Conrad Racist?

Hey, guys. I'm back and my class and I just finished reading the infamous Heart of Darkness crafted by Joseph Conrad. Now, I know for a fact that my opinion is the unpopular one-I LOVED this novella! Yes there were times when I wanted to give up and stop reading because it made no sense, but I chugged through it and I am glad that I did! This novella is definitely worth the struggle of reading, and the vocabulary became overwhelming at times. But I really think I am starting to get a hang of the analytical and “deeper meaning” aspects of these fiction works, which makes me really happy (Especially when the AP Exam is in 5 short days)!

As this section of Ap Lit has come to an end, of course My teacher gives some reading, and this time, it happens to be Chinua Achebe and his perspective on Heart of Darkness, which I totally disagree on, which will also be the topic of today's blog post.

The biggest thing that really bothered me was the fact that he used so many different examples. Yes, there were many parts in the novella that support his claim about Conrad being racist, but those parts also illuminated the counter argument, which Achebe really did not refute. Since Achebe decided to quote gigantic paragraphs in the novella (I know he really could not get around that since the examples would not be strong enough), I am just going to point out examples instead of quoting them. The first example that really jumped out at me was at the bottom of page 4, when Achebe starts criticizing the language used when the cannibals and natives were talking. Yes, he used different idiosyncrasies to characterize these people, but does he also realize that these men basically grew up in the jungle? They have resorted to cannibalism, which means they have been there for quite some time. Even Marlow justifies it when he reaches these men on the journey to the Inner Station. Also, this demoting status would not correlate to the next section Achebe quoted on page five of his speech, referencing Marlow’s sympathy towards the men dying. It just really does not add up and contradicts itself very harshly.

Now obviously, this is only on opinion. Do I think Conrad’s work is offensive in one way or another? Yes. Do I believe that he meant it to be like that? No. I really think Conrad was trying to portray these men to the best of his ability, and through the example that I chose from Achebe’s article, it includes the dialect of these men. This also correlates to American literature as well, when authors such as Zora Neale Hurston use the same exact dialect in Their Eyes Were Watching God. So, what's the difference? To me, the only difference is location. But, that's just me.

Well, this might not have been most fun to read, but I hope it opened your eyes a little bit more to see the other perspective. PLEASE try and read Heart of Darkness! Hands down one of my favorite books I have ever read! Catch me reading it in five years!

Wuthering Heights? What's That?

Welp, I’m back. My class and I just finished reading the Gothic novel, Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë. I have to say, it was probably one of the most challenging book I have ever read, and I loathed this book at first. I dreaded picking up this book, but I forced myself to read it anyways because it was for class. However, by the end of the book, I have to say that I thoroughly enjoyed this book and that I completely understand (I think) what Brontë is saying. For today’s blog post, I wanted to explore the reasoning behind the family tree that Emily uses. Emily decided that she wanted to utterly confuse her readers and create a family tree that is intertwined literally EVERYWHERE and for everyone to have similar names. Let me show you the family tree:

https://arqshah.files.wordpress.com/2014/04/wuthering-heights-family-tree.png

As you can see, it is very mind-boggling and it relies on the readers’ intellectuality to actually break this down. For me, this was the hardest part in the book-discovering all of the relationships and what they mean symbolically. Well, it’s your lucky day! I am going to give some insight to Brontë’s every move on her character choices, because they actually do have reasoning behind it.

            First is the fact that this whole family tree, starting from the second generation, is basically incest. And this boils down to Brontë wanting to illuminate that people are who their parents are and cannot control that. Back then, it was a common thing and was not frowned upon like it is now, so it honestly just adds to the complexity of the novel. I think it is also there to show the different generations and the combinations of each relationship. For example, usually offspring represent one half of their mother and one half of their father. Brontë illuminates this ideology by creating the intertwined family, showing how the generations changed over time. Let’s take Catherine and Edgar for example. Catherine came from a father who neglected her and lived a care-free childhood. Edgar came from the total opposite, and was always raised as a poised gentleman. Together, they created Cathy, who has the want to go and roam but loves the social status as well. Get it? So, by creating the connected family tree, Brontë shows that children are really products of their parents, which is why as the generations move forward, so do the children. SPOILER ALERT! At the end of the novel, you will see that Cathy and Hareton end up together and they break-free from the “norms” of their family because the parents have partners (Edgar and Frances) that are not from the same family.

            DO NOT get me started on the character names. UGH. It was so hard trying to decipher them because Catherine was also sometimes called Cathy, which is her daughter’s name and etc. Emily Brontë DEFINITELY wanted to confuse her readers on this one (I’m only kidding). But the similar names connect back to illumination of the children being a product of their parents. I think the names symbolize that they will always still have some of their parents, just maybe not some of the same characteristics.

            This must have been very confusing for some of you who have not read the novel yet. But, PLEASE. Go read it!! It’s is worth it.

Until next time.

EG