to not fully repress all emotions; furthermore, rather than releasing horrible realities to society, people that are struggling may be able to express their emotions through more peaceful and well-mannered actions.

Heart of Darkness Essay Conclusion

While many readers often believe that Conrad is writing his own self through the character of Marlow in Heart of Darkness, ultimately Conrad is rather writing about his own beliefs and attitude regarding humanity. By illustrating such sinister images of darkness and inhumane treatment of society, Conrad effectively reveals how everybody, even the most moral of people such as Marlow, often can not restrain their id from influencing their decisions and beliefs. Thus, although Conrad employs the destruction of Marlow as a key theme in his story, he is trying to express the inner evil of the sub-conscience that lies in people rather than portraying himself as Marlow. Marlow's downfall, moreover, is most pertinent in his obsession of Kurtz; on his journey, Marlow is a victim to such horrific actions that he allowed his id to be partially released. As a result, when Marlow views the malignant actions that Kurtz has committed, Marlow already had been so blinded by his obsession with finding him that he is able to not only forgive Kurtz for his actions, but actually praise him for what he has done.

Heart of Darkness Second Body

While Conrad effectively conveys Marlow's release of his id through the darkness of humanity, ultimately Marlow's obsession and blindness of his obsession with Kurtz greatly reveals his own downfall as a person. Marlow became so passionate about discovering Kurtz and why he was so celebrated by the company that ultimately he allowed his id to be partly released throughout the journey; however, while Kurtz represents the full release of the sub-conscience, Marlow still was able to hold on to some of his moral values. Even though Marlow would have initially been shocked by Kurtz inability to restrain his inner id, at the end of his journey, Marlow argues that Kurtz was a remarkable man because "He had something to say. He said it. Since I had peeped over the edge myself, I understood better the meaning of his stare, that could not see the flame of the candle, but was wide enough to embrace the whole universe, piercing enough to penetrate all the hearts that beat in the darkness" (Conrad 86). Marlow effectively praising Kurtz rather than being completely stunned and horrified by the inhuman crimes and murders that he has committed clearly demonstrates how Marlow has allowed his id to be released; while Marlow initially would have been opposed to such disgusting and gruesome behavior, he is able to praise Kurtz for taking action. Thus, Conrad vividly portrays the destruction of Marlow through his unique interaction and obsession with Kurtz, furthermore conveying how Conrad believes that each person, even a moral human such as Marlow, can often not restrict releasing their id when faced with such dark and horrific situations surrounding them.

Heart of Darkness Body Paragraph

Through Conrad's evident use of darkness and sinister imagery, he effectively reveals his belief that humans have an inner sub-conscience that they are afraid to release. By illustrating his ideology through a moral man such as Marlow, Conrad vividly expresses how the inhumane treatment of humanity can cause even a strong and righteous man such as Marlow to express his darker emotions. However, by illustrating the downfall of Marlow, Conrad subsequently shows how him and Marlow are fundamentally different. As Karl describes in his essay, Marlow's "intelligence is displayed in his moral sensibility" (126). Thus, while Conrad understands humanity's inner dark nature, Marlow oppositely believes that all men whether in America or in Africa will be civilized and good. Ultimately, "Marlow's great revelation comes when he sees that the world is not arranged this way - and here the Congo is a microcosm of the great world in which those who can, plunder those who cannot. Marlow's awareness of evil comes when he notes that many men, and those the most willful, do not share his belief in an orderly, enlightened society" (Karl 126). Karl effectively reveals the distinct difference between Conrad and Marlow through this passage as Marlow is somewhat shocked by the deceptive and dark nature of man, while Conrad understands that those men have allowed their id to be released. Thus, rather than writing himself through Marlow's own downfall, Conrad is writing his ideological belief that man's id is naturally evil. Marlow is most noticeably exposed to the darkness of humanity when he views the treatment of the natives by the Europeans. Rather than treating the slaves fairly as Marlow's morality would have expected, the Europeans through their own evil id give them wire instead of food, ultimately forcing them to become cannibals.

Heart of Darkness Intro

In Heart of Darkness, Conrad continually illustrates darkness and horrific imagery to fundamentally alter the protagonist of the story, Marlow. Conrad effectively reveals how Marlow's id, or sub-conscience, is partly released; for example, even after seeing the inhumane nature of Kurtz, Marlow is still able to forgive him. Even though Marlow held a unique obsession with not only finding Kurtz, but also learning about him and his mysterious nature, it is rather hypocritical of Marlow to forgive a man that has allowed their id to be completely released. However, writers such as Frederick Karl and Ross Murfin have analyzed Conrad's psychoanalytic writing, questioning whether Conrad was writing his own feelings about humanity through Marlow. Even though Conrad throughout his novel portrays the evil sub-conscience of man, ultimately he is not the same person as Marlow. Rather, through his novel, Conrad effectively illustrates the unique and somewhat disheartening change in Marlow. After being exposed to the horror that the lies within Africa on his voyage, Marlow's sub-conscience subsequently begins to be unleashed. Thus, rather than portraying himself through the character of Marlow, Conrad is illustrating his inner feelings and attitude through the inhumane treatment of society, consistent images of darkness, and ultimately Marlow's change of attitude in his quest to to fulfill his obsession of finding Kurtz.