Free Essay About Conrad’s Heart Of Darkness And Kafka’s Metamorphism

The reign of evil in the form of imperialism, greed or lust for power and the prevailing moral and spiritual corruption in human society is the central theme of Conrad’s Heart of Darkness. He uses very strong symbolism to impress upon his reader the gravity of the situation. To portray the evil, the whole novel is filled with darkness. Nothing describes evil better than the symbolism of darkness. Everything in the book is shrouded in murkiness. All the places in the novel are portrayed as bleak and dull. Darkness consequently appears to work figuratively and existentially as well. Darkness snatches the ability to see from people and as a portrayal of the human condition it has significant ramifications in the book. It implies inability to see the needs and feelings of others. Evil brings blindness whether in the form of greed or power and nothing symbolizes blindness more vividly than darkness itself. Fog has also a very close relation with evil, darkness and fear. The imagery of fog along with engulfing power of darkness adds a very powerful impression to the central theme. Conrad wrote about the fog as, “When the sun rose there was a white fog, very warm and clammy, and more blinding than the night. It did not shift or drive; it was just there, standing all around you like something solid.”
Kafka’s Metamorphism revolves around the themes of existentialism, identity, and alienation. In the beginning of the story, the picture of the lady has very significant symbolism as it serves as an image of Gregor's previous humankind. Gregor's solid connection to ‘the lady in the picture’ doesn't originate from the substance of the picture, but from the fact that he put it on his wall when he was still a human. He sticks to it in a frenzy because he sees it as one article from his previous life that he can spare. In a way, the woman turns into the symbol of his lost humanity. Gregor’s transformation into an insect is the most significant symbolism of the story. The book begins with the following words, “One morning, when Gregor Samsa woke from troubled dreams, he found himself transformed in his bed into a horrible vermin.” This metamorphism not only defines the book but also engulfs all the major themes of the book. Gregor’s metamorphism simultaneously is a symbol of absurdity of life and of a complete alienation of the individual from the people around him.    

Works Cited

Conrad, Joseph. Heart of Darkness. Dover Publications Inc, 2000. Paperback.
Kafka, Franz. The Metamorphosis. Martino Fine Books, 2009. Paperback.
Odor, James. "Kafkaesque: An Analysis of Metamorphosis." Eternal Non-Reccurence. N.p., 06 July
2014. Web. 08 Feb. 2015.
Shmoop Editorial Team. "Light and Dark in Heart of Darkness." Shmoop.com. Shmoop University,
Inc., 11 Nov. 2008. Web. 08 Feb. 2015.
Shmoop Editorial Team. "The Metamorphosis Symbolism, Imagery, Allegory." Shmoop.com.
Shmoop University, Inc., 11 Nov. 2008. Web. 08 Feb. 2015.