{"content":{"sharePage":{"page":0,"digests":[{"id":"15653396","dateCreated":"1256012666","smartDate":"Oct 19, 2009","userCreated":{"username":"mpark32198","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/mpark32198","imageUrl":"https:\/\/ssl.wikicdn.com\/i\/user_none_lg.jpg"},"monitored":false,"locked":false,"links":{"self":"https:\/\/kisapenglporter2009-10.wikispaces.com\/share\/view\/15653396"},"dateDigested":1532171395,"startDate":null,"sharedType":"discussion","title":"Only one story","description":"From our discussion today, I really liked Jessica's comparison between Kurtz and Jesus Christ. After she brought up this point, I could see many other parallelisms between these two people. Just like Jesus Christ, Kurtz wanted to spread his words and sacrificed himself for his legacy to continue on without interference from the manager. The manager and his uncle's conspiracy against Kurtz also matched with Jesus Christ's conspirators and betrayers. In addition, only after the encounter with Kurtz, Marlow then was able to see the raw reality of imperialist practices in Africa. I also enjoyed listening to people talk about how Marlow represents Buddha.
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\nOne thing I was thinking about while the discussion was going on was the transformation that occurred in both Marlow and Kurtz. These two characters underwent the transformation at the same time but in two different directions. Kurtz, who initially went to Africa with the noble motives and guileless intentions, - that is, to bring the "light" to the dark places in Africa and to enlighten the Africans with the Western civilization and morals - is turned into a blind person, who is ignorant to his own actions because his own greed and longing for a better reputation as a successful trader of ivory in fact leads to his own downfall. While Kurtz is going through this substantial change, Marlow, on the other hand, finally reaches realization and becomes aware of his misconceptions regarding imperialism and its dark side.","replyPages":[{"page":0,"digests":[{"id":"15657694","body":"Oops, I forgot to mention that just as the analysis on Metamorphosis points out the life of Jesus Christ portrayed in Gregor's transformation into a bug, Heart of Darkness also lets the readers see the Christ image in Kurtz after he spends some time in Africa. This parallel comparison between Kurtz and Jesus Christ reminded me of the pattern in literature that Foster brings up in How to Read Literature Like a Professor. Heart of Darkness is another literary piece that proves Foster's claim that there is only one fundamental story and that what really matters is the authors' variations that they apply to the basic plot in order to make their work distinct from other stories that are also based on this universal story of the Bible.","dateCreated":"1256036211","smartDate":"Oct 20, 2009","userCreated":{"username":"mpark32198","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/mpark32198","imageUrl":"https:\/\/ssl.wikicdn.com\/i\/user_none_lg.jpg"}}],"more":0}]},{"id":"15653376","dateCreated":"1256012588","smartDate":"Oct 19, 2009","userCreated":{"username":"lydiak","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/lydiak","imageUrl":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/pic\/1202793136\/lydiak-lg.jpg"},"monitored":false,"locked":false,"links":{"self":"https:\/\/kisapenglporter2009-10.wikispaces.com\/share\/view\/15653376"},"dateDigested":1532171395,"startDate":null,"sharedType":"discussion","title":"HOD Lydia Kim ","description":"Dark, in other stories, is usually used to describe confusion or to emphasize that something is not clear. White, as the opposite, usually show truth. But in this story, black means truth and white means lies.
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\nIt's just a random thought but I think that the author switched the roles of light and dark on purpose. When we first mention black and white, I instantly thought of the people. The Europeans, white, is not true. In other words, white people (in the story) have greed written all over their face that their view on things is usually biased. The Europeans only think of the money they will make from the ivory. The black people, on the other hand, do not have greed or any other strong feelings controlling their views on certain things. They are pure. I don't know how to explain it in detail but near the beginning of the story Marlow talks about Fresleven. The Europeans thought that Fresleven is "the gentlest, quietest creature that ever walked on two legs" (Conrad 73). This is different from what the Black people saw. The Black people watched as Fresleven "whacked the old nigger mercilessly, while a big crowd of his people watched him, thunderstruck, till some man -- I was told the chief's son -- in desperation at hearing the old chap yell, made a tentative jab with a spear at the white man"(Conrad 73). I think this just emphasizes the point that the European and the Black people have different views. The Black tend to have the more accurate view.
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\nIn the book, Kurtz says "horror" twice right before he dies. Before one dies, it is said that one usually sees darkness. The darkness that Kurtz saw before he died can mean that he saw the truth. Maybe he realized that his view was clouded by greed and lies.","replyPages":[{"page":0,"digests":[],"more":0}]},{"id":"15653370","dateCreated":"1256012580","smartDate":"Oct 19, 2009","userCreated":{"username":"sarahjang","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/sarahjang","imageUrl":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/pic\/1222755549\/sarahjang-lg.jpg"},"monitored":false,"locked":false,"links":{"self":"https:\/\/kisapenglporter2009-10.wikispaces.com\/share\/view\/15653370"},"dateDigested":1532171396,"startDate":null,"sharedType":"discussion","title":"Sarah Jang HOD Discussion","description":"During our discussion today, the idea of the "Fall of Imperialism" really appealed to me. Ms.Porter first mentioned the description of the door with the word "sarcophagus" and Lynn made a connection with the previous word "sepulcher." I thought it was really interesting how the word sepulcher mentioned in the beginning of the novel can relate all the way back to the ending of the book, relating to the horrors of Imperialism and its fall.
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\nI was most curious about Kurtz's identity. "The last word he pronounced was -- your name," Marlow says. Throughout the whole novel, Kurtz is frequently mentioned and praised but in the end, the readers are unsure of who Kurtz really is. Throughout the whole book, only two characters are mentioned: Marlow and Kurtz. I thought it was just too weird that we don't have much information about any of the characters.","replyPages":[{"page":0,"digests":[],"more":0}]},{"id":"15653358","dateCreated":"1256012544","smartDate":"Oct 19, 2009","userCreated":{"username":"rachelrox","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/rachelrox","imageUrl":"https:\/\/ssl.wikicdn.com\/i\/user_none_lg.jpg"},"monitored":false,"locked":false,"links":{"self":"https:\/\/kisapenglporter2009-10.wikispaces.com\/share\/view\/15653358"},"dateDigested":1532171396,"startDate":null,"sharedType":"discussion","title":"Rachel Y's HOD Discussion","description":"During the discussion, I brought up the idea that when the narrator says, "Marlow ceased, and sat apart, indistinct and silent, in the pose of a meditating Buddha..." (158) he is trying to show that Marlow has reached the state of enlightenment. The enlightenment (a term that is used in Buddhism) is that stage where one realizes the truth about life and reality, and that is exactly the stage that Marlow reaches at the end.
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\nI think that Yura made a good point by going further into the idea about how Marlow's life resembled that of Buddha. Marlow starts off as a man who is from the Europe civilization, then he realizes different truths about humanity, the lives of the natives, and Mr.Kurtz during his trip in Africa, and finally at the end, he sits in silence "in the pose of a meditating Buddha" in the state of realization of the truth. Like Marlow, Buddha was also born into a rich family where he knew nothing about the truth, then along his journey he was able to see and feel different things, and ultimately reached the state of enlightenment.
\nI thought Yura brought up a good analogy, and I found it interesting that Conrad could have intentionally used the Buddha image at the beginning to foreshadow the future events in the story, and at the end, as a use of symbolism.","replyPages":[{"page":0,"digests":[],"more":0}]},{"id":"15653354","dateCreated":"1256012521","smartDate":"Oct 19, 2009","userCreated":{"username":"yongminc10","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/yongminc10","imageUrl":"https:\/\/ssl.wikicdn.com\/i\/user_none_lg.jpg"},"monitored":false,"locked":false,"links":{"self":"https:\/\/kisapenglporter2009-10.wikispaces.com\/share\/view\/15653354"},"dateDigested":1532171396,"startDate":null,"sharedType":"discussion","title":"Yongmin Cho, HOD final discussion","description":"One of the major ideas that pervaded our whole discussion was the story's connection to religion. As Jessica concluded, Kurtz may be a representation of jesus christ. A question that was brought up was 'if Kurtz is Buddha, then what did he sacrifice his life for?' I mean, he could have ordered a thousand angels to come and destroy the world as we know it -this wild native followers-. Yet, he waved them off and welcomed his death. We did not arrive on a definite answer, but it is clear that he knew that death was near. But, again we cannot conclude that Kurtz undoubtedly an embodiment of Jesus, for nothing is certain in this novel. Because if he really were Jesus, when did he have his 'Last Supper'? Could the Russian trader who left because he was scared for his life represent Judas, the man who sacrilegously betrayed Jesus Christ?
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\nPutting aside from the religious connotations of this novel - to be honest, Jesus was not the first thing that came to mind when I read about Kurtz- I could relate him more easily to Willy Wonka from 'Charlie and the Chocolate Factory'. Like Wonka, Kurtz is shrouded in a cloud of mysticism and praise. Wonka is no doubt a genius like Kurtz; his ingenious recipes bring in a lot of money. Yet, as we find out, Wonka is merely a man who is caught up in the whims of his childhood, just as Kurtz is caught up in the wilderness. Kurtz's life, then, is not so grand and sugary as we thought it was: he is weak, debabillitated, and dying. It was a huge let down for me to see Kurtz's plunge into complete darkness.","replyPages":[{"page":0,"digests":[],"more":0}]},{"id":"15653332","dateCreated":"1256012435","smartDate":"Oct 19, 2009","userCreated":{"username":"Jessica_Y","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/Jessica_Y","imageUrl":"https:\/\/ssl.wikicdn.com\/i\/user_none_lg.jpg"},"monitored":false,"locked":false,"links":{"self":"https:\/\/kisapenglporter2009-10.wikispaces.com\/share\/view\/15653332"},"dateDigested":1532171396,"startDate":null,"sharedType":"discussion","title":"Heart of Darkness Discussion Jessica Yun","description":"Lynn brought up the point about the repetition of the Buddha figure. She mentioned that Marlow represents an enlightened figure one who has found true contentment. The death of Kurtz and Marlow's subsequent "Buddha" reference seems to say that the aggressive Christian\/Western crusades fall short of happiness. Rather, Conrad could be hinting that we can find only true understanding in tranquility.
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\nI noticed that Kurtz seemed like a Christ figure. Similar to Christ's death, he left a message (though in paper) to his followers. He mentions that, "All the pilgrims rushed out to see" (149). I can't exactly pinpoint what he was sacrificing himself for. Was he a martyr for a specific cause? I Or simply a man in the jungle gone mad? To me, his death showed the culmination of man's ambition and its destructive nature.","replyPages":[{"page":0,"digests":[],"more":0}]},{"id":"15653308","dateCreated":"1256012373","smartDate":"Oct 19, 2009","userCreated":{"username":"yura","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/yura","imageUrl":"https:\/\/ssl.wikicdn.com\/i\/user_none_lg.jpg"},"monitored":false,"locked":false,"links":{"self":"https:\/\/kisapenglporter2009-10.wikispaces.com\/share\/view\/15653308"},"dateDigested":1532171396,"startDate":null,"sharedType":"discussion","title":"Yura Jung- HOD Discussion","description":"Heart of Darkness is a book with countless confusions, which gave me some space to interpret the story through my own perceptions. At first, I thought that the darkness referred to the truth. The truth seemed to be dark because on the last section of the book, Marlow does not want to tell the woman the real last words of Kurtz because it's darker than her expectations. However, when Lauren brought up the idea of Marlow representing Buddha, I found lucid way to interpret this symbol. Lauren mentioned how the Buddha showed the state of innocence and kindness of Marlow, which made sense because by the end of the story, it seemed as if Marlow had become a bigger person, a better person. In addition, Jessica's reference to Jesus' death was intriguing because it went over and beyond my interpretation. Yet, it made much sense. There were several descriptions and aspects about the story that seemed to correlate with the events happening after Jesus' death as after Kurtz's death many people came to see him. More importantly, like Jesus, Kurtz left his words with Marlow, who is like a prophet. However, I could made more connections with Buddha's image and Marlow's transformation.
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\nMoreover, through the image of Buddha I came to a conclusion: the similarity of Marlow's journey and Buddha's life. I mentioned the fact that Buddha was born into a wealthy family, unaware of the countless sufferings outside of his palace. Similarly, Marlow, before traveling on the Congo River, did not have a slight idea of extreme suffering occurring Africa. Just like the book mentions in the beginning, Buddha is dressed in European clothes when he is not aware of the great sufferings and the rest of the world; also it represents Marlow's ignorance about the hardships and cruelty in Africa. Yet, as Buddha leaves his wealthy home to get closer to the real world, he is no loner the Buddha with the European clothing. Marlow, also unveils the reality in Africa and as he continues to do so, he becomes a Buddha- the Buddha that the book mentions on the last paragraph. Through a treacherous journey on the Congo River, Marlow had become a sage Buddha, not the Buddha adorned with wealth and ignorance.","replyPages":[{"page":0,"digests":[],"more":0}]},{"id":"15653256","dateCreated":"1256012223","smartDate":"Oct 19, 2009","userCreated":{"username":"laurenleee","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/laurenleee","imageUrl":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/pic\/1202793136\/laurenleee-lg.jpg"},"monitored":false,"locked":false,"links":{"self":"https:\/\/kisapenglporter2009-10.wikispaces.com\/share\/view\/15653256"},"dateDigested":1532171396,"startDate":null,"sharedType":"discussion","title":"Lauren Lee Last HOD Discussion","description":"Wow. We're done with this book. Now that we've discussed about the whole meaning, I like this book. :)
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\nOne of the most interesting topic that appeared in our discussion was the analogy of the Buddha. Buddha appears numerous times throughout the story, especially the ending. In our discussion, we found a clear simulacrum. In my opinion, I thought Marlow's life was a simulacrum of Buddha's. At the ending Marlow sits down like a Buddha, which implies that he has reached his epiphany moment of reason. Like Buddha, he started out knowing nothing about the cruelty in Africa. But as his journey continued, he realized about all the atrocities and the cruelty form the excessive greed of the Europeans. Being shocked by Kurtz's look, which was different from what he imagined him to be, he realizes that colonialism is harmful overall and maybe DARK.
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\nKurtz was clearly a bipolar representation of the European imperialism. He was praised like a god by both the natives and the British people but he never felt accomplished inside, ironically, I thought he was rather crazy. He went crazy from being overly greedy and from being isolated for too long in the wilderness. To marlow, Kurtz must have seemed like a symbol of how colonialism breaks down a person.
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\nAfter all, the book was indeed interesting and representative of the European colonialism. I think I would have enjoyed the book more if Conrad used easier style and language. ; ) But after all, that's what made the book interesting.","replyPages":[{"page":0,"digests":[],"more":0}]},{"id":"15653242","dateCreated":"1256012190","smartDate":"Oct 19, 2009","userCreated":{"username":"LynnH91","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/LynnH91","imageUrl":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/pic\/1202793136\/LynnH91-lg.jpg"},"monitored":false,"locked":false,"links":{"self":"https:\/\/kisapenglporter2009-10.wikispaces.com\/share\/view\/15653242"},"dateDigested":1532171396,"startDate":null,"sharedType":"discussion","title":"HOD DISUCSSION Lynn","description":"Jessica connected Kurtz's death to Jesus's crucification. The resemblance in retrospect is stunnigly similar, with the referecne to "spread my words" and working with lights. As well, the fact that Kurtz is Jesus can work well with the idea of the decline of western civilization. Marlow, who is referenced as "Buddha-like" in the beginning and at the end, could be interpreted as the emblem of the eastern civilization. As "Buddha" blows out the candle of "Jesus," western imperialism dies.
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\nThe sepulchre reference that I made was closely knitted with this scene as well. The description of the Intended's house the marble fireplace to have "a cold and monumental whiteness" (154). Moreover, the "grand piano...with dark gleams on the flat surfaces like a sombre and polished sarcophagus" reinforces this image of a grand tomb (154). This tomb, which used to be Kurtz's house, is the tomb of western imperialism, which died along with its quintessential figure of imperialism: Kurtz.","replyPages":[{"page":0,"digests":[],"more":0}]},{"id":"15653232","dateCreated":"1256012134","smartDate":"Oct 19, 2009","userCreated":{"username":"jasoncho92","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/jasoncho92","imageUrl":"https:\/\/ssl.wikicdn.com\/i\/user_none_lg.jpg"},"monitored":false,"locked":false,"links":{"self":"https:\/\/kisapenglporter2009-10.wikispaces.com\/share\/view\/15653232"},"dateDigested":1532171396,"startDate":null,"sharedType":"discussion","title":"Jason Cho - Interesting Topics","description":"Lynn's opinion regarding Buddha and Marlow is interesting. It fits him perfectly because like Buddha, he was sheltered from "darkness," which in his case is Africa. It is only when he gets first hand experience that he truly understands the situation in the area and how it affects people. He becomes enlightened in this aspect and even scoffs at the man who questions Marlow's rationality after Marlow recounts his experience with the death of the helmsman.
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\nSomething that i found to be interesting is Kurtz and his relationship with other people. Although his fiance says that she was the only one who could understand him, she was completely wrong in guessing his last words. From this, it can be said that Kurtz never truly opened up to anyone since his own fiance knew little of his personality. This lack of trust in anyone may almost be the cause of Kurtz spiraling into insanity. He was unable to converse with anyone since as the Russian said, no one talked to to Kurtz but only listened. He received no feedback in his ideas so whatever he thought became his own reality instead of just an idea.","replyPages":[{"page":0,"digests":[],"more":0}]}],"more":true},"comments":[]},"http":{"code":200,"status":"OK"},"redirectUrl":null,"javascript":null,"notices":{"warning":[],"error":[],"info":[],"success":[]}}